MorgieLilly

Attending: Brown (no 1st year funding, 19.5K+tuition+health for years 2-5) Other Offers: UCLA(wl/$), BU(wl/$), UC Davis($$), U Michigan($$)

Type of Undergrad: B.A in Economics-Philosophy and Mathematics from top 10 undergrad with a top 15 econ department. Undergrad GPA: 3.85 GRE: 780Q, 640V, 4.0W Math Courses (undergrad):Cal I, Calc III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Probability and Statistics, Advanced Logic, (all As) Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro-econometrics (A-), Graduate Macroeconomics (A-) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro/Macro(A-,B+), Advanced Econometrics (B+), Advanced Macro (A), Game Theory (A-), Economic History (A-), International (C, took abroad in Ghana) Letters of Recommendation: Economics. Well Known. My boss. Economics. Well Known. Professor. (I wrote an empirical research paper for his course.) Philosophy of Science. Professor. (I took two classes with him. I wrote a paper that I presented at a philosophy conference. He advised me on a documentary that I made as a senior.) Mathematics. Professor. (Adviser for my senior research project.) Geophysics. Researcher. (Adviser for my REU research project. ) Research Experience: REU Intern in geophysics at Lamont Earth Observatory, summer 2007 (My paper was accepted to the 2008 ASLO Conference). I also published a paper in the philosophy of science when I was a sophomore, but I'm not so proud now of what I said and the journal was not a big deal at all. Full-time economics RA since July 2008 for one of my letter writers. I've made a bunch of documentaries and I included one in my application. Research Interests: Development, Growth Theory, Economic History. Statement of Purpose: Talked about my background, why I chose to pursue interdisciplinary undergraduate study. Talked about my experiences abroad in Ghana, my research experience at Lamont and as an RA and my motivation for studying development and poverty issues. Applied to: MIT, NYU, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Columbia, UMich, Princeton, Yale, UCLA, UC Davis, BU, Duke, Brown, Northwestern, U Penn Admitted: BU(wl/$), UCLA(wl/$), UC Davis($$), Michigan($$/Regents Fellowship), Brown(wl/$) Rejected: MIT, NYU, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Northwestern, U Penn Attending: Brown(no first year funding, 19.5K+health+tuition years 2-5) What I would have done differently: I don't think I would have gone to any other school over Brown. I would have considered MIT, Yale or Harvard. But honestly, I couldn't be happier. The debt will be worth it. I know it.

I know NW is. I really don't know much about PSU. I was very seriously considering Davis over Michigan for a while, because I was so impressed with some of the faculty in their department. These schools strengths overlap in labor/public and international, with Michigan outranking it in each. Perhaps there is a Rob Feenstra of PSU that would cause someone to want to go there for their great mentor-ship? Other reasons could also just be personal. I guess what I'm getting around too is that ranking matters, but it's really not everything to consider when making your decision.

I'm going to Brown (un-funded) over Michigan (regents fellowship), because Brown's specific strengths exactly match my interests. I don't think this kind of thing is that uncommon.

Institution: U Michigan Program:PhD, Economics Funding: Regents Fellowship Declination date: 4/13/2010- Email

Davis had a really really awesome labor group! I was very impressed with them at the fly-out. I don't know about the other programs, but yea...they were great.

David Ricardo

Institution: UC Davis Program:PhD, Economics Funding: 16K for three years, with re-evaluation for 4-5 Declination date: 4/13/2010- Email Reason: I really loved the town, the faculty, the department, the students. Brown and Michigan are a better fit for my interests, at this point. However, if anyone is interested in international economics, economic history, public/labor....seriously look at this department for you phd because they are great!

Yea, I'm wondering how April 15th is going to work...how does it work when you are on a wait-list for funding? Do schools often tell you before the 15th? On the 15th? After the 15th...if they give you funding???

My chances of going to Michigan = (1- my chances of being funded at Brown). I hope we both go to our dream schools!

I've never heard of this kind of program. To my knowledge, my undergraduate institution/department doesn't have one. I'm glad to hear about it.

Also that U Mich program sounds very cool. Other schools should do it.

I agree with all of this.

I'm not saying that you need to go to a top 5 school as an undergraduate. Case Western, WUSTL, Boston University, Wisconsin, and Berkeley are all great undergraduate programs. I'm talking about going to SUNY Oneonta or Lawrence College. I'm saying that the students who make it to Harvard often had an advantage of wealthy parents or educated parents. I'm also saying that your level of preparedness upon entering your undergraduate institution matters. If a student has never heard of economics and still needs to start with pre-calculus in their first year, they will have a tough time catching up to the child who starts their freshman year with calculus three and principles of economics. Most, not all, but most students in top Phd. programs have educated parents. This is a claim I make from my very unscientific gathering of information at my fly-outs. I'm sure there are counter-examples, but I definitely think it's the norm.

I have been told that, if they do not go to the wait-list, there is no chance of more funding. I'll PM My impression of the fly-out.