Profiles and Results 2011

[HealthEconGirl]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.S. Econ from top-30 U.S. university

Undergrad GPA: 3.76 / 4.0, magna cum laude

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: Q800, V720, AW5.5

Math Courses: Calc I&II (AP), Multivariable Calc (A), Diff Equ (A), Intro to Proofs (A), Upper-level Probability Theory (A), Lin Alg (A), Intro to Analysis (A-)

Econ Courses (grad-level): None

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Regular econ major courses (mostly A's, one B+ and one B), IO (B+), African Development (A-), Econ Reforms and Corruption (A-), Pol Econ of Growth, Redistribution and Poverty (A-), Intermediate Econometrics (A), Senior thesis seminar (A)

Letters of Recommendation: Senior thesis advisor (Columbia Ph.D.), one Assoc Prof (Foreign Ph.D.), one Epidemiologist (Berkeley Ph.D.), one former supervisor

Research Experience: Senior thesis, RA for epidemiologist since August 2010, Paid Internship where I basically do standard RA work (data cleaning, analysis) since June 2010

Teaching Experience: none really, but LORs talked about my potential for teaching

Research Interests: economics of global health, specifically HIV and sexual behavior in developing countries

SOP: Highlighted my senior thesis, significant time working in a developing country, and well defined research interests; customized to each school

Concerns: While I have extensive work experience that is relevant, it's not the standard econ RA work; no graduate econ classes despite being in a research univ.

 

RESULTS:

Attending: UCSD :D

Acceptances: UCSD ($), UBC ($$$)

Waitlists: U Mich (Withdrawn), UCLA (Withdrawn)

Withdrawn: BU, U Toronto

Rejections: UC Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Harvard, MIT, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Duke, UPenn, UMD College Park, NSF (Honorable Mention)

 

Comments:

 

Overall, I am very pleased with this result. Even though I had a lot of rejections (and that was hard), you only need one good admit, and I am extremely excited about UCSD. I applied to all of the top ten on the advice of my undergrad advisor, but I knew that cracking the top ten was a long shot.

 

The best thing I did was apply for the NSF GRFP. The application process, and particularly the process of developing a research proposal, really helped me crystallize my objectives and research interests, and I believe the experience made my SOPs that much stronger.

 

Taking my choice of undergrad institution, GPA, GRE, and work experience as given, there isn't much I would have done differently. However, writing the SOPs took me much, much longer than I expected. If I could do it again, I would start drafting SOPs over the summer.

 

A note about my LORs: a lot of people say that LORs from non-economists are useless. But I decided to go with an LOR from an epidemiologist who is extremely well know both within and outside her field, knows me really well, has a good sense for my research ability, and wrote me a glowing recommendation. I believe that if they are relevant to your research interests, LORs from disciplines that are close to econ, such as math, poli sci, or epidemiology, can be acceptable, and may even be preferable to letters from econ profs who barely know you.

 

I'm so glad the waiting is over!

[AREStudentHopeful]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. in economics from a satellite state school

Undergrad GPA: 3.35, 3.7 in econ

Type of Grad: M.A. Agricultural and Resource Economics from a large state school

Grad GPA: 3.45 (health problems in fall semester dropped from 3.6 to 3.45)

GRE: 780Q, 590V, 5.0AWA

Math Courses: Calc I-III (C, B, B+), Linear Algebra (A), Axiomatic Systems-Intro to Proofs (A), Intro to Stats (A), Advanced ODE (B)

Econ Courses (masters-level): Micro, Math for Econ, Applied Metrics, Agricultural Production, Water Economics, Research Methods in Economics, Natural Resource

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to micro, intro to macro, intermediate micro, intermediate macro, advanced macro, environmental, natural resource, comparative systems, developmental, money and banking, econometrics

Other Courses: Many environmental science courses

Letters of Recommendation: 5 econ professors (1 Davis ARE, 1 U Colorado, 1 Berkeley ARE, 1 NC State, 1 U Chicago) depending on what school I'm applying to based on their connections

Research Experience: RAed for an econ prof in undergrad, worked as an RA both years of my masters including one project that I'm getting published in a low-tier journal, masters thesis

Teaching Experience: TA for intro to micro and natural resource econ

Research Interests: Environmental is the main one, plus behavioral, urban and game theory on the side. I'm actually one of the few ARE-type people who enjoy theory (and macro).

SOP: Pretty standard plus very detailed paragraph individual to each school

Concerns: Not as stellar math grades as many of you, low undergrad GPA, no RA (a sin on this forum!)

 

RESULTS:

Attending: UCSB

Acceptances: UCSB ($?)

Waitlists: Wyoming

Rejections: UCSD, UCLA, Berkeley ARE, Davis ARE, U Colorado, U Arizona, ASU, NC State, Rutgers, Duke, Maryland ARE, Georgetown, NSF

 

Comments:

I'll stress how much LoR's matter. Just one unfortunate LoR seems to have diminished my results greatly. I would think that an acceptance from Colorado, Davis, Arizona and NC State would be likely without that LoR problem. That being said, I would pick UCSB over any of them so I am very happy with my result. I could probably have been on the borderline for ASU as well, and possibly Rutgers or Georgetown, but no regrets! For more insight into my comments on the process see here: http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/131231-advice-2-1-2-year-application-process.html

[aliceav23]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, Latin American University

Undergrad GPA: 3.9 cumulative, 3.9 Econ, 4.0 Math

Type of Grad: M.A. Economics, same university as undergrad

Grad GPA: 3.7

GRE: 800Q, 560V, 4.0AW

Math Courses: CalcI (A+), CalcII(A+), Linear Algebra (A), Probability (A), Statistics (A+), Numerical Methods (A+)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Microeconomics I (A) Microeconomics II (A) Macroeconomics I (A) Macroeconomics II (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Microeconomics (A+,A,A) Macroeconomics (A,B+,A), Econometrics (B+, A), Finance (A+,A+)

Other Courses: Statistics packages (A+)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 UCLA PhD, 1 LSE PhD, 1 Minnesota PhD, 1 T&A M.A. (head of the economics department)

Research Experience: RA in research center, currently research analyst in governmental institution

Teaching Experience: TA of Microeconomics II (Undergrad) for 3 years, TA of Econometrics II, TA of Microeconomics I and II (graduate level), currently part-time teacher Mathematics for Economists

Research Interests: micro theory, applied micro, IO, game theory

SOP: Standard

Concerns: LORs and the fact that my university is not that known

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Duke, Maryland, BU, Toulouse M2

Waitlists: Brown

Rejections: NYU, Northwestern, Minnesota, UCSD, Carnegie Mellon, CalTech, Cornell, UPenn

Attending: Duke

 

Comments:

If i had known I wanted this from the start that I wanted a PhD, I would've taken many more math courses in a university close to mine. I actually enjoy math but my university didn't offer RA until last year when I was out. That said, I probably would've applied to a more well known masters, however the students that are coming out of my program now know that they can get into a top 20 US school so that makes me happy.

