Vespertine

Michigan just hired a new guy from Stanford (Shaun McRae) who does work in this area! So no need for Columbia. ;)

Yes, those placements at Booth look great. I think the average placement there is much better than the average at Michigan (asquare mentions the very best ones there, not the typical ones!), but it is more likely to be in a business school. If you really wish to do pure econ at a pure econ program, you might want to talk to the folks at Booth about that. Of course, business school profs make far more money than econ ones (and usually have nicer job conditions as well), so maybe you will change your mind! ;)

I don't know why you think Wisconsin is declining. I think the department looks very healthy and it seems the environment there has greatly improved from what it used to be like a few years ago.

As I mentioned on another thread, when I called Tepper they said they will send out rejections gradually, not all at once. Second round offers will only be made if too many of the first round ones will decline. So it's probably a bad sign, but there's still a little hope.

Yes....

Yes, I could tell who he was based on the similarity between his writing style here and on his blog. I wish I had known what I wanted to do when I was that young! Well done.

BU's website says students either get a full fellowship or nothing, i.e. no tuition remission. I expect they will need to make a lot of unfunded offers to get an incoming class of 30.

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/116637-big-week-admissions-rejections-2010-next-week-6.html#post771129

I called Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) to inquire when decisions will be released. The person on the phone confirmed that the first round offers have already gone out. It is possible more offers will be made, but these will be made much later. Rejections may start going out next week and continue going out for a while. I hope this is helpful.