infinitejest

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top ~50 USNWR, private school with tiny(3 students per cohort) unranked econ phd program. Undergrad GPA: 3.77 Type of Grad: None Grad GPA: GRE: 168Q, 157V, 5.0AW Math Courses: Calc 1, 2, 3 (A, A, A), Applied Linear Algebra(A), Intro Prob and Stats(B), Intro Abstract Math(A), Abstract Algebra(A), Probability(B), Math Stats(A-), Intro Real Analysis I(B), Intro Real Analysis II (B+), Point Set Topology(A), Math Finance(A-), Markov Chains(A), Differential Topology(A), Queueing Networks(A), Proof-based Linear Algebra(A), Complex Analysis(B) Econ Courses: UG: Intro Micro/Macro(A, A), Intermediate Micro/Macro(A, A), Math Econ(A), Game Theory UG(A-), Econometrics UG(A-), Senior Thesis(A), Phd Micro I(A), PhD Micro II(A), Prob/Stats for Econ PhD(A), Econometrics PhD I (A) Other Courses: one CS Java class, one Physics class, Logic. Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ assistant professors, one math associate professor. im sure they were strong Research Experience: 7 month research senior thesis on a GT toy model(prof allowed me to take time to "feel stuck" on problem), extended over summer. Teaching Experience: 3 years tutoring math and econ at school tutoring center. Research Interests: Econometric Theory/Implementation. Slight interest in applications of metrics in GT SOP: Standard, didnt tailor it. guess i should have. Concerns: my university has a party reputation, its econ dept is not well known, it doesnt send UGs to PhD, I had assistant profs as LOR writers, not a perfect GPA, and did a ton of sports during junior year, which distracted me from schoolwork and explains my B's. RESULTS: Acceptances: Vanderbilt, UNC-Chapel Hill Waitlists: UT-Austin(first result in mid february, got accepted off waitlist on April 11th. Rejections: sigh lol. Rochester, BU, MIT, Harvard, NYU, Columbia, Maryland, Duke, Michigan, Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern, UCLA, UCSD, Stanford, Berkeley, Penn, Princeton, CMU, Pitt Pending: Attending: UT-Austin! Comments: Honestly, I knew my weaknesses and did not expect to get into any of top 20, though it would have been nice. I am very happy with how it turned out. Also, i guess I didn't do my research very well since I applied to schools that weren't really strong in the fields I wanted. What would you have done differently? In order of most to least importance: Focus on studies my sophomore and junior years, try to get research earlier than late junior year (like an RA with a prof), make sure the places I apply to fit my interests, have taken time to tailor SOP. These are fine details though, I think I planned things very thoroughly.

it would help if you specified the program you'll be attending, since there is more than one economics phd program in the planet

department culture? as in, how the faculty behaves? as long as they are helpful to students, i dont think its that important. they will become almost colleagues to you, not best friends. im also on the UT austin waitlist, i emailed the adcom prof and he said the waitlist is moving slower than usual(visit day was later than usual as well). best of luck!

hey guys just wanted to remind you to turn down places you wont attend! best of luck deciding! and if you are planning to turn down UT Austin id be grateful if it happens sooner rather than later. your (future) colleagues on the waitlist will thank you deeply.

damn i havent heard from BU at all. i sent an email asking last week before rejections appeared on GC and i havent heard anything. now you can treasure being rejected twice!

spoken like a true EJMR'er (joke). would you happen to know UNC's drawbacks that place it in the mid 30s? their placements dont look so hot.

Michigan state seems to have a solid amount of development and labor people, i would not discount that school. austin may be the better ranked one but you gotta consider what would be a better fit as well. im trying to be unbiased though im on the austin waitlist :P austin is indeed good in applied micro and IO, and has strong metrics. i dont know much about the others.

thank you for these wise words. i heard back from a couple schools ranked 24-33 and i was getting worried like OP about not being able to land a decent job in academia. i agree, competition is crazy. all my professors/advisers said that theres too many people applying to the top 30.

does anybody know if there is a Waitlist at Boston University? nobody reported a waitlist and people have been declining so im wondering if there will be more acceptances.

Institution: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Program: Economics PhD Decision: Accepted Funding: 15k for academic years plus 4-6k during summers. dept assistantship. can do teaching/extra work later on i guess? Notification date: 03/18/2016 Notified through: Email to check website Comments: Very happy!

im on a similar boat (sorry if i hijack lol). i can choose potentially between Austin and UNC-CH. id want to do metrics, potentially theory, and UNC has a very strong Statistics Masters that i could do while im doing phd. is taking UNC better due to better fit regarding metrics theory even though its lower ranked than Austin? Austin doesnt look very strong in metrics(especially their Stats masters coursework). also, does anybody know the degree of interaction between UNC and Duke? is it unheard of to get a Duke prof as thesis advisor being in UNC?

is it common to attend visit day if waitlisted? the waitlist email(and the friendly response I received after I emailed them saying them i was very interested) did not mention anything about a visit day... hope you get off one of your waitlists too!

does anybody know how likely it is for UT Austin waitlist to clear? (from experience or past results)

i don't know if it was correct of you to ask for your rank, since knowing it will only make you feel more/less emotionally calm and might not necessarily contribute to them place you higher up the waitlist. maybe somebody here can confirm/debunk this? til also, according to GC, most waitlist results come out in early april. so, like me, you've got some waiting to do. good that you've asked them, which i guess shows you're still interested

Quick question: im waitlisted for UT-Austin; should i wait until i get news or is it fine to email them asking if there's a ranking among the waitlisted? Austin is my ideal choice, atm, since i haven't heard back from many schools. whats the correct way to go about contacting a school im waitlisted for?