Edited April 18, 2011 by aliceav23

[EnvEcon]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Economics and Business in a top economics university in Europe

Undergrad GPA: We have a different grading system, I would say "good" but not "excellent"

Type of Grad: Economics in the same university

Grad GPA: Again, comparison is difficult; I went way better than my undergrad (especially for math and stat classes) but still not at the top.

GRE: 770Q, 630V, 3.5AW

Math Courses: Basic math&stat + dynamic optimization and inferential statistics

Econ Courses: Basic undergrad courses + lot of grad courses, mainly applied econ (labour, development, energy, international econ, applied macro, behavioural economics) and solid econometric background

Other Courses: Some history and law classes, especially during undergrad

Research Experience: About one year RA in a well known European energy research center within an economics faculty.

Letters of Recommendation: All during my RA period: one from my supervisor, one from the head of the research group (very well known in the energy field), one from a Phd now in the US. As far as I know, all of them are very good and detailed.

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Applied micro in general, environmental, development, behavioural

SOP: I put a lot of weight on my RA job and my graduate studies. I specified my research interests and career goals but I didn't mentioned any professor in particular with which I wanted to work.

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Maryland Econ (waitlist for $), Maryland AgEcon ($), Purdue AgEcon ($), Wyoming Econ ($), Madrid Carlos III ($)

Waitlists:

Rejections: UCB AgEcon, UCSB, UBC, Tinbergen, Cornell AEM

Pending: Stockholm School of Economics

Attending: Maryland AgEcon

What would you have done differently?

1) I feel that I have been ruled out from some programs due to my GRE quant score, just a bit below 90%.

2) Applied to more places, perhaps some more Econ programs.

3) Did an undergraduate in economics. It would have been way more painful, but I would have been much more prepared for the graduate program (and got better grades).

4) For the econ programs only, doing some more theoretical macro/micro stuff could help, but who knows.

5) Prepare applications carefully from the beginning! Actually, for me it was a learning-by-doing process: for UCSB application (the first I sent), for instance, I didn't include syllabus of econ and math classes.

 

Other considerations

1) I feel that here people overestimate GRE and grades and underestimate the weight AdComs give to how much overall a candidate fit into the program. Maryland AgEcon was an excellent fit for me (given my interests and research experience) and that put me above other candidates with better grades/GRE.

2) LORs are incredibly useful, one of the few things of an application which can show what is your research potential. Being a RA opened many doors, too.

3) Networking with faculty researchers is fundamental, especially if you are lucky enough to be a RA; in the application process, many people see Professors only as LORs writers, but first of all they are experienced people from which you can learn how to properly do research even after your admission. Starting a Phd with a network of young and senior researchers is a tremendous advantage.

Edited April 18, 2011 by EnvEcon

[petecheese]

Type of Undergrad: BA in Business Finance. Top Univ in middle east

Undergrad GPA: 82/100 (3.4/4.0)

Type of Grad: M.A. in Economics from same university

Grad GPA: 91/100 (4.0/4.0)

GRE: 780Q 470V 4.0AW

Math Courses: Calc 1 (AP), Calc 2 (AP), Calc 3 (98/100), Linear Algebra (87/100), ODE (83/100), Econ Stats (80/100)

Econ Courses: Intermediate micro (87), Intermediate macro (99), Econometrics (80). Lots of grad courses (Micro, Macro, econometrics, monetary, etc...) Almost all 90+

Other Courses: A lot of finance courses (although lost interest in finance as field of study but had them from Ugrad)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from professor and chair, PHD York (Really good letter), 1 from assistant prof, PHD Princeton (Very enthusiastic), 1 from assistant professor PHD Toulouse (standard), 1 from visiting professor (Should be good)

Research Experience: RA for about a year. Recent conference presentation in Poland (awaiting scientific board for publication in conference proceedings)

Teaching Experience: GA/TA for 2 years (undergrad and grad econometrics)

Research Interests: Development, Applied micro (empirical mostly), and applied econometrics

Concerns: Low Ugrad GPA, No proof based math courses, semi unknown school

 

RESULTS:

Attending: Texas A&M (TAMU)

Acceptances: Iowa State, Virginia Tech, BGSE (UPF), Tinbergen, Uconn

Rejections: UIUC, PSU, Wisconsin-madison, Rice, Toronto (doctoral Stream), Tilburg, Arizona, BC, UNC (initially wait listed)

Comments:

Honestly, i was really happy with my results and quite surprised. I had a weak-average Undergrad performance to make up, and come from a relatively unknown Middle Eastern school.

I think what did it for me was LORS. I cannot emphasize how important LORs are, and how important it is to build good relations with professors (RA, TA, visit office hours and talk about research, etc...).

Also for some smaller programs (specifically Vtech if anyone is ever interested in that school ), i think what got me in was my SOP. Very tailored to their school. I think people underestimate the role of the SOP. Outside of the top 10, i think it can be a very useful tool and should be taken seriously (ofcourse this does not apply to all schools outside the top10, but for some of the smaller programs, "fit" is very important.

In the end, Thank GOD this whole process is done, and i am more than happy to attend TAMU :), although the location i am not so ecstatic about :P.

[Economics Dude]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.S.B.A. Economics from Top 15 public, Top 50 Econ (considered public Ivy for whatever that's worth)

Undergrad GPA: 3.94/4 (Summa cum laude - Won Outstanding Scholar Award, sort of equivalent to Valedictorian)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA:

GRE: 800Q/630V/4.5AWA (Not a native speaker of English)

Math Courses: Calc sequence, Sets and Logic (Intro to proofs), Diff Eq, Linear Algebra, Intro to Prob, Intro to Stats Theory, Regression Analysis, Advanced Calc, Modern Analysis (All A's, no A+ at my school, except for 1 B+ on the easiest class, Diff Eq.)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro Theory

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Usual stuff plus Empirical Research seminar (All A's)

Other Courses: AEA Summer Training Program: Econometrics, Micro Theory, Applied Micro, Research - 5 A's 2 A+'s and 1 A- (Only 3 professors gave A+'s - I missed one)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 director of AEASTP (Ph.D. Chicago), 1 professor (Ph.D. Chicago), 1 professor and current boss (Ph.D. Yale), 1 professor and current boss (Ph.D. Florida). Should all be strong. My office is on the same hallway as virtually all econ professors. I run into them every day and chat with them often (usually about random things besides econ, though).

