funkychinamen

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Econ program, transfer from top 40 Econ program, Econ major Undergrad GPA: 3.892 /4.000 Type of Grad: None Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 780Q 480V 4.5AWA Math Courses: Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Vector Calc, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Probability Theory, Linear Algebra - proof-based, Intro to Proofs, Real Analysis, Math Stats (Spring) Econ Courses: Intermed Micro, Intermed Macro, Topics in Macro, Analysis of Econ Data, I.O., International Micro, International Macro, Labor, Intro to Mathematical Econ, Game Theory, Econometrics, Grad Micro I, Applied Econometrics (Spring) Letters of Recommendation: One from an associate professor in the Ag Econ department who I researched with, one from an assistant professor at Business School who I researched with, one from professor who taught grad course Research Experience: One year with an associate professor in the Ag Econ department, One semester with assistant professor in Business school, senior thesis in progress Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: I.O., Micro Theory, Labor SOP: Looked back at it the other day. I HOPE they didn’t read it.:( RESULTS: Acceptances: USC Marshall ($), Duke ($), Northwestern ($), UCSD (No $), Texas (No $), Boston U (No $) Waitlists: UPenn (rejected), Caltech (rejected) Rejections: Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, MIT, Minnesota, Maryland, UCLA Anderson, Harvard, Michigan, NYU, Cornell, Brown What would you have done differently? I would have studied harder for the GRE, finished a major in applied math, and applied to UCLA econ. (Not-so) Fun Facts: -Not accepted to any Ivy League school (UPenn waitlist) -Not accepted to any school that used the Embark system (Caltech waitlist) Attending: Northwestern!

Well, I decided to attend Northwestern assuming it's HIGHLY unlikely that I get into Caltech (I've kind of just assumed rejection since acceptances came out in early February). If I did get in, I dunno what I would do. I have a strong California bias, but so far the quality (and funding) of Northwestern has been greater than my alternative California options + utility of staying here. In the off chance that Caltech happened to accept me, I would have to really reevaluate my situation; this was why I inquired about my status in the first place. Personally, I'm really only 95% sure I will accept NWU, as in, there is a 5% chance that I will change my mind. I felt this was small enough to assume I will be a Wildcat next year. Currently, I'm really just letting my decision sink in for a couple days to ensure it is the right thing to do.

I just e-mailed the grad secretary asking if there was any update to my application status, because I wanted to accept another offer, and they responded with: "You are still on the wait list. We won't know the outcome of those on the wait list til after the April 15 deadline for those who were admitted in the first round. I wish I could provide more definite information sooner, but I can not." Looks like there is still some waiting for us. :( I would really like to have all my decisions before officially accepting one, but I guess I'll have to accept without knowing my fate at Caltech, although my hopes aren't very high.

Institution: Cornell University Program: Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Notification date: 4/6/2009 Notified through: E-mail Comments: Not an Ivy-Leaguer :(

I don't know if anybody else got an e-mail from the department, but I guess I haven't seen any discussion about it (then again, I've been pretty busy lately, so I might have just missed it). They e-mailed me last week asking if I am still interested in Penn and to inform them of my other offers. I told them my other offers and said if I can't get funding, the likelihood of me going to Penn is VERY low (but if I can get funding, I would seriously consider it). They e-mailed me back saying the probability of me getting funding is low, so I guess I'm pretty much out?

Awesome! I hope your schedule worked out better than mine... Early flight on Thursday (so I can get to Evanston at a decent hour), leave for home Saturday night (only ticket I could find!), leave for SD early Sunday (gonna try to get some hang out time with one of my good friends who goes to UCSD, before the grad student dinner), then back Monday night, with an 8am class the next day :doh:... all while trying to retain as much info as I can, and make decisions about my entire future :D

Already declined UT Austin (they sent me a confirmation yesterday). Good luck!

I'll be there too! Ugh, I'll be at the Northwestern fly out on Friday, also. Busy weekend.

Haha, at the end of January and beginning of February, I was like, "Oh please Cornell, don't e-mail me!" Now, I'm just like, "WHY CORNELL? WHY WON'T YOU E-MAIL ME?!"

It's actually not that hard to learn. I started in January and believe I am relatively fluent(ish)...There are definitely a lot of things I don't know how to do on LaTex yet, but I think I have down the basics for writing papers/problem sets. You just got to play around with it for a little bit, find some examples online and try to modify them into something you want.

Personally, I have begun to write problem sets in LaTex because: 1) Practice for writing papers/section notes when I'm a TA 2) I'm kind of a neat freak, and would end up writing problem sets over and over again to get a final draft. Like, in a 5 problem problem set, I would realize number 2 would be wrong, thus having to rewrite 2, 3, 4, and 5. 3) I feel more free to jump around when answering questions. If I don't really know how to answer a question, I can come back to it later, without having to rewrite a final draft. 4) I have an extra copy for myself in case I lose the original. 5) It's quicker to type when you are writing text, i.e. not in math mode. I usually type the question as part of my problem set, so I don't have to look back at the book/problem set handout when I'm reviewing. But then again, if you tend not to make mistakes when writing up problem sets, or lose them around midterms/finals (unlike me), paper and pencil is probably a better approach. BTW, I've actually been told I have freakishly neat hand-writing, so the messy writing hypothesis does not apply to me, but could be a reason for other people.

Haha, I'm not really waiting on it, just kind of curious. If I get rejected from Cornell, and assuming my rejections from Caltech and NYU, I will have been rejected from every school I applied to that used the Embark application system...I smell conspiracy? Haha. Also, a rejection from Cornell would mean I wasn't accepted to any Ivy League school (waitlisted at UPenn). Guess I'm not Ivy League material :( Edit: Don't get me wrong, I am VERY VERY happy with my Northwestern admit. I'm just clinging on to the thrill of waking up to a decision :D. And if I do happen to be admitted, it would be nice to have a good back up in case for whatever unpredictable reason, the schools I visit rub me the wrong way (which I sure hope they don't!).

Why can't you ask both? Most schools let you have more than three letters of recommendation, and it only adds more information to your application (hopefully positive information :D). Also, how do you know these professors? If you had to choose only one, I feel it would almost always be better to have a rec from an econ professor you did research with, over any professor you took a class with (exception could be professors who teach grad classes you've taken, and did well in). Although, if your other two letter writers know you from research you've done, a good rec from a math professor could signal that you are well prepared for the rigorous grad material. So I guess to conclude: It really depends on your situation; other letter writers, how you know the professors in question, etc. Overall, you probably want to pick the professor that adds the most positive and new information to your application (getting all your recs from professors who can only say you got an A+ in their class won't help you too much)

Me too. Cornell is the last one for me, besides the highly probable NYU and Caltech rejections.