blastoise Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BA in econ from top 5 in US Undergrad GPA: 4.0 Type of Grad: n/a Grad GPA: n/a GRE: 170V, 170Q, 5.0AW Math Courses: Calc I-IV, Linear Algebra, Ordinary Differential Equations, Real Analysis, Number Theory, Intro to Higher Math Econ Courses (grad-level): Econ Courses (undergrad-level): intro/intermediate courses, adv. micro and macro, development, environmental, global, seminar in microeconomic theory Other Courses: high level stats course Letters of Recommendation: should be great - i hope Research Experience: Senior Thesis, 4 semesters and a summer as research assistant Teaching Experience: 4 semesters as teaching assistant for intermediate to advanced undergrad courses Research Interests: Development, primarily SOP: should be solid Concerns: no graduate experience. did not apply to NSF which was a mistake Other: Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, U Chicago, Berkeley, Stanford, Yale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EPV Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: BA in physics from top 20 liberal arts in US Undergrad GPA: 3.44 Type of Grad: M.Sc. in Economics of Public Policy Grad GPA: 8.4/10 GRE: 161V, 164Q, 4.0AW Math Courses: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro, Macro, Econometrics, Information Economics, Game Theory Econ Courses (undergrad-level): History of Thought, Japanese Economic History, Money and Banking Thesis Seminar Letters of Recommendation: should be good, my two undergraduate advisors, one in political science, one in physics, and my graduate director who is fairly well known. Research Experience: None Teaching Experience: 2 semesters as teaching assistant for physics courses Research Interests: Price Theory, IO, Market Process Theory, Political Economy SOP: Tried to highlight how my odd background and discovery of interest in economics will prepare me for PhD. Emphasized my year of programming experience in the private sector, but mostly focused on my interests. Concerns: Most things, but mostly my GPA. My physics program was quite difficult and I was in the top view, but I attended a small college that many people don't know. Hope my LOR can convey this. Other: I would absolutely love going to George Mason and felt safe with my chances so I took some other huge gambles. Probably not advised for other people who aren't as happy with their "safety" school (I would never consider getting to go to George Mason as going to a safety school). Applying to: Berkeley, Boulder, CalTech, Chicago, Davis, Duke, George Mason, Harvard, Harvard Political Economy, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, MIT, Northwestern, NYU, Princeton, Rochester, Stanford, Stanford GSB, UCLA, Yale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR14 Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 PROFILE: Type of Undergrad:Econ, European top 10 school Undergrad GPA: 8.5 (top 5%) Type of Grad: Econ, MS Grad GPA: 8.8 (top 5%) GRE: 159 / 163 / 4.5 Math Courses: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Dynamic optimization Econ Courses (grad-level): Field courses + econometrics/math Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All you would expect (including endogenous growth models in macro), econometrics from Wooldridge Other Courses: Letters of Recommendation: Director of studies and thesis sup Research Experience: RA + internship at bank research dep. + BA and MA thesis Teaching Experience: TA in principles of macro Research Interests: Business cycles, DSGE modelling SOP: Good (?) Concerns: Poor GRE Q score Other: Exchange at UW Seattle, 4.0 GPA Applying to: MPhil... Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, UPF, Tinbergen, Tilburg, PhD... EUI Florence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn0skier Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Good State School with Heterodox econ program but a good polisci department (I double majored) Undergrad GPA: 3.3 Type of Grad: NA Grad GPA: NA GRE: 165 Q 169 V Math Courses: Calc 1-3 (A-,B+,B), intro stats (A), Stats for econ (B+) Econ Courses (grad-level): NA Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Princ micro (A), princ macro (A), Intl econ (A), Inter macro (B+), Hist. econ doctorine (C+), Intl Monetary Rel (Didn't finish), Asian econ development (B), Econ development (A-), American industrialization and economic development (A), Intl trade (A-) Other Courses: Double Majored in International Relations Letters of Recommendation: 1 from assoc. prof. (now at Redlands) that I had