Research Experience: RA'ed as an undergrad. Won a grant to conduct research as undergrad. Presented replication and extension of a paper at the AEASTP. Currently work as a Associate Research Economist at a research center in the university where I got my degree from.

Teaching Experience: TA'ed for almost 2 years for 1 introductory and 1 intermediate econ course.

Research Interests: Labor, Econometrics, Public Econ/Choice.

SOP: Long (about 2 pages).

 

RESULTS:

NSF Honorable Mention

Acceptances: Duke MA(some $),BU (no 1yr$), BC($$), UT-Austin ($$), Rochester($$$), UCSD($)

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Berkeley, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, and Michigan.

Attending: UCSD

 

What would you have done differently?

I guess I could have moved to the US for high school and gone to a better undergrad institution, but I was having too much fun in Brazil at the time. I guess I could also have had more math (isn't that almost always the case?) In any case, I will be attending one of my top choices, which also happens to be right by the ocean.. I couldn't ask for much more.

[dr12]

PROFILE

Type of Undergrad: BS economics and physics from top 10 university

Undergrad GPA: 3.95

GRE: 800Q 620V 5.0AW

Math Courses: Multivariable Calc, Linear Algebra, Probability, Statistics, Diff EQs, Complex Analysis, Data Analysis

Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics (3 terms)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Macro, Micro, IO, Game Theory, Econometrics, Auctions, Finance, Options, Organization Design

Other Courses: Lots of physics courses

Letters of Recommendation: 1 famous, 1 well-known, 1 assistant prof (all econ)

Research Experience: Job in private industry focused on econ analysis, research, and data work

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Micro theory

SOP: Standard

Concerns: No research within academia or published papers

Other: Worked for several years in private industry after undergrad

RESULTS

Acceptances: Northwestern, UCLA, UCSD

Waitlists: MIT

Rejections: Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Chicago, Princeton, Yale

Attending: Northwestern

 

Comments: I think working in private industry the last five years likely prevented me from cracking the top-5. I think it is legitimately viewed as a risk (e.g., potential for rusty math skills, concern of going back into private industry, added likelihood of personal distractions) - a friend I have in graduate school says that the older graduate students tend not to do as well on average (at least in his class). Additionally, it becomes harder to get academic letters of recommendation. I would recommend that people who have worked for a few years and are thinking about pursuing an econ phd to take a graduate economics course or two through a local university's extension program (if you can fit it in while working). Outside of being informative/beneficial for you, it will strengthen your application and maybe set you up for a fresher LoR. That being said, I am very excited about Northwestern as my interests are in micro theory and it has always been in my personal top-5. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to know anything else.

[nat_resource]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS environmental science with chemistry minor from a public master's granting university

Undergrad GPA: 3.55

Type of Grad: master's in an environmental field from a well recognized program

Grad GPA: 3.8

GRE: 780Q 590V 4.0W

Math Courses: Calculus I & II, Vector Calculus I, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations I (B+ average)

Econ Courses (undergrad): intermediate micro (A)

Econ Courses (master's level): Micro I & II (B+, A), Intro Econometrics (A), Econometrics (A-), Environmental Economics (A-), Natural Resources Economics (A)

Other Courses: a lot of chemistry and environmental science, some biology

Letters of Recommendation: Two very strong letters from economists, one from an ecologist. All three are well known in their fields.

Research Experience: EPA graduate research fellowship, master's thesis

Research Interests: Natural resources and environmental, interdisciplinary environmental economics.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UC Davis ARE ($$$), Maryland AREc ($$), Wisconsin AAE ($$), UCSB (none), U Washington (none), NCSU (none)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Yale School of Forestry, Cornell AEM, UCB ARE

What would you have done differently? Not applied to NCSU. Should have thrown an application to UCSD and Michigan as reaches. Overall I did okay for someone with a limited economics background.

[beeconomist]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Math and Economics double major at Maryland

Undergrad GPA: 3.9 overall, 4.0 math, 3.7 economics

GRE: 770Q, 730V, AWA 4.5

Math Courses: Calc II (A+), Calc III (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Differential Equations (A), Intro to Analysis (A), Number theory (A), Probability and Statistics (A), Advanced Calculus (A-), Math of Finance (A), Stochastic Processes (A), Advanced Calculus II (A), Advanced Linear Algebra (A) , Numerical Analysis (IP)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A-), Intro Macro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Econometrics I (A+), Development (A), Honors Thesis I (A), Risk and Uncertainty in Economics (IP), Mathematical Economics (IP), Econometrics II (IP), Honors Thesis II (IP)

Other Courses: C Programming (A), Writing for Economics (A+)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 very strong from assistant professor I've RA'd for a year and a half, 1 very strong from distinguished professor I've RA'd for a year, 1 semi-strong from professor who is director of the econ honors thesis program

Research Experience: RA for macro professor (1 and a half years), RA for environmental economics professor (1 year), received a grant to complete a math research project, 2 summer research programs for women in mathematics, honors thesis

Teaching Experience: Tutored math for a semester

Research Interests: When I applied, it was macro. Now I'm interested in learning more about public, health, environmental, and agricultural and food policy.

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Maryland (graduate assistantship), NYU (fellowship), Penn (waitlist for funding), UVA (fellowship), Duke (1st year tuition), GW (fellowship)

Waitlists: Columbia, Johns Hopkins

Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, UNC, Georgetown

Attending: Maryland

[ggoofer]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Econ, Math at Non-HYP Ivy

Undergrad GPA: 3.89 overall, 3.94 Math, 3.97 Econ (out of 4)

GRE: 790 Q, 660 V, 4.5 AWA

Math Courses (undergrad level): Baby Linear Algebra (A+), Multivariable Calc (A), Honors Analysis (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Honors Algebra (A-), Topology (A), Stochastic Processes (A+)

Math Courses (grad level): Measure Theory (A+), Applied Functional Analysis (A), Algebra (A), Probability (A), Topics in Group Theory (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad level): Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Prob & Stat (A+), Intro to Econometrics (A+), Money and Banking (A-), Financial Economics (A+), Game Theory (A), Intertemporal Economics (A+), Trade (A+)

Econ Courses (grad level): Micro I (A), Micro II (A), Decision Theory II (A+), Contract Theory (in prog)

Other Courses: Stochastic Calculus for Finance (A-)

Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ, 1 math. I know these people well. Expecting strong letters.

