Roll Call Fall 2009

[GymShorts]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S.B.A. in International Economics and Finance, Math minor, from a 1st tier nation university (U.S. News and World Report) without an econ PhD program. (Had one but it was shut down a few years ago)
Undergrad GPA: 3.7 overall, 3.9 in econ, 4.0 in math
GRE: Will know in August
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Topics in Math Sol Sci, Fundamentals of Adv Math, Analysis I (fall), Probability and Stat (fall)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate micro and macro, econ stat I, econ stat II: intro metrics, econometric models, international econ
Other Courses: A lot of business classes, corporate finance, investment analysis, international corporate finance, computer programming (fall)
Letters of Recommendation: All well published, all should write great things.
Research Experience: Working on a paper now that I hope to publish
Teaching Experience: TA for econ stat I & II for a year, will continue next fall and spring probably. A year of tutoring calculus I & II and intro macro and micro.
Research Interests: Political economics, game theory, micro
statement of purpose: In process of writing
Concerns: Haven't taken GRE yet
Applying to: I haven't finalized the list; depends on whether I ace the GRE. Any suggestions?

[snowme]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Very good German university, undergrad in business
Undergrad GPA: highest distinction, class rank 1/225
Type of Grad: same German school, master-equivalent in finance and quantitative economics
Grad GPA: 4.0 equivalent, class rank 1/200+
Additional Schools: Summer School at LSE (Grade: A+), 1 year in MBA program UIowa (GPA: 3.96)
GRE: Q:800/V:510/A:?
Math Courses: (they have different names in Germany) Math I, Math II, Stats I, Stats II, Mathematical Methods (PhD Level course)
Econ Courses : Micro I/II, Macro I/II, Econometrics, Public Finance, Quantitative Economics, Economic Policy, Applied Time Series
Other Courses: bunch of finance courses Fixed Income, Options, Stochastic Calculus in Finance, etc
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from my German school (finance prof, thesis adviser, i am a RA for him), 1 from Iowa (econ prof, aced one of his courses, was a TA for him), 1 from LSE (econ prof). All of them are well known/published
Research Experience: 2 years for a quant finance prof
Teaching Experience: 2x undergrad micro in Iowa + tutoring
Research Interests: Financial Econometrics, Asset Pricing, Behavioral Finance
statement of purpose: in progress...
Concerns: not sure whether to apply to econ or finance programs, also not sure what the admission guys think of my home school
Applying to: Chicago Econ, Princeton Econ, Yale Financial Econ, Stanford GSB, Berkeley Finance, Cornell Finance, MIT Financial Econ, LSE Finance, Zurich Finance, CMU Financial Econ, Duke Finance/Econ etc ('d love to hear some recommendations from you )

[JasonEcon]

Type of Undergrad: B.S. Industrial Engineering from top 5 Engineering, top 25 overall research university
Undergrad GPA: 3.2/4
Type of Grad: M.S. Econ through first year (large US state university, non-PhD granting), additional undergrad Econ, undergrad math and grad math there as well
Grad/PostBac GPA: 4.0/4
GRE: 800Q, 630V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc II (A), Calc III (B), Linear Algebra (B), Differential Equations (A), Adv Calc I (A), Grad Analysis (Fall), Grad Topology (Fall)
Econ Courses (grad): Micro (A), Econometrics (A), Forecasting (A), Macro (Fall)
Econ Courses (undergrad): Int Micro (A), Int Macro (A), Econometrics (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors or 2 econ, 1 math
Research Experience: Almost none, just a Directed Study on Growth
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Growth and Development
Concerns: 5 years between first undergrad and grad/postbac. Mediocre undergrad GPA. Lack of research experience.
Applying to: Duke, Maryland, Johns Hopkins, UVA, UNC, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, NC St, Clemson, South Carolina, maybe a couple others

[Palimpsest]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Public, Top 40 Econ PhD program
Undergrad GPA: 4.0, Economics (Honors) and Political Science
GRE: 800Q, 740V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP test), Multivar. Calc (A), Math Stats I-II (A, A+), Linear Alg. (A+), ODE (A+), Undergrad Real Analysis (A+), PhD Real Analysis (Withdrawal).
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro I w/MWG (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Standard intermediate and field courses (A/A+'s), Econometrics (A+)
Letters of Recommendation: Should be very enthusiastic I think. One from PhD micro prof./informal thesis adviser (Stanford GSB PhD), one from current boss (Harvard PhD), one from well-known metrics prof. (Fellow, Econometric Society & ASA).
Research Experience: RA for econ prof (lit rev.), Honors Thesis (Simple game theory application), RA at economic think tank (some in-house discussion papers + potential co-authored journal submission)
Teaching Experience: Limited tutoring.
Research Interests: Public, Environmental, Development, Applied Metrics
statement of purpose: Focus on learning more and more rigorous methods to work on the types of problems I've encountered in my job.
Concerns: My "W" in PhD Analysis, but I hope the combination of previous math grades, letter of reference's, and my performance PhD Micro will quell some of the related doubts.
Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Michigan, UCSD, Maryland, UT-Austin, a couple more top 10s/top 20s, plus a safety TBD.

