banana

Maryland rejected me today. I guess they've finally come around to sending rejections.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 20 Liberal Arts College Undergrad GPA: 3.84/4.00 (4.00 Econ, 3.67 Math) Type of Grad: None Grad GPA: None GRE: 170Q, 170V, 5W Math Courses: Calc I, II, III (A, A+, A), Linear Algebra (A+), Number Theory (B), Applied Math: Social Sciences (A-), Abstract Algebra I (B+), Probability (B), Numerical Analysis (A), Real Analysis I (C+), Mathematical Statistics (A), Math Capstone Seminar (A). Econ Courses (grad-level): None Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro (A), Intermediate Micro/Macro (A/A), International (A), European International Econ (A), Economics of the European Community (A-), British Economy (A), Applied Econometrics (A), Applied Macro Seminar (A+). Other Courses: Liberal Arts-y stuff, Intro to Comp Sci Other: 2.5 years of work experience at an economics consulting company. Letters of Recommendation: 1) My boss (Top 70 Econ PhD); 2a) Macro professor (Top 100 Econ PhD), 2b) Econometrics professor (Top 100 Econ PhD); 3) Math advisor, very distinguished, PhD from Dartmouth. Research Experience: In college - minimal beside that done for classes (brief summer gigs after sophomore/junior year, grunt work). 2.5 years at the econ consulting company I am currently working at. Teaching Experience: Tutoring calc/stats sections for 3 years at college. Research Interests: Applied Micro, IO, Health, Law and Econ. SOP: Standard, but trying to tailor it to each university. RESULTS: Acceptances: Boston College ($$), UMichigan Ross (Business Econ, $$$), UNC Kenan-Flager (Accounting PhD, $$$), Georgetown ($$$), Cornell ($$, 1st year funding only after I declined the offer), Brandeis ($), George Mason (awaiting funding decision), George Washington (awaiting funding decision), Brown (Econ MA, no funding) Waitlists: UVA Rejections: Duke, BU, MIT Sloan (Accounting PhD), Yale SOM (Accounting PhD) Pending: UMD, CMU, Wharton Attending: Boston College Comments: What would you have done differently? I should have gotten As in all my math classes and perhaps done a bit more research with professors during my summers in college.

Woops.

Same situation here too. My guess is they are trying to get a sense how many admits are going to accept their offers, so that they can make additional offers if necessary. However, I've written off Brown as a rejection.

I haven't heard anything from Georgetown, BU or Wharton (didn't apply to UBC). I didn't even know Wharton had interviews, so mostly likely a rejection for me from there as well.

Institution: George Mason Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TBA Notification date: 2/26/14 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No

Institution: Boston College Program: Economics PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: Full Funding Notification date: 02/24/14 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Awesome. Very happy, especially since it is in a geographic area that I strongly prefer.

Institution: University of Virginia Program: Economics PhD Decision: Waitlist Funding: --- Notification date: 2/15/14 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No, and I won't post it there. Comments: A bit bummed out, but I still have a decent number of programs to hear from.

That's not true. Some institutions, such as the Fed, say that being a US citizen or a green card holder is a requirement for the job, but I know one international who spent 2-3 years at the NY Fed after undergraduate, and another one who worked at the Fed during his PhD program and now, having graduated, is at the Board of Governors. So, there are exceptions to the rule and, therefore, international students should apply to such RA positions. The same holds for private companies - some do sponsor despite the disclaimers on their job posts. Back on-topic: my backup plan is to stay at the econ consulting company where I am currently working (if they still want me :)) and think whether I want to reapply next year or do something else such as change fields, etc.

Do you know if anyone has received an interview invitation from Wharton? I haven't, not that I thought it was very likely to get one.

From what I've heard from a friend who is doing his PhD at a Top 10, there is pressure, much greater compared to more lowly-ranked programs, to do and publish "cutting-edge" research (not a fan of the word "cutting-edge" - let's say research that pushes the envelope as much possible). While that probably makes the program more rigorous and difficult to complete, it pays off by putting you in a good position once you get your degree.

I don't like schools that require sending paper anything. There are plenty out there that handle their admissions process without that and specifically ask students not to send paper materials. I think more universities should follow the example of paperless applications - easier for them and for the applicants.

I think George Mason's deadline is Feb 1 for US applicants. However, they specialize in very particular fields (Austrian/Public/Experimental Economics) that might not meet everyone's interests.

Yes, I had it earlier this week. It was really informal and short. They asked me the standard questions (why PhD, why Econ, why UVA) and some about my profile (academics, work experience, etc.). Not much talk about research interests. It seems they just wanted to see if an applicant raises any red flags during the interview.

Type of Undergrad: Top 20 Liberal Arts College Undergrad GPA: 3.84/4.00 (4.00 Econ, 3.67 Math) Type of Grad: None Grad GPA: None GRE: 170Q, 170V, 5W Math Courses: Calc I, II, III (A, A+, A), Linear Algebra (A+), Number Theory (B), Applied Math: Social Sciences (A-), Abstract Algebra I (B+), Probability (B), Numerical Analysis (A), Real Analysis I (C+), Mathematical Statistics (A), Math Capstone Seminar (A). Econ Courses (grad-level): None Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro (A), Intermediate Micro/Macro (A/A), International (A), European International Econ (A), Economics of the European Community (A-), British Economy (A), Applied Econometrics (A), Applied Macro Seminar (A+). Other Courses: Liberal Arts-y stuff, Intro to Comp Sci Other: 2.5 years of work experience at an economics consulting company. Letters of Recommendation: 1) My boss (Top 70 Econ PhD); 2a) Macro professor (Top 100 Econ PhD), 2b) Econometrics professor (Top 100 Econ PhD); 3) Math advisor, very distinguished, PhD from Dartmouth. Research Experience: In college - minimal beside that done for classes (brief summer gigs after sophomore/junior year, grunt work). 2.5 years at the econ consulting company I am currently working at. Teaching Experience: Tutoring calc/stats sections for 3 years at college. Research Interests: Applied Micro, IO, Health, Law and Econ. SOP: Standard, but trying to tailor it to each university. Concerns: C+ in RA, not stellar grades in some other Math classes. My LOR writers did not graduate from super-highly-ranked programs. Applying to: Econ Programs: Wharton AE, UMichigan Ross BE, Cornell, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Duke, Maryland, Boston U, UVA, Boston C, UPittsburgh, Georgetown, George Washington, George Mason, Brandeis. Accounting Programs: MIT Sloan, Yale SOM, UNC Kenan-Flagler.