Research Experience: Econ, none worth mentioning. Spent a summer working on finite group theory with a math prof here. Learned how much I hate group theory.

Teaching Experience: TAing is not allowed. I have done a lot of tutoring for the department since sophomore year.

Research Interests: Micro theory topics

SOP: Weak. Did not spend much time.

RESULTS:

Attending: Northwestern

Acceptances: Northwestern ($$$$), Berkeley ($$), Princeton ($$$), Yale ($$$$), UMN ($), Cornell ($$$)

Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Chicago

What would you have done differently? Not much really. Very happy with my results. I should have spent more time on my SOP probably. Wish I could have gotten econ research in somehow, but it is borderline impossible to get anything that is not applied/data monkey work (and any theory stuff you do yourself e.g. for thesis most likely sucks). Also would have stopped taking undergrad econ courses a lot sooner. Most are a waste of time.

Edited April 20, 2011 by ggoofer

[oleador]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA International Economics, unknown Eastern European school

Undergrad GPA: 3.4/4

Type of Grad: MSc Economics, Barcelona GSE

Grad GPA: 6.78/10

GRE: 780Q, 560V, 3.5AW

Math Courses: Advanced math for economists(B) – one year course which includes uni- and multivariate calclulus, linear algebra, difference and differential equations, set theory and basic topology, intro to real analysis; Probability and Statistics (B), Theoretical Statistics (A), Optimization (A)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro theory (D :(), Advanced Micro theory (A – some improvement over micro :)), Econometrics (B), Advanced Econometrics I ©, Macroeconomics (A), International Economics (B), Experimental Economics (B), Econ growth (A).

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Microeconomics (B), Macroeconomics (B), other standard courses

Letters of Recommendation: All from BGSE, should have been quite good.

Research Experience: Macroeconomic research analyst at an investment bank (2.5 years)

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: Macroeconomics, international economics and finance, economics of information

SOP: Standard, focused on research interests and ideas

Concerns: Many… My profile has many drawbacks as you can see.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: U Houston ($$), Warwick (no $)

Rejections: Maryland, Carnegie Mellon, Emory, LSE MSc, UBC MA, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, McGill, Simon Fraser, WUSTL, USC

Attending: University of Houston

 

COMMENTS:

I realized that I want to do a PhD only after I finished my BA and started working. If I knew this since my first year of undergrad I would study much harder and would have a much better GPA. To some extent getting an MSc from a top European school helped me, though my performance there was quite mediocre (due to poor undergrad preparation). I have made a large progress by now and studied a lot on my own, so now I am confident that now I am well prepared to study at a PhD level.

Finally, given my terrible profile, it's good that I got into U of Houston, which could not be a top school, but fits my interests and has quite decent placement.

[callmebetty]

PROFILE:

 

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics, top college for humanities and social sciences in my country (in South Asia), unknown internationally

Undergrad GPA: Not yet complete. 76% so far-first class honours

Type of Grad:-

Grad GPA:-

GRE: 800 Q 740 V 5.5 AWA

Math Courses: Mathematical Methods for Economics, Linear Algebra and Calculus

Econ Courses: Intermediate Macro and Micro, Development Theory, International Economics,Public Economics, Money and Finance, Political Economy, Introductory Econometrics

Other Courses: Statistics for Economics, Formal Logic

Letters of Recommendation: All from senior college professors who'd taught me for at least a year and knew me well, one of them also the head of the department. Very strong in all likelihood.

Research Experience: None

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Development Economics and International Economics. I'm also developing a belated liking for Public Economics. Behavioural Economics also sounds interesting, though I've never studied it. And Econometrics is one of my favourite subjects in college. I obviously need to figure this out.

SOP: Managed to include all that I thought was relevant without making it too long. Was quite satisfied with it.

 

RESULTS:

 

Applied to: LSE (Msc Economics), Cambridge (Diploma+MPhil in Economics), Oxford (Mphil Economics),Warwick (Msc Economics), UCL (Msc Economics)

Acceptances: LSE, Cambridge, Warwick

Waitlists: -

Rejections: Oxford

Pending: UCL

 

What would you have done differently? Not much. I'm very happy I got through LSE and Cambridge. Not surprised about Oxford, as they rarely take BA students from my university and the ones that do get in have exceptional grades. I don't, so of course there's always the feeling that I could have worked harder, both for my grades and on the essays that were required for the Oxford application. But the focus is now on doing really well in my Master's and getting some research experience so I can figure out what area to specialise in and have a stab at top PhD programmes.

[HeyNomad]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Small but highly regarded LAC. Degree: BA, Economics

Undergrad GPA: 3.91 in major, 3.89 overall

Type of Grad: Large state school (highly ranked within the field). Degree: MA, Education

Grad GPA: 4.0

GRE: 720Q/800V/5.0W

Math Courses: Embarrassingly little. Just one semester of calculus, stats (A in both)

Econ Courses: The usual macro & micro (the latter was very math intensive), urban political economy, international trade, history of economic though, Marxism, various seminars (all A's, with a B+ in intermediate micro))

Other Courses: Some math-intensive physics and environmental science courses

Letters of Recommendation: Very strong and personal recommendations from three profs who know me very well, including one who was a graduate of UMass and pretty well known, as far as heterodox people go

Research Experience: All in econ: independent study, grant-funded student/faculty collaborative research project, honors thesis (presented at an undergraduate conference/paper competition where it won 1st place in macroeconomics category)

Teaching Experience: TA and/or tutor for several intro/intermediate micro/macro courses, taught high school econ (for whatever that’s worth—probably not much)

Research Interests: History, philosophy, & methodology of economics, political economy, public economics, comparative economic systems

SOP: Emphasized my strengths while acknowledging my shortcomings; talked about how I’ve worked to overcome them (a great deal of self-directed study in math). Emphasized research and teaching experience, originality of thesis. Made a case for my research interests as unique and worthwhile, and successfully (I assume) presented myself as a potential asset for the department.

