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Profiles and Results 2014


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[h=2]I suggest that you should post in this thread only after you have received all or most of your offers since posts can't be edited after a few days. Also, feel free to mention how accurate or inaccurate the predictions were if you started a predictions thread.[/h]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad:

Undergrad GPA:

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE:

Math Courses:

Econ Courses:

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation:

Research Experience:

Teaching Experience:

Research Interests:

SOP:

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances:

Waitlists:

Rejections:

Pending:

Attending:

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently?

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Econ

Undergrad GPA: 4.0

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE: 170 Q 170 V 5.0 AW

Math Courses: through Real Analysis

Econ Courses: many electives, incl. advanced micro, advanced macro, seminar in micro theory

Other Courses: linear regressions

Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors, should be somewhere between good and really good

Research Experience: senior thesis, RA for 4 semesters

Teaching Experience: TA for 4 semesters

Research Interests: development, applied micro

SOP: i hope it was good

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Stanford, Chicago

Waitlists: Yale, Berkeley

Rejections: MIT, Princeton, Harvard (implicit)

Pending:

Attending:

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently? Applied to more schools. There's a large luck element that can be minimized by broadening your list of schools. I feel like I got really lucky, but it could easily have gone another way. Also, applied earlier. I only decided that I would apply in early November, so I barely had time to pick the right programs, study for the GRE, arrange letters of rec, etc. Seek advice from my professors earlier in the process, so I wouldn't have made stupid mistakes like forgetting to apply for an NSF.

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Type of Undergrad: Math, somewhere in Europe; US citizen

Undergrad GPA: 3.96 (converted)

Type of Grad: Econ, same place in Europe

Grad GPA: 4.00

GRE: 170/170/5.5

Math Courses: Calculus, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Topology, Abstract Algebra, Geometry (with Linear Algebra), Probability, Statistics (multiple courses per topic)

Math Courses (grad): Measure Theory, Measure-theoretic Probability, Stochastic Differential Equations, Stochastic Processes, Functional Analysis, Differential Geometry

Econ Courses (grad): Microeconomics (MWG), General Equilibrium Theory (MWG), Decision Theory (Kreps), Game Theory (OR), Industrial Organization (Tirole), Political Economics (PT), Macroeconomics, Dynamic Macroeconomics, Econometric Theory

Other Courses: some physics, programming, mathematical biology, computational sociology

Letters of Recommendation: 2 well-known theorists, 1 co-signed by two coordinators (and faculty) of my grad program

Research Experience: Very limited. Senior thesis, no RA (at the time of applications)

Teaching Experience: Nothing relevant

Research Interests: Theory

SOP: Spent way too much time on this, and ended up with a bland description of my current research interests and projects. One-paragraph customization for each school.

Concerns: Didn't apply to NSF. Was afraid that I didn't get to know my letter-writers well enough and that they didn't have enough material for their letters (in hindsight, this is probably ludicrous).

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Stanford, Stanford GSB, Princeton, Yale, Northwestern, Berkeley (partial funding), Chicago (full funding), UPenn

Rejections: MIT, Harvard (implicit)

Attending: Visiting Stanford, Stanford GSB, Princeton. Already declined the others; I have no reason to slow the process for waitlisted students.

Comments: Given my grad program's placement record, the only real shocker was Stanford GSB. Other than that, a very noise-free process, with the Top-2 out of reach and acceptances in the other Top-10s. My letter-writers were very proactive in reaching out to their contacts, and this was surely a huge factor in my results.