a very good relationship with, 1 from full prof. that I had an OK relationship, One from my current boss at a big 4 consulting firm who I needed to point out that I am no longer suffering from the depression and anxiety that caused me to fail a bunch of classes for a couple years. Research Experience: NA Teaching Experience: NA Research Interests: Development , IO, Public Finance SOP: Good I think. Hopefully made up for my poor showing for a couple years in Undergrad Concerns: Flunked basically all my classes for a year and a half in undergrad due to some depression isssues. Few math classes with not spectacular results. Heterodox undergrad program. Other: Applying to: UIC, UC Santa Cruz, Rutgers, CU Boulder, NIU, Purdue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caio Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 3 UK Undergrad GPA: First Class Honors Type of Grad: NA Grad GPA: NA GRE: 167 Q 157 V 4.0 AW Math Courses: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Statistics, Chaos, Probability (all As) Econ Courses (grad-level): NA Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Principles of Econometrics, Econometric Theory, Behavioral Econ (all As) Letters of Recommendation: 1 from thesis advisor (top 5% Ideas, worked with him for 2 years), 1 from RA supervisor (top 5% Ideas, 2 semesters of RA work, knows me well), 1 from undergrad advisor (knows me extremely well) Research Experience: Thesis, RA, internship at economic research think tank, currently RA at a large central bank Teaching Experience: NA Research Interests: International Macro, Macro SOP: Nothing special, it evolved throughout December Concerns: I had many at different points in time, for example the GRE AW, the SOP, whether or not to submit a writing sample, the fact that I applied from Europe without a Masters... Other: Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, UCLA, Stanford, Berkeley In: Chicago, Princeton, NYU, Columbia (all fully funded for 5 years) Out: The complement  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dscard Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 (edited) Type of Undergrad: BSc Engineering from top 3 in latin america Undergrad GPA: 8/10 (Honors) Type of Grad: MSc Economics, fairly new program from top 30 university in latin america Grad GPA: 3.92/4.00 GRE: 160V / 166Q / 4.5AW (iBT 115) Math Courses (undergrad, on a 10 scale): Calculus (9.0), Multivariate Calculus (9.7), Diff. Equations (7.0), Complex Analysis (8.0), Numeric Calculus (6.5), Number Theory (8.3), Linear Algebra (7.5), Probabilistic Models (8.3) Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro, Micro, Econometrics, Time Series Analysis, Spatial Econometrics, Industrial Organization, Quantitative Methods (all As) Other Courses: Lots of Pyshics and Computing Letters of Recommendation: Should be strong recommendations from my MSc advisor, RA supervisor (PhD, UIUC) and head of department Research Experience: 3 different RA projects (undergrad, 1 yr each), 1 international RA in North America (grad) Teaching Experience: TA for 1 semester Research Interests: Computational Economics, Experimental and Behavioral Economics SOP: I spent a lot of time preparing my SOPs. They were tailor-made for each program. I am not sure how they compare to others though... Concerns: Low GRE Quant score and low GPA compared to US standards. Other: I discovered this forum last month. Now it hurts to see that I have applied to way too few programs (only those I believe to be great matches). This was highly risky... Applying to: George Mason, Iowa State, Pittsburgh Edited March 14, 2014 by dscard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agramon Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 PROFILE: Third time applying for a PhD Type of Undergrad: BBA Finance from UT San Antonio Undergrad GPA: 3.68 Type of Grad: MA Economics from UC Santa Barbara Grad GPA: 3.48 GRE: Q 160; V 159; A 4.0 Math Courses: Calculus (A+); Linear Algebra (B); Intro to Real Analysis (B+); Intro to Statistics (A); Applied Statistics (A) Econ Courses (grad-level): Microeconomic Theory I (B+); Microeconomic Theory II (A-); Macroeconomic Theory (B); Intro to Econometrics (B); Econometric Methods (A-); Time Series Econometrics (A-); Economic Development (B+); Economic Development - PhD Level (A-); Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Antitrust Economics (A); Intro to Macroeconomics (A); Intro to Microeconomics (A); Money and Banking (A); Intro to International Finance (A) Other Courses: IntermediateCorporate Finance (A); Principles of