Other: College honors, department honors, Phi Beta Kappa, award in economics presented annually by the college

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UMKC ($$), Denver U (M.A.) ($), New School (meh), UUtah ($$), UMass Amherst ($$ + fellowship)

Application withdrawn: LSE philosophy and economics (I always knew LSE was both a long shot and impractical for other personal reasons; once I got an offer from UMass in mid-February, I decided to bail on LSE)

Waitlists: NA

Rejections: UC-Riverside

Attending: UMass Amherst

What would you have done differently? UMass was by far my top choice, not just within the set of departments I applied to. I received a TA/Instructorship, plus a University Fellowship for at least the first year, which grants a larger stipend and frees me from teaching obligations, so I’m pretty pleased overall. Nonetheless, I do wish I had taken more math as an undergrad (at the time, I didn’t expect to be going on in economics). I had been very sick for several days when I took the GRE, which is what I'm blaming my low quant score on. I guess I was risk-averse and chose not to retake. I’m still not sure that was a good decision, but it didn’t hurt me, so oh well. If I'd gotten my act together, I would have applied to more UK/Continental schools.

Edited April 20, 2011 by HeyNomad

[akmandal]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 100 LAC, Midwest

Undergrad GPA: 2.83, 3.1 in Econ Major, CS minor

Type of Grad: MS Applied Econ Illinois State University

Grad GPA: 3.24

GRE: 730 Q 650 V 4.0 AWA

Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc-II (B+), Stats and Data Analysis-I (A-), Adv Stats for Social Sciences: A, Discrete Math: C+

Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro, Micro, Econometrics I, II, III; Advanced Public Finance, International Trade, International Finance

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Whole bunch, includes Math Econ, Intermediate Macro Micro

Other Courses: Security Analysis

Letters of Recommendation: 1 prof from Chicago, 1 a Harvard fellow from Colorado, 1 Stats professor from UIUC

Research Experience: RA for Public Finance prof, Research Paper on Ricardian Equivalence published in 2nd tier journal

Teaching Experience: TA for undergrad stats

Research Interests: Energy economics, Macro, Econometrics

SOP: Should be alright

Concerns: Low GPA, GRE

Other:

 

Results:

In: UKY (wl$, withdrew application), Clemson, UWyo ($$), Auburn, Utah State ($$), UGA ($), Western Michigan, UNM

Out: GSU, Oregon State, West Virginia, Rhode Islan, RAND Pardee, MSU

Attending: University of Wyoming

What would I have done differently: I should have thought about graduate school during undergrad and about a PhD during my Masters. All in all, given my marginal grades and GRE scores, I am very happy how I ended up. I think letters of recommendation can do wonders for one's profile.

[Chevrox]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: State flagship

Undergrad GPA: 3.68

Type of Grad: Non-degree (part time classes while working)

Grad GPA: 3.66

GRE: V650Q800W4.0

Math Courses: Very limited; took AP Calc I&II in high school; intro statistics (A-) and into econometrics (A) only in college; and Calc III (A+), Math methods in Econ (B+), and linear algebra (right now) after college

Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro, math methods

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): 2 micro, 2 macro, 2 environmental, 1 natural resources, 3 public finance, 1 developmental, among others

Other Courses: Second major was French and Spanish; took 1 accounting class

Letters of Recommendation: 2 professors from undergrad econ department and 1 from a former manager from a well-known financial services company

Research Experience: was a volunteer at a medical lab

Teaching Experience: taught classes at the company where I'm working

Research Interests: local environmental regarding habitat destruction due to land/resource use, alternative energy, environmental legislation, open to secondary concentration in public finance and developmental economics

SOP: Got a really bad review from one of the LOR writers which prompted a semi-rewrite. Realized what they are but couldn't part with some cheesy cliches that are too dear to me. One paragraph dedicated to justifying wanting to attend each school. Identified general learning and research goals. Identified unique situation (working while taking more math classes)

Concerns: have 1 non-academic LOR; not enough math; so-so undergrad grades; typos in SOP sent to 2 schools; generally didn't research enough prior to applying

Other: TOEFL ibt R30/L30/S30/W29 (only a couple schools required it despite undergrad in US); having been working FT for almost 3 years since undergrad; native of China

Applying to: UTAustin, UPitt, Purdue, CUBoulder, UOregon

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: CUBoulder (no$), Uoregon ($?)

Waitlists: none

Rejections: UTAustin, UPitt, Purdue

Pending: none

What would you have done differently?

1. Should have applied to more schools. I picked 5 public schools on a ranking gradient from the Association of American Universities and thought it would have sufficed. I wasn't wrong, but I probably would have had a much better chance at funding if I applied to at least 10.

2. More math! I took Calc I & II in high school and didn't take Calc 3 until 2 years after graduating college. The only math class I took during my undergrad was statistics, and at the time I was applying I didn't even have a grade for either Calc III or Linear Algebra, which are requisites for almost all schools.

3. Should have done a lot more research before applying. I pretty much just winged it; had I known about this forum when I was applying I think I would have done better as well.

[frozenchip]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad

: Top 10 University (Overall, Econ, Math) (top 5 depending on the ranking system)

Undergrad GPA

: 3.8 Math + Econ

GRE:

780M/750V/5.5A

Math Courses:

Calculus (honors), Analysis (real and complex), Algebra (honors), ODE (mostly A's, couple A-/B+), some other logic type stuff

Econ Courses

: Micro (Intermediate), Macro (Intermediate and Advanced), Econometrics (Honors, Topics, Advanced), some random joke topic classes (Population economics, econ of crime, etc) (mostly A's, couple A-)

Other Courses

: Statistical Modeling, Probability Theory, Intermediate level CS courses

Letters of Recommendation:

1 Stanford PhD, 1 Harvard PhD, 1 Berkeley PhD (All both supervisors and professors, 2 well known, the 3rd very very well known)

Research Experience

: Undergrad Thesis, 3 years as an U-Grad RA, 1.5 year econ consulting (I've heard others complain about this, but I actually run regressions, plan pricing surveys, etc...)

Teaching Experience

: Math TA (3 years) for Calculus

Research Interests

: IO/Micro/Dev

SOP

: Generic (was told to make it as bland as possible by my profs)

Concerns

: the couple B+ grades; spent waaay too much time on non-academic activities in college (but I did have a blast)

Other

: Facing the academic two-body problem.

Applying to

: Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Chicago(Booth), Northwestern(Kellogg), Berkeley, NYU, UPenn(Wharton), NYU(Stern)

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances:

Yale ($$$$), Northwestern Kellogg ($$$), NYU Stern ($$$), Chicago Booth (accepted off wait list)

Waitlists:

MIT (eventually rejected), Chicago (removed self from w/l), Columbia (removed self from w/l), UPenn Wharton (removed self from w/l)

Rejections:

Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley

Attending:

Yale

What would I have done differently/recap:

A 3.8 (including grad/honors sequences) is common among applicants to top 5 schools. However I had the benefit of going to a major research institution, a place where anyone who shows even an iota of interest immediately gets placed into a research assistant position with a professor. And not just any schmuck who is bound to be bounced when he or she is up for tenure. Rather an average position may entail working directly under a Bates Clark winner, Nobel prize winner or senior Obama appointee (or a combination of thereof). Thanks to this, my recommendations came from highly visible economics and business faculty. While my grades were sufficient to keep me in the running, my research and recommendation letters likely put me over the top.