 

What would you have done differently? Applied for NSF. Maybe pushed (much) harder and applied last cycle.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: top 10 us math/econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.78

Type of Grad: n/a

Grad GPA:n/a

GRE: 170 Q 162 V 5 AW

Math Courses: Multivar Calc (A), Lin Alg. & Diff Eq (A-), Discrete Math (B+), Honors Linear Algebra (A-), Probability (A-), Real Analysis (A), Numerical Analysis (B+), Mathematical Statistics (A), Abstract Algebra (A-), Stochastic Processes (A-), complex analysis and honors thesis this semester

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

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Econ 1 (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (B+), Financial Economics (A), Econometric Analysis (A), International Monetary Economics (A), Advanced Micro Theory (A-), US Macro Policy (A), Honors Thesis (A)

Other Courses: nothing relevant

Letters of Recommendation: finance research supervisor, thesis advisor/grad macro professor, us macro policy/grad macro prof

Research Experience: 1 year RA in empirical corporate finance, senior thesis in int'l finance

Teaching Experience: n/a

Research Interests: international macro, macro, finance

SOP: just talked about my research interests, background, and mentioned professors that i want to work with

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago ($$ no funding first 2 years), Columbia ($$), NYU ($$), Wisconsin ($$), JHU($$), BU ($$)

Waitlists: UCLA

Rejections: MIT, Princeton, Harvard, HBS, Berkeley, U Penn, Northwestern, Stern, Stanford, Michigan

Pending:

Attending: NYU or Columbia

Comments: Couldn't be happier. Harvard, MIT, Columbia, and NYU were my top choices and I was accepted to the ones in the city I preferred (NYC baby).

 

What would you have done differently? Probably tried harder to take grad math/econ in my undergraduate career and make those A-'s solid A's.. I definitely sacrificed academics to have fun, but do not regret it one bit. Sure I maybe could have got into more schools, but at the end of the day my college experience was amazing and my experiences outside of class with my peers have definitely shaped me more as a person than graduate analysis would have. I also would have definitely taken Econometrics earlier to get involved with research asap. Get to know your professors as teachers, advisors, and, most importantly, people as I am sure I could not have cracked the top 10 or gotten the Chicago admit without those letters. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know these people and hopefully will be a stronger researcher as a result. Cheers!

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA (Hons) Economics, Minor in Math from T4 Canadian School

Undergrad GPA: 3.75 (Math/Econ 3.8)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 167Q 160V 4.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc II (B-, then A+), Calc III (A), Calc IV (A), Lin Alg I (A), Lin Alg II (B-), Intro to Proofs (A+), Real Analysis I (A-)

Econ Courses (grad-level): PhD Micro II (Spring 2014)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro/Macro (A-, A-), Intermediate Micro/Macro/Metrics I (A, A-, A), Intermediate Micro/Macro/Metrics II (A-, A-, A-), Advanced Micro/Macro/Metrics (A+, A-, A+), Financial Economics (A), Industrial Organization (A), Public Finance: Expenditures (A-), Microeconomic Policy (A), Economics of China (A-), International Trade (Spring 2014)

Other Courses: Bunch of computer programming classes (A or A+ for all)

Letters of Recommendation: 1) PhD Chicago (top 5% RePec ranking in Human Capital), RAd for him for 1.5 years, should be strong. 2) PhD Northwestern, Advanced Metrics prof, scored one of the highest marks in his class, said he would write me a strong letter. 3) PhD Northwestern, Advanced Micro prof, recommended I take the PhD Micro class so he clearly thinks I'm suited for grad school as well, highest mark in class.

Research Experience: 1.5 years as a Research Assistant, Senior Thesis

Teaching Experience: Econ Help Centre, private tutor

Research Interests: Urban Economics, Transportation, Networks

SOP: Just a regular, everyday normal SOP

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: (All MA) Toronto [Doctoral], UBC, Queen's, McMaster, Warwick, UCL. First 4 schools included full funding + more

Waitlists: -

Rejections: -

Pending: LSE

Attending: Toronto (Doctoral Stream)

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently? Honestly, I'm not too sure what more I could've expected. I'm really happy with my results, and I'm excited to go to UofT next year!

