SG7

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 75 USWNR, Large State School Undergrad GPA: 3.71 Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: 167Q / 164V / 4.5 Math Courses: from undergrad: business calc I,II (A,A), Business stats (A); After undergrad, through state school online: Calc I-III (A+,A+,A-), Linear Algebra (A+), Intro to Proofs (A+), Intro to Analysis (A), Stats (IP) Econ Courses: Intro micro/macro (A,A,), Int Micro/macro (A,A), Environmental (A), Public (A), Comparative Systems (A), Intro Econometrics (B), Adv Econometrics (A), Game theory (B), a few seminar courses (all A's) Other Courses: Nothing relevant Letters of Recommendation: all from undergrad professors, all full/distinguished profs but not famous Research Experience: Basically none, tried to tie my work experience to research but it's not really a research role Teaching Experience: ​some math tutoring, nothing else Research Interests: Public/ Political economy/applied micro. Listed some potential research areas that are very niche but related to my work experience (4 years) SOP: Pretty good I think, got some help from a relative on copy-editing. Tailored for each school as much as possible. RESULTS: Acceptances: Clemson ($$$), UC Irvine (Off waitlist, $$), CU Boulder ($$$, off waitlist after 4/15) Waitlists: UC Irvine (Accepted), CU Boulder (Accepted after 4/15), USC (rejected) Rejections: Chicago Harris (had a fee waiver, otherwise wouldn't have tried), Duke, UCSD, UCSB, UVA, UMich, Vanderbilt, BU, UT Austin, Georgetown Pending: Maryland, UNC (never heard back from either, obviously rejections) Attending: UC Irvine Comments: I knew I would be a controversial applicant given my lack of research experience and several years of work experience, plus starting from scratch on math at a less prestigious university (& online). Really hard to say if I would've placed higher in a normal year, I think my letter writers thought I would but they don't send students to PhD programs that often, so I think they were basing it on placements from 5-10 years ago who did much better. Different game now. UCI has a reduced cohort this year, target was 12 compared to 20 in a normal year. Great research fit and seemingly super-positive environment. Very grateful they were willing to take a chance on me. What would you have done differently? The classic answer is gotten into research earlier and started math courses earlier, and of course that's true, but I had other focuses and interests in undergrad and I wouldn't give up those experiences for anything. No regrets on the application side either, I applied to my undergrad feeling comfortable that they would accept me, and only wanted to go somewhere else if it was considerably higher ranked so I didn't apply to anything below top-50 besides my alma mater. I have a two-body problem with a partner in industry, and California is super far away so that sucks, but I avoided applying anywhere that was difficult to get to (penn state, michigan state, etc).

I think I'm basically done for the cycle! I technically have 3 left (UMD, USC, UNC) but based on GC and how I've been faring this cycle, I'm comfortable assuming rejections. Ended up with 1a & 2wl so I'll wait a little longer to make my decision, but thank you all for the camaraderie, good luck, and I'll see you in the profile & results thread.

I got a similar response from UC irvine when I asked if there's much movement of the waitlist, I was told there's much less movement this year because fewer acceptances were made.

Also haven't heard from UT or UMD, but based on how I'm doing with comparable schools I'm assuming IR (doesn't mean you should). If you email them would you let us know the response?

I was wondering the same, some rejections already went out but there are only 2 interview invites on GC so far and no other acceptances or waitlists.

I'm still waiting on 8!!! 4 I can safely assume are IR, then UNC, UCSB, USC, Colorado-Boulder. I saw some UCSB yesterday but I'm not sure if they're done.

A bit disappointed I didn't hear from more schools this week, I'm still waiting on 8 (4 are IR).

UCSB, UNC, USC, UMD, and all the ones I was hoping to hear from last week lol. I'm still waiting on Texas, UVA, and Georgetown, any or all of which might be IR. So far I'm getting absolutely crushed this season.

I'm so confused, I thought Brown wasn't accepting apps at all this cycle? Why are there rejections on GC?

I did not receive this email, female/white for reference. I don't know if I should take that as a signal or I'm just not considered diverse.

They might be done, there are 8 acceptances but only 1 waitlist. So I don't have a ton of hope, but I still expect to hear one way or another.

I'm waiting on UVA, USC, Georgetown, and Texas this week (though I expect Texas to be delayed after last week).

Weird that Vanderbilt waitlists seem to be going out before acceptances and rejections. Has anyone gotten anything yet?

It was a reach for me in a normal year so thankfully I'm not playing the counterfactual-game, but I hope that some of the more realistic schools I applied to didn't see the same increase.

Haven't gotten anything yet, is it normal for it to take a few hours or does this mean they're going in batches?