 

So I may have not been admitted to the top 2 (Harvard, MIT), but I clearly broke the ranks of the top 5 and top 10. How could I have broken the "super-elite" ceiling (yes, I'm calling MIT and Harvard the "super-elite" - I can already hear the whining of the "elite")?

 

Now keep in mind my sample size is extremely small (it includes just me, the noise inherent in graduate admissions may have been what kept me out)

 

I could have gotten better grades. For those coming from undergraduate studies at a top research school (e.g. Berkeley, Stanford, Chicago, Northwestern, MIT, or an Ivy) - I suggest spending more time on the books and less on non-economic extracurricular activities. I spent easily 40/hrs a week on such "useless in terms of econ PhD admission" activities (for me these included debate-style events in addition to student artistic productions); this meant there was less than 25-30 hrs/week for classes, studying and homework. I should have reversed the two. A grade range of 3.8-3.9 isn't too difficult to achieve. A 3.95 does however stand out. [Note: People talk about a gentleman's C; today it really is a gentleman's B+. Put in a couple more hours of work and that becomes a marginal A-. This is excluding some of my math and stat classes. I had a couple of "old school" bad-asses that stuck to a rigid grading scale that was both fair and had a C+/B- tendency.]

 

However I have no regrets. Hell, I'm going to a top school. I had a great time as an undergrad, both doing econ research and running debate. If getting into a better grad school meant cutting out one of the things I really loved doing (and where I made some of my best friends and met my girlfriend), forget the grad school.

 

Edited April 26, 2011 by frozenchip

[barkles]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: B.S. double major in Mathematics and Economics from large public US university (top 15 econ)

Undergrad GPA: 3.80 - will graduate summa cum laude

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA:

GRE: 770Q/630V/4.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Lin. Algebra and Diff. Eqs. Applied Linear Algebra, Real Analysis I & II, Abstract Algebra I & II, Probability and Statistics I & II, Topology, Stochastic Processes (gpa ~ 3.80)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): 4 intro courses, International Trade, Financial Economics, Econometrics, Game Theory, Industrial Organization, Cost-Benefit Analysis (IP), Macroeconomic Policy (IP) (gpa = 4.00)

Other Courses: 1 class in C++ programming

Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ profs, one senior faculty who I took a course with and one junior faculty who I'm doing research with right now, plus a math professor who is my adviser for my honors thesis and who I did a bunch of research for.

Research Experience: Did research in the math department (at first just to do it, ended up being the material for my honors thesis) for a professor at my school. We will try to get the work published eventually; we're working on a draft right now. Also am an RA for an economics professor which began right before I started applying.

Teaching Experience: Just some tutoring, nothing major. Didn't mention it on any apps

Research Interests: Macro (?) Really don't know actually.

SOP: Pretty standard I think. I didn't feel that great about it, but my LOR writers said they thought it was strong FWIW

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Carnegie Mellon ($$$), UCSD($), UIUC ($$), Iowa ($$), UPitt($$)

Waitlists: Wisconsin*, Princeton (later rejected)

Rejections: MIT, Yale, Northwestern, NYU, Michigan, Rochester

Attending: Carnegie Mellon University

 

*Based on my short email conversations with the department, I believe I would have been made an offer if I had still been interested. However, I was pretty set on CMU at that point and asked them to withdraw me from their waitlist.

 

What would you have done differently?

I think there are two main things that hindered me from breaking the top 10. The first was my relatively low GRE quant score of 770. I only took the test once, and by the time I realized that the median accepted student had an 800 GRE Q score at basically every school I was applying to it was too late to try to retake it. The second thing was a couple of mediocre math scores that could easily have been higher: a B in topology and a B+ in Abstract Algebra II. I took both of these spring semester of my junior year, and for some reason I decided to go into mega-slacking mode right before finals. Here's a continuous bijection for you: finals: A -> B. Wah wah. Those were the two biggest "warning flags" on my transcript I think; if I could go back and change any two grades, those would be the ones.

 

I also wish I would have taken a couple of grad school classes, either in math or in econ. Undergraduate econ classes are for the most part mind-numbingly boring in my experience, with only precious few exceptions.

 

Overall, though, I'm perfectly happy with my results and with the prospect of attending Carnegie Mellon in the fall.

[urray]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA, Major Economics, Minor Mathematics one of the top schools in Middle East

Undergrad GPA: 3.7/4

Type of Grad: MA Economics, same university

Grad GPA: 3.85 /4

GRE: 790Q, 600V, 4.5AW

TOEFL:116/120

Math Courses: UG Level: Calculus Sequence, Linear Algebra, Probability, Statistics, Discrete Mathematics

Grad Level: Real Analysis, Measure Theory, Stochastic Calculus, Abstract Algebra

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I-II (Taken at senior year in UG), Matching and Auction Theory (Taken at senior year in UG), Macro I-II, Metrics I-II, Advanced Topics in Macro Theory, Advanced Topics in Game Theory

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Way too many to list.

Letters of Recommendation: 1 Minnesota PhD, 1 Rochester PhD, 1 BU PhD, all should be very good,

Research Experience: Co-authoring a paper with one of the LoR writers, which had incredibly good feedback from a few conferences, going to submit it pretty soon.

Teaching Experience: 8 semester of TA for a variety of classes, (intro to Micro, intro to Game Theory, etc.) Instructed the math camp for incoming graduate students at our university.

Research Interests: Game Theory

SOP: Pretty standard, I actually forgot to change the phrase "university X" to the name of the university in a few cases

Concerns: My GPA in the first two-years in undergrad where I took the majority of the ug level math courses was lowish (around 3.4) Got a C+ plus from linear algebra as I had to skip an exam due to a medical condition(did not mention the reason in my sop), 790Q in GRE

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: NYU, Kellogg Mecs, Minnesota, Michigan, Caltech, CMU, Boston U, Rochester, JHU, WL from WUSTL

Rejections: Yale, Brown, Columbia GSB

 

COMMENTS:

I decided to do a PhD only around my junior year or so, I wasn't even actually planning to study economics when I entered university. I did pretty stupid things in my first two years, I think my overall attendance was around %10 or so of the classes, entered some exams after night-outs without sleeping etc. On the other hand I took quite a bit of grad courses in my last two years as an undergraduate, as a result I had a chance focus on research on my masters. I actually came up with my own idea for the current paper we are writing pretty early in my masters. Then again due to a death in the family I couldn't get it published before the admission season started, hence didn't bother to apply to top 5. In retrospect, I think I should have given it a shot. And if I had the opportunity I would slap my younger self for my behavior in my first two-years.