[averageaverage]

Originally Posted by averageaverage

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad:
B.A. (Economics + General Math + Sociology)
150th-ish ranked Econ PhD Program.

Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
GRE: not taken yet (worried so much)

Undergrad Courses:
Calc I - III, Linear Algebra, and Math Reasoning (All As)
Diff Eq (In Prog); Real Analysis, and Probability Theory (this Fall)
Intermediate Mico and Macro (Both As)

Grad Courses:
Master's Micro + Econometrics (this Fall)

Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors (Not well known...)
Research Experience: Summer Research (Not going well...)
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Development Economics and Public Policy

Concerns: Academic background is too poor to hit top 20... Want to get into top 50 at least...

Applying to: U. Maryland, Johns Hopkins, U. of Washington, and Lower Ranked Schools...

hi, I took GRE yesterday, and I got 390/770...
OMG... I am an international student but I went through four years of higher education here in the U.S.
Does this verbal score rule me out of top 50ish schools?
I really don't want to take it again. I was too painful...

Oh, btw, I got A in Diff Eq as well. Yay!

[calchas]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BBA Finance, 2003 .. Re-enrolled at same school this summer to do pre-reqs for PhD .. Large public in Midwest, top 20 econPhD..
Undergrad GPA: 3.75/4
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: None
GRE: 800Q, 710V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc 2 and 3 (A) .. Linear Algebra and Probability Theory(grades out next week, expecting A) .. Real Analysis, PhD Math for Economists (in fall)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro and Metrics for credit, Macro for Pass/Fail (in fall)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): not much .. Intro Micro and Macro (both AB .. in 1999) .. Intermediate Macro (A)
Other Courses: Lots of finance and general management, mostly As and AB
Letters of Recommendation: None yet .. I hope to ask the profs from my Fall PhD level courses
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Industrial Organization, Public Economics, Trade& Development, International Finance
statement of purpose: Next month's project
Concerns: Brutal schedule in the Fall .. No research experience and been out of school for a while. Hope to impress a few professors here next semester enough to get solid LORs...
Other: Four years of work experience in corporate finance/accounting but nothing big to toot my horn about ..
Applying to: Depends on my performance through mid-terms in my Fall courses, whether I apply to MA programs in Canada or PhD programs in the US ..

[Benjones968]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A (Hons.) Economics, Queen's University
Undergrad GPA: 4.0/4.0 (Top 3%)
Type of Grad: MSc Economics, UCL
Grad GPA: Distinction on coursework and thesis (Top 20%)
GRE: Have yet to take
Math Courses: Graduate Math-Econ course, plan to take a real analysis course this fall.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from Professors in Game Theory, I.O. and Regulatory Economics, well-known in their fields.
Work Experience: Currently work as an Economic Consultant
Teaching Experience: Principles of Economics, Queen's University
Research Interests: Game Theory, I.O., Regulatory Economics
statement of purpose: Still in progress
Concerns: May not have taken enough math, may stumble on the GRE.
Applying to: US Universities, most among Top 20 _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _

[miaataro]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad/Grad: BSc in Economics (finished), MSc in Economics (should be finished in December) and possibly MSc in Statistics (I'll probably have the coursework ready but no time to write the thesis) from a relatively unknown university in Finland.
Undergrad/Grad GPA: Overall 4.90, Econ 4.94, Math 4.83, Stat 4.94 (on a scale of 1-5)
GRE: 800Q, 390V, 4AWA
TOEFL: 111 (29R, 30L, 23S, 29W)
Math Courses: Unfortunately, they don't have illustrative names. I tooks a course packages for a minor in math that dealt with the basic areas (linear algebra, differential calculus, integral calculus, real analysis, etc.) in more of an applied fashion.
Stat Courses: A lot. Mathematical Statistics 1 & 2 and Probability calculus A & B + courses on time series analysis, survival models, mixed models, regression models, multivariate statistics, etc. I'm probably taking courses in stochastic simulation, computational statistics and bayesian statistics in the fall/spring
Econ Courses: A lot. Intermediate and advanced level courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, mathematical economics and econometrics + courses in labour economics, regional economics, microeconometrics, applied econometrics, game theory etc. I'm probably taking either PhD Micro or Phd Econometrics in the fall/spring.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 economics professors from my university and a research director from an economic research institute. I guess they all know me guite well and believe in me so their letters should be good in that sense. I might still try to get more recommenders but we'll see what happens.
Research Experience: BSc and MSc theses in economics, RA for my economics professor for 7 months, two last summers as a research trainee in an economic research institute, last fall and next fall as an assistant researher in an economic research institute, next year as a researcher in an economic research institute
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: (Empirical) labour economics, (micro)econometrics
statement of purpose: Trying to figure out what to say in it...
Applying to (still a very preliminary list): MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, MSU, LSE (MSc), Oxford (MPhil), UCL (MSc), Warwick (MSc), Tinbergen, Tilburg (MPhil), Uppsala. I'm aware that at least the top schools are way out of my league but for some reason my letter of reference writers want me to apply to them. I guess I'll just follow their advice and hope for a miracle.

[lightyears]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. (Laurea) in Economics from a big Italian State University
Undergrad GPA: 26,5/30
Type of Grad: Msc (Laurea specialistica) 2 years
Grad GPA: 29.95/30 so far
GRE: still have to do it, should have not too many problems in getting 760+
TOEFL : Doing it next month, should be over 100.
Math Courses: Different in Italy, but anyway I’ve covered the usual math (derivatives, integrals, series, limits) plus Optimization and ODE, some Linear Algebra, Portfolio mathematical theory, Math Models for finance , Probability, Inference and Descriptive Statistics, all with good grades.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Adv. Macro (30/30), Economics of financial markets (30L), Monetary Economics (29/30), Int. Macroeconomics, Labor, Econometrics (30/30), many others… Other Courses: Economics of Environment, Economics and ethics, others
Letters of Recommendation: Have not formally asked anyone yet but I intend to ask my thesis advisor and the Dep. Head who is a very nice person, but more into History of economic thought and less on what I want to do. Plus I might ask my econ math teacher with whom I got a 30L (max grade), they’re all pretty unknown abroad, so I’m not really sure on what to do, might try to find other contacts in Paris during this year’s Erasmus.
Research Experience: none worth mentioning
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Still uncertain, but more on macro and monetary economics I think.
statement of purpose: Still have to work on it.
Concerns: A lot: public, recent and not well known university, no idea about whether my Laurea Specialistica is counted as a Msc (it should?) and about where I should apply.
Applying to: Don't really know, I feel most US universities are out of reach.
Probably EUI and Bocconi in Italy (they fund every student I hope), and maybe some Msc: LSE EME, QEM, other european ones? Plus Oxford and Cambridge Mphil.
Advices very welcome!

[chestnut.cc]

As promised, heres my profile. I'm primarily a master's applicant here, so hold the line if you're a PhD chap, it'll come along in a while.

PROFILE:
Type of Undergraduate: BA Economics from a Top 10 college in my country (south east Asia) with math and stat minors
Undergraduate GPA: Currently (Final Year) 84%. We don't use the GPA system so I'm unsure of how much that translates to. It's similar to a UK percentage system though.
Type of Graduate: NA
Graduate GPA: NA
GRE: 760V, 800Q, yet to receive AWA score
TOEFL: 119
Math Courses: All of a very applied nature. These courses all have different names here, but from what I glean: Calculus I, Calculus II, Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra, Linear Optimization, Game Theory, Computational Stuff, Introduction to Analysis (Audit, Self Study)
Statistics Courses: Introduction to Statistics, Descriptive Statistics, Simple Regression, Multivariate Regression, Probability, Frequency Distributions, Statistical Inference and Analysis, Statistical Control
Economics Courses: Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Basic Econometrics
Other: History of Economic Thought, Monetary Economics, Development Economics, International and Trade Economics
Letters of Recommendation: Don't have them yet. Will get them from Dept. Head and a senior economics professor. Will suffice for my immediate purposes.
Research Experience: Nil
Teaching Experience: Nil
Research Interests: Game theory, Evolutionary Game Theory, Social choice theory, Econometrics
statement of purpose: Had written one for the Rhodes Scholarship, will draft that into a more terse version
Comments: As of now, I'm looking at Masters courses in the UK, Netherlands, US and maybe Canada.
Applying to: LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, Tilburg, NYU, Dukes, UBC, Queens.