Investment (A) Letters of Recommendation: One from a well respected Econometrician and knows me well; another that knows me well from the PhD Level Econ Development Course; last from the Professor I TA'ed Stats for Research Experience: Non-Technical research from my grad program on Financial Exchanges Teaching Experience: TeachingAssistant for Intro to Stats for Econ at UCSB Research Interests: International Econ, Development Econ, Behavioral Econ, Monetary Econ SOP: How my interest in Econ was sparked from my finance background and working at USAID, a development agency, interested me in research. Explained how my past failure to get into a PhD motivated me to seek a Masters and improve my math skills. Stated my interests as stated above and how they coincide with their program. Concerns: My lack of tangible technical research experience, those B grades, low Quant GRE, need more math Other: Applying to: Rejected - Berkeley ARE, University of Texas at Austin, Notre Dame Pending - UC Davis, Texas A&M University, Rice, University of Houston, American University Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forummate Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 PROFILE: forummate Type of Undergrad: first class honours in economics from Australasia Undergrad GPA: NA Type of Grad: NA Grad GPA: NA GRE: Q 166; V 140 Math Courses: Differential Equations (third year paper) (A+) Econ Courses (grad-level): Honours papers (which is at Master level in my institution): Advanced Microeconomics A, B; Advanced Econometrics A, B; Corporate Finance. All A+ Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Game Theory (A+), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A-), Econometrics (A-), Econometric theory (A+), Applied econometrics (A), Financial econometrics (A+) Other Courses: Letters of Recommendation: One from economic professor who is my Honours supervisor; two from finance professors- one I work RA for, one I study his class. Two have US PhD, one has PhD in Toronto. All should be strong. Research Experience: 1.5 years, do MATLAB, search data. Teaching Experience: for two trimesters, for two first year papers in my university. Research Interests: IO, applied econometrics. SOP: standard, talk about my work as an RA, my preparation in math, and my interests. Concerns: low GRE, need more formally math courses stated explicitly. Other: Applying to: Chicago, Rochester, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Clemson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banana Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 (edited) Woops. Edited March 27, 2014 by banana Meant to post in Profiles and Results 2014. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khansian Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Honors Program, B.S. Mathematics (Pure Math concentration) and Economics Honors, from private teaching university w/out Econ. PhD Undergrad GPA: 3.63 overall, +3.9 econ Type of Grad: MA-level courses at my undergrad Grad GPA: GRE: 165Q / 167V / 5.0AW Math Courses: Calculus I-II-III (B,B,B+), Intro Proofs (A), Multivariate Calculus I-II (A, B), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis I-II (A, B), Grad Measure Theory (B), ODE (A-), Abstract Algebra (B+), Probability and Statistics I-II-III (B+, B+, A), Grad Mathematical Finance (A-) Econ Courses (grad-level): Advanced Micro (A-), Game Theory (A), Econometrics I-II (A, A-), Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro/Intermediate Micro (A, A), Intro/Intermediate Macro (A, A), Behavioral Economics (A), History of Econ. Thought (A) Other Courses: Lots of pre-med courses and honors program courses Letters of Recommendation: Very strong, research supervisor, Stanford PhD; Strong, grad econometrics professor, Chicago PhD; Very Strong, behavioral professor and adviser, Yale PhD; all relatively unknown researchers. Research Experience: 6 months RA at university; summer at national lab doing economic research; data and regression experience working full-time in finance Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Micro / Applied Micro, particularly IO SOP: Well-written, but nothing special. Concerns: Math grades, non-prestigious university, unknown letter-writers. Other: I attended a seminary for 5 years, so had very little math education before I finished high school in 2 years. Unfortunately, I didn't discuss this in my SOP. Applying to: Mainly in Top 10-30 range, with some outside on both ends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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