[philecon]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS Business Economics, relatively unknown university in Southeast Asia

Undergrad GPA: no idea how to convert it, but I graduated magna cum laude (Rank: 7/150)

GRE: 800Q, 590V, 5.0AW

TOEFL:112/120

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis and Math Stats

Econ Courses: the standard Econ courses, nothing special

Letters of Recommendation: 1 Northwestern PhD, 1 Ohio State PhD, 1 PhD from my uni

Research Experience: undergrad thesis (won an award, forthcoming in local journal), RA for six months

Research Interests: Health Economics, Industrial Organization

SOP: Pretty standard

Concerns: I shifted from Accounting to Economics, and I took a leave for a year to take a break; first to apply as an undergrad from my school (never been done ever)

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Georgetown, LSE EME, BGSE MS Economics, CEMFI MSc Economics and Finance, PSU (from waitlist)

Waitlists: PSU (eventually admitted, but without funding), Michigan (rejected off the WL though)

Rejections: Northwestern, Columbia, Brown, Penn, Virginia, Stanford, Duke, Singapore Management

 

COMMENTS:

I wasn't an economics major when I entered college, and I left school for a year after sophomore year (since something happened to me) to evaluate myself, and the direction I was going. I accidentally stumbled upon economics, and I found out that I loved it. Like the previous poster, however, I decided to do a PhD only around my junior year, so I had to cram a lot of math during my last two years, plus take the economics classes. I knew it was a huge risk, applying with only an undergrad degree, as most students from my university had at least a year of graduate coursework before applying to even European masters. I am very pleased with my results, though, and I look forward to attending the program that I chose. :) The only things that I probably would've done differently are: (1) I would've probably majored in math when I first thought about it (since my Math average is significantly higher than my Business average), or that I would've done my undergrad in the US when I had the chance and (2) I would've probably applied to mainly masters programs.

 

I guess I'll be back again for Fall 2013 PhD admissions. ;)

[ryanmagic]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Rank 3 University in China (Fudan), B.A. of econonmics, with one semester exchange experience in UC Davis.

Undergrad GPA: 3.57 in Fudan, top 10%; 4.0 in UC Davis (courses with * below).

Type of Grad: N/A.

Grad GPA: N/A.

GRE: 800Q 540V 3.0 AWA, TOEFL 105.

Math Courses: Advanced Math (differential calculus, integrals, a little differential equations)(B&A-), Linear Algebra(B+), Probability Theory(A), Statistics(A-).

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A.

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Political Economics(A), Micro(A), Macro(B+), International Trade(B+), History of Economic Thoughts(A), Econometrics(A+*), Macro Development(A*), Money and Banking(A+*), Financial Management(A-), Industrial Economics(A), Investment(B), Economic History of China(A), Accounting(B), Contemporary Chinese Economy(B+), Theory on Capital(C+).

Other Courses: C programming(A).

Letters of Recommendation: 2 from UC Davis, 1 from Fudan.

Research Experience: RA for a term, one independent project and one team project in progress.

Teaching Experience: Representative for a course.

Research Interests: Labor, Development, IO.

SOP: So so.

Other: Awarded the National Scholarship in China (for top 1% students).

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: BU MA, UC Davis ARE MS.

Waitlists:

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Duke, CMU, Rochester, Maryland, Berkeley AREC, BU, JHU, UC Davis, Georgetown, U Colorado - Boulder, UC Davis ARE PhD.

Pending: Syracuse, Columbia QMSS.

 

What would you have done differently?

I would apply to Canadian master programs, Duke master and Tufts master.

[killpueino]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BSc. Economics in a Economics and Business Scholl of the University of Chile (n° 1 -2 depends on ranking of country)

Undergrad GPA: 3.1 (Equivalent) (Historically, the max of each cohort isn't over 3,5)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: Q780 V510 E3 (In E I made a mistake and didn't sent one essay even when I have finished like 15 min before the deadline ¬¬)

Math Courses: Calculus (B), Algebra (A), Analysis (Grad level) (B+), Optimization (A), Analysis (Undergrad level) (A+).

Econ Courses: Macroeconomics I (A+), Macroeconomics II (A), Introd. Macroeconomics Economics (A), Intro. Economics (B+), Intro Microeconomics (B+), Microeconomics I©, Microeconomics II (B+), Industrial Organization (B), Labor Economics (B), International Finance (B+), Economic Policy (B+), International Economics (C+), Econometrics I (B), Econometrics II (B), Finance I (B+), Finance II (A), Applied Macroeconomics with Matlab (B+), Mathematics for Economics (A+), Economic Development (A), Economic History (C+), Public Finance (B+), Welfare Economics (B), Research Topics (B+)

Other Courses: Bussiness courses, average (B)

Letters of Recommendation: Two great LoRs (one a very known professor in the Economic Theory Field, and another one of a MIT PhD.)

Research Experience: R.A. in Macroeconomic Consultant Agency, with one of my LOR, R.A. twice as intern in the Central Bank of my country, one of them at the Financial Research Area.

Teaching Experience: I was Teaching Assistant and Head Teaching Asssitant of all Macroeconomics lectures of the School.

Research Interests: Macroeconomics, Financial Macroeconomics, Finance and Bubbles.

SOP: I talked lots of my experience and how I get into this field, Why I'm Applying, what do I expect and things I had to do to learn more about of economics (Like I travelled more than 130km for a 2 hours seminar from my city to the Central Bank each friday)

Other: I was encouraged to apply sooner than I was planning to, but I really wanted to start the PhD path before 26 (I have 25) to finish my PhD before 32).

 

RESULTS:

 

Acceptances: Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (MSc), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (MPhill) (60% reduction of tuition, attending to)

Waitlists: N/A

Rejections: Bonn (MSc)

Pending: N/A

 

What would you have done differently? I would started my path in Economics before (I was in Engineering first). I would put some extra effort on the lectures I didn't liked and I would try to improve more my statistical basis, I also would liked to realize more Teaching Assistanships in different areas (like micro) also.