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BSc (Hons) Economics, from T3 UK school

Undergrad GPA: First Class Honors

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 167Q 157V 4.0AWA

Math Courses: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Chaos, Probability (all As)

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Principles of Econometrics, Econometric Theory, Behavioral (all As)

Other Courses: n/A

Letters of Recommendation: 1) PhD Harvard (top 5% RePec, thesis advisor, RA); 2) PhD LSE (tutor, knew me extremely well) 3) PhD Cambridge (Top 5% RePec, RA supervisor)

Research Experience: 1 year as a Research Assistant, Senior Thesis, Summer internship in economic research think tank, 1 year full-time RA at a large central bank

Teaching Experience: none

Research Interests: International Macro, Macro, Theory

SOP: Kept redrafting it throughout December, so different schools received different versions. I don't think it made much of a difference.

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago ($$), NYU ($$), Columbia ($$), Princeton ($$$)

Waitlists: none

Rejections:, Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA

Attending:

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently? I am extremely happy with my results. To ease the process, I would try to worry less about about things like the GRE or SOP and have more faith in the judgement of my letter writers. In the end, neither the GRE nor the SOP will make the world of a difference. I would have also definitely submitted my thesis to all places and ignored all the voices that kept stressing the perceived necessity of a MA degree for international applicants. LORs really seem to be super important, so getting people at your school to care about you through joint research, research assistance or simply a demonstrated interest in a professor's research seems to be crucial. At this point, I am glad this process is over for me and am looking forward to visiting days and the upcoming 5 years!!!

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Military Academy, majored in Mech Engr & English

Undergrad GPA: 3.94

Type of Grad: MBA, top-5 resident program

Grad GPA: not calculated, finished program with Honors

GRE: 167Q/164V/5.0W

Math Courses (undergrad-level): Discrete Math (A-), Calc II (A+), Engineering Math (A+), Prob & Stats (A+)

Math Courses (grad-level): various MBA courses

Econ Courses (grad-level): various MBA courses, but managerial in nature

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles (A)

Letters of Recommendation: Very good. Experienced and respected economists who know me well.

Research Experience: 2 years at an Econ and manpower-oriented defense research agency.

Teaching Experience: 3 years (Principles, Intermediate Micro, Econometrics).

Research Interests: Applied Micro, esp. economics of education.

SOP: Very good.

Concerns: Military background and MBA are non-traditional, might or might not help my application outcomes.

Other: Geographical pref for East Coast or mid-Atlantic region.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Kentucky, Virginia, Notre Dame

Waitlists: none

Rejections: Harvard, MIT

Attending: will choose after completing my visits

Comments: I am thrilled with the UK, UVa, and ND acceptances. Harvard and MIT were longshots anyway, but especially so given my non-traditional background (older student, military experience, MBA).

 

What would you have done differently? I am pretty happy with these results. I applied to the correct number of schools given my geographical preferences and program interests. Best of luck to everyone out there; hope our paths cross down the road.

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PROFILE: Murphy235

Type of Undergrad: Top 30 US public school, well respected econ department. No PhD program. Mathematics and Quantitative Economics double major.

Undergrad GPA: 3.90 (4.0 in econ, 3.8 in math)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 163V/170Q/5.0W

Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A+), Discrete Math (A+), Abstract Algebra I&II (A/B), Real Analysis (A+), Diff eq (A), Mathematical finance (A), Set Theory (B+), Probability (A-), Inferential statistics (A), Regression analysis (B+), Time series (A), Calc III (A+)

Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Theory (A/A), Industrial Org (A), econometrics (A+), Health Economics (A+), history of economics (A), Growth (A), Game Theory (A+)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: IO prof from a top 10 program, thesis advisor, and department chair. Know all well, so should be strong.

Research Experience: senior honors thesis

Teaching Experience: tutored macro for a year.

Research Interests: IO, game theory, econometrics

SOP: Explain why I studied math and how I came to my interest in economist. Pretty standard.

Concerns: two B's in math, limited research experience. Hoping the ad comms see my "bad" grades were all in one semester.

