PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: HYP (you can probably guess which)
Undergrad GPA: 3.70
GRE: 169 Quant
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP), Calc III (B), LA (A-), Analysis (A-), PDEs (B+), Probability Theory (P), Stochastic Calc (A), Measure Theory (A) (latter two were non-degree seeking courses as an RA at a much easier university)
Econ Courses: Honors Intermediate Micro/Macro/Metrics (A-), Game Theory (A), Junior Paper/Thesis (A), All Other Electives (A)
Letters of Recommendation: Two from undergrad professors in the Labor section, for my independent projects, two from Federal Reserve economists (one with ~3K cites, the other with much less)
Research Experience: Two independent projects as an undergrad with two different advisors, two years at regional Fed working on structural urban/macro projects
Teaching Experience: I graded for honors intermediate micro and macro as an undergrad
Research Interests: Broadly macro and labor, also open/international macro and spatial economics
SOP: Felt it was pretty good, although I updated my research statement halfway through my applications to be crisper (however, the place I'm ending up at ironically got the weaker version)
Other: On the diversity spectrum, I am a first-generation college student, but that's about it
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UW-Madison ($34,000 stipend years 1-2, $25,000 stipend years 3-5, no TA responsibilities in years 1 and 5), Boston University ($25,134 stipend), UT-Austin ($22,000 stipend, although offered more), UVA ($25,000 stipend), Maryland (I forget lmao), Rochester ($22,000 stipend years 1-2, $26,000 years 3-5), OSU ($34,420 year 1, much less thereafter)
Waitlists (all ended in rejection...): Chicago, NYU, Michigan, Minnesota, Duke, Cornell, Brown
Rejections: Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, UPenn, UCLA, Penn State
Pending: None
Attending: UW-Madison
Comments: Despite a fair final result, I'm a little disappointed in some ways. On one hand, UW-Madison is a decent result in line with both mine and my letter writers' expectations. However, to have been put on 7(!!) waitlists and to have converted 0(!!) of them was very disappointing, dare I say unheard of. To be fair, I did not try to convert Michigan, Brown, or Cornell. They were not good fits for my interests, and they knew this. But I was particularly disappointed with Duke (attended virtual visit day and later did an interview with them that I thought went very well) and Minnesota (attended virtual visit day also) because I felt they matched my research interests perfectly. I can't say I would've chosen differently, because UW-Madison really pursued me aggressively and made me feel like they wanted me/that I would belong there. But certainly made me feel shitty in the end.
What would you have done differently?
I probably would've just executed a bit better early in my undergrad coursework, but other than that I can't say I'd have changed much in particular.