Edited May 30, 2011 by killpueino

[huxleyms]

Type of Undergrad: Economics + Applied Math, top15 econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.77/4.00

GRE: 800Q 620V 4.0AW

Math Courses: Calc(B+,A-,A+), Vector Calc (A+), Linear Algebra(A), Applied Linear Algebra(B), ODE(B+), PDE(B), Complex Analysis(B), Probability(B), Math Reasoning(A), Real Analysis(B+,A-), Numerical Analysis(A,A,A)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Microeconomics(A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Environmental Economics(A, different uni), Intro Microeconomics (A+), Intro Macroeconomics(A), Intermediate Microeconomics (A,A-,B+), Intermediate Macroeconomics(A,A-), Enterprise Finance(A), Financial Markets(A), Econometrics(A,A), Economic Growth(A), Decisions Under Uncertainty(A+)

Other Courses: C/C++(A), Java(A-), honors sections(all A's)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 MIT PhD (took small classes, honors section), 1 Yale PhD (comp. econometrics project), 1 UCLA math PhD (ODE/LA tutor, took classes w/projects )

Research Experience: nothing formal, just independent work in honors sections

Teaching Experience: matlab tutor, mock trial captain?

Research Interests: everything

SOP: long

Concerns: Lots of B's in math, wondering how many an A in grad micro can outweigh, low AWA score. Lack of research experience.

Other: Expect high variance

 

Results:

Rejected: Chicago, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Caltech, Brown, Cornell, Johns Hopkins

Accepted: UCSD, Carnegie Mellon, UTexas, UVA

Would do differently: I would have taken fewer math classes and tried to do more economic research. Also, I should have gotten better grades. Overall, I am very happy with my outcome.

[mutatismutandis]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA in Political Science/Economics with Honors from a regional university in the US without a graduate economics program

Undergrad GPA: 3.85/4

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 540V/750Q/4.0 AWA

Math Courses: almost none; Calc I (AP), Statistics I/II (A/A); currently registered for Calc II and Linear Algebra

Econ Courses (grad-level): none

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Macro (A), Intro to Micro (A), Intro to Geographical Information Systems (A), Intermediate Macro (A-), Intermediate Micro (A), International Trade (A), International Finance (A)

Other Courses: Many international relations / political science courses, notably a course in political economy (A)

Letters of Recommendation: One political science professor, one economics professor, and one from the honors program director

Research Experience: Wrote a political economy thesis entitled "The Mystery of Social Capital: Microfinance, Civil Society, and Long Run Development" which I will be presenting at the NYSPSA conference in April

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: Political economy, development, some theory

SOP: Strong

Concerns: Lack of proper math preparation, GRE, LoRs are strong but not the best simply due to my school's reputation, and also I am quite late to the application game

Applying to: NYU (MA), Tufts (MS), BU (MA), Fordham (MA), GWU (MA)

 

Results:

Accepted: Tufts ($$), BU

Rejected: NYU

 

NB: Stopped applying after receiving Tufts' offer. It was too good to refuse. Also updated grades (not relevant to this cycle's profile, but for the future when I apply for PhD programs): Linear Algebra (A), Calc II (A-)

[fj217]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BBA Applied Economics/Applied Mathematics (minor) from a mid-sized university in Hong Kong

Undergrad GPA: 3.76/4.00 (#1 in the program)

Type of Grad: -

Grad GPA: -

GRE: Q800 V530 AW4.0

Math Courses: Calculus & Linear Algebra (A); Mathematical Analysis I (A); Mathematical Analysis II (B+); Linear Algebra (A); Statistical Methods & Theory I (A-); Differential Equations (A-); Real Analysis (B); Numerical Methods I (A-); Mathematical & Statistical Modeling (A)

Econ Courses: Principles of Microeconomics (A); Principles of Macroeconomics (A); Intermediate Microeconomics (B+); Intermediate Macroeconomics (A); Mathematical Economics I (B+); Applied Econometrics (A); Money & Banking (A-); International Economics (A); Industrial Organization (A); Aisa-Pacific Economies (A-); Public Finance (A); Money & Finance in China (A)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: One professor from another local university (Stanford PhD); one regionally well-known professor (UW Madison PhD); one statistics professor with a PhD from Germany. At least the latter two letters are very strong.

Research Experience: Summer research at another local university; honors degree project

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests: Macroeconomics, International Economics

SOP: I put much effort into writing it; mainly explaining my interest in economics and my past learning experience

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: IUB PhD ($$, attending), Albany PhD ($$), Simon Fraser MA ($$)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Cornell PhD, PSU PhD, UPitt PhD, USC PhD, Notre Dame PhD, etc.

Pending: CUHK MPhil

 

What would you have done differently?

I think I’d have done better had I picked Mathematics as my major and Economics as minor. That way not only could I have taken more math courses, but I also could have taken them systematically. Now I often had to taken advanced math courses early on without the basic courses. If I could have taken them systematically I would have better math grades.

[mallikagarg]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Economics from top Indian University

Undergrad GPA: N/A

Major GPA: N/A

Type of Grad: MA Economics from mid ranked Indian University

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: Q 790 V 640 A 3.5;

Math Courses: Calc I-III, Math for economists, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Statistical methods and probability, Differential Equations, Advanced multi-variable calculus.

Econ Courses (grad-level): Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Econometrics, Game Theory, International Trade, Industrial economics and investment analysis, International Banking and Finance, Development Economics

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro I & II, Macro, Public Finance, Money and Baning, Economic History, Comparitive economic development, Development Economics, Economic Systems

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from grad quant prof, 1 from grad econometric prof, 1 from a well known economist i've RAd with.

Research Experience: one year's experience as an RA

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: Applied Microeconomics, Industrial Organisation

SOP: Nothing out of the world

Concerns: Inadequate research experience, no publications, inadequate math courses, unknown Graduate university, unknown recommenders.

Applied to: MIT, stanford GSB, Chicago, Texas (Austin), Texas A&M, UIUC, Rice, Vanderbilt, USC, MSU, UCR, UVA, Clemson, Colorado at Boulder

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Clemson ($$); Colorado (Without funding)

Rejections: MIT, stanford GSB, Chicago, Texas (Austin), Texas A&M, UIUC, Rice, Vanderbilt, USC, MSU, UCR, UVA

Attending: Clemson

 

What would you have done differently?

With my kind of background, I am happy to have made it to where I did. Though, I guess I should not have targeted so high. I could have got better results had I applied to more schools in the 30-60 range and completely skipped the top 15.