Other: Phi Beta Kappa member and magna cum laude, for what they're worth. :p

Applying to: Ohio State, Northwestern, Yale, Chicago, Madison, Duke, Michigan

 

RESULTS

Accepted: Ohio State, UW-Madison MS

Wait List: Duke

Rejections: Michigan, UW-Madison, Northwestern, Yale, Chicago

Attending: Duke, if that becomes an acceptance. Unsure otherwise.

Comments: I'm hesitant about Ohio State due to how young their applied IO faculty are, but it could end up being a good fit. I won't know until my visit for sure. If I don't, I'm not sure if I'll re-apply, seek out an MA or RA opportunity, or something else entirely. In any case, i'm getting married this summer and don't have time to waste being upset. :D

 

What would you have done differently? I think i aimed too high, based on my record. I wish I'd done more research and realized how important certain things were earlier, but I can't change it now. I also would have taken graduate real analysis and grad level regression.

 

P.S. Sorry about the boldface. My webpage won't let me un-click the bold font option.

 

Mod Note - Fixed Boldface

Edited by tm_member
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PROFILE: 2iron

Type of Undergrad: Top 30 US, Top 5 Public, Top 35 Econ

Undergrad GPA: 3.97 Overall, 3.97 Econ/Math

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE: 168 Q, 166 V, 6.0 AW

Math Courses: Calc II (A), Multivar Calc (A+), Mathematical Probability (A), Mathematical Statistics (A), Linear Algebra (A), Diff. Eq (A-), Real Analysis (A+)

Econ Courses: Principles of Micro (A+), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A), Econometrics (A-), Advanced Econometrics (W), Auction Theory (A), IO (A), Environmental (A+), Info and Uncertainty (A+), Honors Seminar (A+), Honors Thesis (A+)

Other Courses: Discrete Optimization (engineering) (A+)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from professor for two classes, top 10 Ph.D.; 1 from research seminar professor/thesis advisor, top 15 Ph.D. and well-known; 1 from research supervisor, well known in field

Research Experience: Honors thesis (won highest honors for it), RA for econ think tank one summer

Teaching Experience: Some tutoring, not much else

Research Interests: Applied micro theory, environmental, IO, structural

SOP: Very thorough, gave a lot of research ideas and faculty suggestions.

Other: National Collegiate Fed Challenge competition

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Princeton, Northwestern, Berkeley ARE, HKS, Wisconsin, Michigan, Duke, UBC, UC Davis, Arizona

Waitlists:

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, UCSD

Pending:

Attending: Probably Northwestern, maybe Princeton.

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently? To beat a dead horse, taken more math instead of all of the humanities electives I thought would make me more well-rounded. Maybe gotten to know some other professors who have better ties to Stanford. Done my homework in high school so I could have gone to a top ten undergraduate institution. But, my grades were good, my thesis was good, and my SOP was very good, and I'm pretty happy with how things turned out!

 

Oh, and I would have applied to Columbia and maybe Stanford GSB and not applied to Davis and Arizona. I underestimated how well I would do.

Edited by 2Iron
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Type of Undergrad: Top 10 US News for undergrad, Top 20 US News for Econ

Undergrad GPA: ~3.8 (3.9 in econ)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 165Q/169V/5.5W

Math Courses (undergrad-level): Linear Algebra (B+), Vector Calc (A), Diff Eq (A-), Nonlinear Dynamics (A-), Analysis 2 (A)

Math Courses (grad-level): Probability (A), Measure Theory (A), Functional Analysis (A+), Stochastic Calc (IP)

Econ Courses (grad-level): PhD Micro 1 (A-), PhD Micro 2 (B+), PhD Metrics 1 (A), second year game theory (A), second year decision theory (A), second year contract theory (A), continuous time methods (IP), Master's Macro (A), Master's Growth Theory (A+)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): research independent studies

Other Courses: tons of physics (both UG and G level) and other random stuff

Letters of Recommendation: Two profs from grad econ classes, one from grad econ prof + thesis advisor, one from a Fed research supervisor

Research Experience: honors thesis, Fed summer RA, a couple smaller projects

Teaching Experience: TA for intermediate micro.

