MknMomNPopProud

As someone who applied to the same list of schools as you (plus more with similar strengths), you will have trouble gaining admittance + funding to most of those schools. The strengths and weaknesses of our profiles are almost totally opposite but I'd say overall we'd appear to admissions at about the same level. I agree that looking at ARE programs would help you out - given your interests, I'd recommend Cornell, Maryland, and Ohio State, and maybe NCSU.

Alpha Chiang would be possible to go through without mid/upper level math courses - I did it in undergrad for a math econ class. I agree with F4T that Simon and Blume would be too much without prior knowledge. Edit: I'm not saying it would be a good idea to jump into Chiang without linear and multi. Just that you could.

Other than Berkeley, this application is guaranteed at all ARE programs, so I'd recommend you shoot for some top straight econs, apply to Berkeley ARE, and then use UMD AREc and Davis ARE as safeties. If you want to see what was probably the last funded offer at Maryland AREc to compare yourself, check my profile on roll call or profiles and results.

Type of Undergrad: T 30 Liberal Arts Undergrad GPA: 3.74 (Econ 3.8, Math 3.3) Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: V165/Q167/4.5 Math Courses: Calc 1-3 (AP test,B+,B+), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (B), Probability Theory (B), Mathematical Statistics (B+) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A), Intro Macro (A), Micro Theory (A-), Macro Theory (A), Econometrics (A-), Mathematical Economics (B+), Industrial Organization (A), Public Economics (A-), Thesis (A), Economic History (A-) Other Courses: useless Letters of Recommendation: 2 UG professors I know well from T40 programs, work supervisor (T50 program). I get the feeling they were strong letters. Research Experience: Honors thesis, antitrust econ consulting work for 3 years under PhD economists Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: IO, Public (Health, Environmental, Urban) SOP: See below RESULTS: Acceptances: UMD AREc ($$), CUNY (tuition waiver), Colorado (0), GWU (0) Waitlists: Hopkins Rejections: UVA, UMD, Georgetown, BU, Vanderbilt, Washington, UNC Pending: Syracuse, Ohio State Attending: Maryland AREc Comments: Maryland AREc was one of my top choices from the start, so this is a great conclusion. It took longer than expected for things to fall my way, but I'm eager to start and I'm excited for this opportunity. I've always been more interested in the application of economics than the theory and the faculty research is a great fit for me. What would you have done differently? The typical answers. I would have started math earlier - I didn't start math until junior year. I also would have taken more math - I'd add our two proof-based classes, including RA. Had I done this, I also would not have worked for 3 years in between undergrad and grad, but given my situation coming out of undergrad I'm really happy with my job - I got to do economics professionally, which is really cool. If my goal were to maximize the rank of the program that funded me, I would also have changed my SOP substantially. One of the main struggles I had with the application concerned how honest I should be with my interests (applied vs theoretical, and academic vs other research). Of course I'm interested in theoretical econ and the life of a professor interests me, but I more easily envision myself in government/policy/industry roles similar to what I'm doing now. I was fairly honest with this in my SOP, and I think that may have turned off some programs. But everything worked out in the end, as I'm going to Maryland AREc and will primarily serve as a research assistant! Or maybe I'm ascribing some poor results to the SOP when it's really just all math weakness :)

I can speak relatively well to what I hope is the least important point, #4. I grew up in upstate NY and have driven through State College many times on my way to university. The short answer is, yes both places are pretty unbearable. Rochester winters are brutal and its downtown is hollowed out. Unlike Buffalo it is not experiencing a limited renaissance right now. Transportation to the outside world is better from Rochester, as in State College you are mired smack in the middle of Pennsylvania. Since both are not in attractive locations, I think location should play a negligible role in your decision. I've listed negative things here but at the end of the day you're picking between two great options for your career. Best of luck - both are fantastic programs, and for what it's worth if I were you I would go Rochester. Edit: I should add that COL will be great for you, especially in Rochester.

Hey all, It's finally come through for me, and it feels great! I got my first fully funded offer, and it's from one of my top choices. I'm really excited about this opportunity and want to thank everyone who's posted here the last couple years for helpful advice. To those on waitlists, I just declined admits to Colorado, GW, and CUNY, so best of luck.

Institution: Maryland Program: Agricultural and Environmental Economics PhD Decision: Admitted Funding: None Notification Date: 3/25/15 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Unfortunate that it's totally unfunded.

Institution: Johns Hopkins University Program: Economics PhD Decision: Waitlisted Funding: N/A Notification Date: 3/23/15 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: I would be ecstatic if it could happen. Institution: Boston Program: Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification Date: 3/19/15 Notified Through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Dang.

Institution: George Washington Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: TBD Notification date: 3/9 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: If they offer funding there's a high chance I'm going; love the department's research interests and mentality Institution: Colorado Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: None Notification date: 3/10 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Cannot go without funding. Institution: Georgetown Program: Economics PhD Decision: Rejected Funding: Notification date: 3/11 Notified through: Email Posted on GC: No Comments: Little disappointing because could have gone either way

Institution: University of Virginia Program: Economics, Ph. D Decision: Rejected Funding: N/A Notification date: 2/26/15 Notified through: checked website Posted on GC: No Comments: Also very expected. Too bad though - would have been one of my top choices.

Congratulations to those who have been accepted to OSU! :encouragement: Well done. I am still on 'pending', but OSU would have been a miracle.

Mine's pending as well, don't worry about it.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: T 30 Liberal Arts Undergrad GPA: 3.74 (Econ 3.8, Math 3.3) Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: V165/Q167/4.5 Math Courses: Calc 1-3 (AP test,B+,B+), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (B), Probability Theory (B), Mathematical Statistics (B+) Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A), Intro Macro (A), Micro Theory (A-), Macro Theory (A), Econometrics (A-), Mathematical Economics (B+), Industrial Organization (A), Public Economics (A-), Thesis (A), Economic History (A-) Other Courses: Philosophy type courses Letters of Recommendation: 2 UG professors I know well from T40 programs, work supervisor (T50 program). Should be fine. Research Experience: Honors thesis, antitrust econ consulting work for 2 years Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: IO, Public (Health, Environmental, Urban) SOP: Haven't thought much about it yet. Will probably tailor to each school. Concerns: Pretty simple, I'm a straight B math student with no Real Analysis and no grad classes. Other: Fed Challenge Applying to: Boston, Colorado, CUNY, Georgetown, GWU, Hopkins, Maryland, Maryland AREc, Ohio State, Syracuse, UMass, UNC,Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington

Was your professor in the economics department? Econ is distinct in that it is generally not considered acceptable to contact departments. In other fields ingratiating yourself may work, but in econ it may be seen as cloying. They will probably not respond to your cold-call message. But if you were ever see a research opportunity posted on one of these schools' websites, jump on it!

Regarding your GRE: You need around a 165 on the Q section to be competitive. This will put you at the 90th percentile. For breakdowns by percentile, check this chart. You can also see a conversion chart from the old to the new section here. I'm not sure what you need on the verbal and writing sections, but I've heard as long as you get a 3.5 on the writing it won't negatively impact your chances. The rest of your profile looks strong (good letters, RA and TA experience, good overall GPA) except for the lack of math classes. Did you really take Real Analysis (and get an A!) with only calculus? Based on your comments of senioritis in LA I'm assuming you took RA before LA. In addition to that, 2 of your 5 math classes were AP grades - which is fine, but also means you've got a very small sample size of math grades for adcoms to look at, and 2 of your 3 grades are B+. Given that my math average is a B+ I'd love for that to be a respectable grade but it will put you below most other competitive applicants at top schools.