PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 3 UK (3-year degree)
Undergrad GPA: First class degree
Type of Grad: Top 10 US Uni, masters degree
Grad GPA: 3.90
GRE: Q800/V530/AW4.0
Math Courses: My only "proper" math course was an undergraduate real analysis course (A) I took during my masters degree. During my undergrad I learned math as part of my econ courses.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Master's level: Micro I & II (A in both), Macro I (A) Macro II (A-), PhD level: Public (A-) Development (incomplete at the time of applying)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles Micro/Macro/Metrics, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Intermediate Metrics, Advanced Micro, Advanced Metrics, Finance, Public, Development.
Other Courses:Some management/accounting courses and some political science/non-econ development courses.
Letters of Recommendation: Assistant Prof. at US top 10 uni for whom I worked as an RA during my masters degree. Associate Prof. at US top 10 uni, thesis advisor and one summer of RA work. Professor at my undergrad uni who tutored me and knew my coursework well but didn't know much about my research potential.
Research Experience: Part-time RA for 1.5 year during masters degree and summer internship as RA for one of my letter writers.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Applied micro, mainly development, public and political economy
SOP: Pretty standard I guess, very dry. Talked about my research ideas, nothing about my background or personality.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Yale, Brown, (maybe I would have gotten into Wharton applied econ but I told them I wasn't interested after Yale offer)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Harvard, HBS (but got interviewed), HKS (PEG), MIT, Columbia, NYU, NYU Stern, Michigan
Pending: Maryland, Attending: Yale
Comments: Super happy about Yale, feels like I was very lucky to get in. I was also surprised by how noisy the results were, I got and interview at HBS and got into Yale but rejected from Michigan and most likely Maryland. My explanation for this is that knowing one faculty member makes a huge difference.
What would you have done differently?
If I could do it all over again, I don't think I would have done a masters degree, instead I would have worked for two years as an RA for a tenured professor at a top uni and taken 1 or 2 PhD level classes while working. That would have saved me lots of money and probably prepared me equally well for my PhD program. Conditional on doing the masters degree I would have tried to get to know more faculty as that seems to be the best way to get admitted to a top program.