Research Interests: Micro (game theory, choice theory), political economy, networks, growth

SOP: Pretty standard, with lots of details about papers that I liked (tailored to each program's faculty).

Concerns: Pretty bad Q GRE, a couple bad grades in important classes.

Other: N/A

Applying to: Top 10 Econ, Stanford GSB, HBS, Caltech, Brown, Duke

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, Columbia, Caltech, Brown

Waitlists: Harvard, Stanford, NYU

Rejections: MIT, Princeton, Stanford GSB, Berkeley, HBS

Attending: Will visit Chicago, Yale, NW, Penn, and Columbia, and wait on Harvard/Stanford.

 

What would you have done differently? (1) I started on economics rather late, taking my first class in the second half of my sophomore year. I was still able to take lots of grad classes, but an extra year or two would have helped -- both in terms of taking more classes and getting the chance to do real RA work. (2) I would have studied for the GRE more. I imagine that my relatively poor Q score didn't help at top places, but it may not have really hurt either. (3) Would have guarded my GPA better in my first two years. I accumulated several random Bs, often in easy introductory courses, that dragged my GPA down. This is probably a small factor, but it would have been nice to have applied with a 3.95+.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 3 Canadian (Double Major in Stats/Econ)

Undergrad GPA: 4.2/4.33

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: None

GRE: Q170/V154/4.5

Math Courses: Calc III (A+), Matrix Algebra (A+), ODE (A+), Math Proofs (A), Applied Linear Algebra (A+), Probability (A+), Stochastic Processes (A), Linear Programming (A+), Real Analysis I (B-)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Masters Econometrics (A), Masters Macro (A+)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro I/II, Intermediate Macro I, Labor Economics, Optimization in Econ Theory (all A+), Topics in Micro (A-)

Other Courses: Lots of Stat courses: Statistical Learning, Regression (Linear Algebra based), Statistical Inference, Graduate Statistical Theory, Graduate Exploratory Data Analysis, Graduate Generalized Linear Models (all A+ except for Statistical Learning)

Letters of Recommendation: Labor Professor I RA'ed for 8 months (Top 5% IDEAS), Grad Econometrics prof, Optimization in Economic Theory prof (All should be strong)

Research Experience: 8 months RA in labor economics, 2 full time summer research under in Statistics relating to MCMC/Bayesian inference/multivariate statistical methods, etc. Resulting in R package + forthcoming publications in stat and biology(one first author, one co-author, all with legitimate professors in Statistics and Biology)

Teaching Experience: 8 months TA for first year calculus and upper level applied linear algebra

Research Interests: Labor, econometerics, applied micro

SOP: Typical.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Northwestern (waitlisted for year 1 funding and tuition waiver), Brown, UCLA, USC, UBC, Cambridge (MPhil), LSE (Masters), Toronto (Doctoral Stream MA)

Waitlists: Stanford, NYU, UPenn

Rejections: Lots. Many that are relatively lower ranked

Pending:

Attending: Hoping to get off one of the waitlists.

Comments: As you can see my results have been very noisy. Waitlisted at Stanford while rejected at places like Wisconsin Madison, Duke etc. My analysis grade definitely hurt me. Nevertheless, Northwestern is the best placement our school has had in the past few years.

 

What would you have done differently?

