PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: US News Top 100 University, unranked in Economics
Undergrad GPA: 4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 157 Q, 163 V
Math Courses: 4.0 in Cal I-III, Linear Algebra, Intro to Stats, and Intro to Advanced Mathematics (proofs class). Enrolled in Real Analysis with an A at time of applications.
Econ Courses: 4.0 in Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, Advanced Macro, Math Methods for Economists, and International Economics
Letters of Recommendation: 1 letter from a professor I'd known for 2 years. 2 letters from professors that read and sat for my presentation on my Econometrics Senior Thesis. (These two also had PhDs from Northwestern University, which is where I got accepted to.)
Research Experience: 1 year undergraduate RAship
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Game theory, decision theory, I/O, and labor economics
SOP: Put A LOT of effort into my SOP because I have a unique background in CS and video game development that I plan to incorporate into my research.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, and University of Alabama (all fully funded)
Waitlists: UC Santa Barbara, University of Arizona, and Vanderbilt University. (Asked to be removed from all of them in lieu of the Northwestern offer.)
Rejections: UT Austin, University of Washington, U Chicago (Booth), UC Berkeley, Harvard University, and Stanford University
Attending: Northwestern University
Comments: "I can't believe that GRE score." I comment on what happened there below. This cycle, I took advantage of the fact that I did not have to submit GRE scores everywhere, and I only submitted them when necessary. In an ironic twist of events, the only schools I did submit my GRE scores to either accepted me without a waitlist or waitlisted me. I feel for international students that have to jump through perfect GRE scores, graduate degrees, and predocs to get into a T20 program, but I have to wonder if my experience shows that US students have a pretty definite upper hand (and perhaps should tone down the stress to do extra unless you performed poorly in your undergrad program).
Also, Notre Dame and Northwestern commented on my SOP positively in the admissions process, indicating that it might have played a larger role than people usually think it would.
What would you have done differently?
Take the GRE earlier... much, much earlier. I had some really sour circumstances that forced me to take it last minute with near zero studying, and application deadlines were right around the corner so I couldn't retake it. Had I gotten a higher GRE score, I could have applied to a much wider range of schools (maybe I should have anyway seeing my results). Still, I can't complain at all, and Northwestern was my dream school anyway. Call me a happy camper!
