jmkeynes

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 10 liberal arts Undergrad GPA: 3.58 (Math 3.46, Econ 3.76) Type of Grad: None Grad GPA: N/A GRE: Q:167 V:165 AW:5 Math Courses: Calc II/III, Lin Al, Probability, Statistics, Statistical computing, Intro to proofs (B+), Real Analysis (B+), Sampling Techniques, Stochastic Processes, Regression Econ Courses: Intro Macro/Micro. Intermediate Macro/Micro/Econometrics (all As). Senior research seminar. A smattering of random UG econ courses. Other Courses: Intro to CS, Data Structures, Artificial Intelligence Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors, one economist who RA'd for post-bac Research Experience: Senior Thesis, post-bac RA work Teaching Experience: UG TA (sort of like tutor for intro econ classes) Research Interests: Labor SOP: Unobserved by you all. Standard talk about interests, phd, experiences, etc... Other: RESULTS: Acceptances: Maryland, UW Madison, UT Austin, UC Davis, MSU Waitlists: MN (withdrawn) Rejections: UCLA, JHU, Penn St., BU, Michigan, Cornell Pending: none Attending: Madison Comments: Post-bac RA work is a super important signal and a great experience. Mediocre real analysis grade and low GPA didn't hamper me as much as people here would like you to believe. Benefitted from rigorous, name-brand undergrad (at least name-brand in academic world), good recs, and RA/TA work. Knew GPA precluded any top-10 admission, so tried to maximize number of schools applied to in the 10-25 range. What would you have done differently? Nothing. Obviously could have tried harder in Math classes, but I'm going to a school where I can accomplish my post-PhD goals.

Lol, a true EJMR'er: "outside of top 6, GTFO, placements=trash." I'm going to go ahead and second treblekicker on outside of top 25-30 the drop in placements accelerates. I know many people who went to sub-30 programs who are very happy with their decision and where they were placed, but you have to be honest to yourself about the range of outcomes when you decide on a program.

That post is old... Note how this years acceptance pattern was much different than all of the years in the past. They have a new director of graduate studies stepping in this cycle, Amil Petrin. He is clearly doing things differently, although I believe they still rank the waitlist explicitly. I would say them writing to you about your interest probably means they are considering extending an offer.

imho Duke looks a little troll-y. Cornell only sent out those top offers so far on GC, so I would guess massive decisions are coming down the pipeline.

Fellow liberal arts grad here, top 10. My gpa is a few points lower than yours, GRE a few points lower as well. RA experience post-grad. Accepted at two top-20, wl at one, no rejects so far. You'll be fine, but if it doesn't turn out, spend a year or two as an RA and you can get top-10 for sure. Perhaps LORs are not personal enough?

Hmm, I know a surefire way to ensure that rejections don't come after acceptances for you.. don't look at GC or Urch at all!!!