I would have gotten better in Real Analysis. I firmly believe if I received at least an A- in Real Analysis, I would have had better results in the top 10. My letters and research experience is what ultimately saved me in the end. Regardless, I did the best that I could given the resources at my school. Still very pleased with my results, this is the best our school has placed recently. I'll be ecstatic if I get full funding at Northwestern or am admitted at Stanford.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top Australian, Honours Degree

Undergrad GPA: 3.92 (3.99 last 4 years)

GRE: 170Q 165V 4.5AWA

Math Courses: Calculus II,III(A,A) Linear Algebra I,II(A,A) Real Analysis I,II(A-,A) Probability I-III(A,A,A) Statistics I,II(A,A) Stochastic Modelling(A) Complex Analysis(A) ODE(A) Linear Programming(A)

Econ Courses: Microeconomics I-IV(A,A,A,A) Macroeconomics I-IV(B,A,A,A) Econometrics I,II(A,A) International Finance(A) Game Theory I,II(A,A) Financial Economics(A) Monetary Economics(A) Mechanism Design(A)

Letters of Recommendation: Thesis advisor, Research supervisor, Professor

Research Experience: Honours thesis in economics, RA at business school and summer research in math

Teaching Experience: 3 semesters

Research Interests: IO, Applied Micro, Micro Theory

SOP: Standard

 

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Northwestern, Yale, NYU Stern, NYU, Chicago, Penn, Columbia, UCLA, Wisconsin, UCSD

Waitlists: Michigan

Rejections:HBS(after interview), MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley

Attending: Yale

Comments:

 

 

What would you have done differently? Nothing much, I'm not sure if I could have done much better. I could probably have worked harder and more consistently, but I don't think it would have changed anything.

Edited by dragonslion
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 3 UK (3-year degree)

Undergrad GPA: First class degree

Type of Grad: Top 10 US Uni, masters degree

Grad GPA: 3.90

GRE: Q800/V530/AW4.0

Math Courses: My only "proper" math course was an undergraduate real analysis course (A) I took during my masters degree. During my undergrad I learned math as part of my econ courses.

Econ Courses (grad-level): Master's level: Micro I & II (A in both), Macro I (A) Macro II (A-), PhD level: Public (A-) Development (incomplete at the time of applying)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles Micro/Macro/Metrics, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Intermediate Metrics, Advanced Micro, Advanced Metrics, Finance, Public, Development.

Other Courses:Some management/accounting courses and some political science/non-econ development courses.

Letters of Recommendation: Assistant Prof. at US top 10 uni for whom I worked as an RA during my masters degree. Associate Prof. at US top 10 uni, thesis advisor and one summer of RA work. Professor at my undergrad uni who tutored me and knew my coursework well but didn't know much about my research potential.

Research Experience: Part-time RA for 1.5 year during masters degree and summer internship as RA for one of my letter writers.

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Applied micro, mainly development, public and political economy

SOP: Pretty standard I guess, very dry. Talked about my research ideas, nothing about my background or personality.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Yale, Brown, (maybe I would have gotten into Wharton applied econ but I told them I wasn't interested after Yale offer)

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Harvard, HBS (but got interviewed), HKS (PEG), MIT, Columbia, NYU, NYU Stern, Michigan

Pending: Maryland, Attending: Yale

Comments: Super happy about Yale, feels like I was very lucky to get in. I was also surprised by how noisy the results were, I got and interview at HBS and got into Yale but rejected from Michigan and most likely Maryland. My explanation for this is that knowing one faculty member makes a huge difference.

 

What would you have done differently?

If I could do it all over again, I don't think I would have done a masters degree, instead I would have worked for two years as an RA for a tenured professor at a top uni and taken 1 or 2 PhD level classes while working. That would have saved me lots of money and probably prepared me equally well for my PhD program. Conditional on doing the masters degree I would have tried to get to know more faculty as that seems to be the best way to get admitted to a top program.

Edited by nonameecon
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: LAC ranked somewhere between 10 and 20

Undergrad GPA: 3.8

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 170Q, 160V, 4.5A

Math Courses: Calculus I&II, Linear Algebra, Math Stats I&II, Stats, ODE, PDE,

Real Analysis I&II (All As, except B+ in both Real Analyses)

Econ Courses: The usual suspects (All As)

Other Courses: Nothing noteworthy

Letters of Recommendation:

(1) Undergrad Thesis Advisor (AP – Top 20 PhD)

(2) Undergrad Econ Professor (AP – Top 40 PhD)

(3) Fed Boss (Top 5 PhD; Top 10% IDEAS/RePEc)

All three know me very well. Ex-post, I’m sure they were all very strong letters and that I owe a lot of my success to these people.

Research Experience: Undergrad Thesis, Fed RA Experience

Teaching Experience: TA’d a couple times

Research Interests: Applied Micro

SOP: Well written. Explained research experience and what I’d like to work on in future. Tailored somewhat to each program, often mentioning specific work that faculty had done that I found interesting and related to what I want to do.

Concerns: Applied to the top 20 in an earlier cycle and got shut out. B+’s in Analysis. Not as much math as some of the crazies.

Other: Applying for the second time, after spending time as a Fed RA and with different recommendations.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Berkeley ($$$), Duke ($$), Michigan ($$), NYU ($$$), UCSD ($$), Wisconsin ($$), Yale ($$$)

Rejections: Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Stanford

 

Comments: I am very happy with the results. Can’t wait to start!

 

What would you have done differently? Applied for the NSF for sure. Studied more for, and done better in real analysis. Taken one or two more math classes.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA Mathematics at a top 30 liberal arts school

Undergrad GPA: 3.76/3.9 Math

Type of Grad MS at top 7(?) agecon department

Grad GPA: 3.8

GRE: 170V/166Q/4.5AWA

Math Courses: Calc (A,A,A-); LA (A); Proofs (A-); Advanced LA (A); Abstract Algebra (A); PDE (A); Topology (B+); Probability (BC oops); RA (A); Thesis (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Some silly ones for non-majors, Intermediate Micro/Macro (A,A); Agricultural Development in Africa (A)

Econ Courses (grad-level): Masters: Applied Micro (A); Applied Econometrics II (I, but will have a grade by application time); Urban Economics (AB, Bschool) PhD: Econometrics I/II (AB, A); Micro Theory I (In progress); Environmental Economics (In progress)

Other Courses: Art and liberal arts, Sea Semester out of Woods Hole.

Letters of Recommendation: One professor I have been RAing for, phd ucsb should be very positive.. One professor who I don't know well but is in my department, editor of a good journal in my field. One professor I took phd econometrics with, well known econometrician.

Research Experience: UG math thesis. RA for two years in masters program. Masters thesis. (Both on air pollution distributions and market based air pollution controls) I got a grant to do a summer project in agricultural marketing.

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Environment. Spatial econometrics.

SOP: Good.

Concerns: A few bad grades. I think the BC in probability theory as an undergrad should be drowned out by the A/ABs in phd metrics. Nobody needs topology do they? Also, I don't think my letters (with one exception) will be amazing.

Applying to: Reaches (for fun?): Stanford, Columbia. Others, also reaches?: Berkeley ARE, Yale Forestry, Duke, Davis, UCSB, Maryland AREC.

 

RESULTS:

 

Acceptances: UCSB($$$), UC Davis ARE ($), UC Berkeley ARE ($), UCSD ($$), Duke Econ ($$), Duke UPEP ($$$), Maryland AREC ($$)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Columbia, Stanford, Yale FES

Attending: I have some tough decisions to make

Comments: My results were stellar, I'm very lucky.

What would you have done differently? I certainly applied to too many schools, making my decision making period very difficult. I think I undersold myself a little bit, and should probably not have applied to the lower ranked applied programs.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 2 university in China, one term exchange in Top 3 Canadian university

Undergrad GPA: Top 3% in class

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 166V/169Q/4.0AW

Math Courses: Advanced Calculus I and II (85+), Linear Algebra, Probability and Mathematical Statistics, Real Analysis, Statistical Inference, Methods of Statistical Learning (in exchange), Advanced Probability, Math History (All 90+)

Econ Courses: Grad Metrics I (in exchange) and II, Grad Game Theory, Principles of Economics, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Undergrad Econometrics, Development Economics, Monetary Economics, Public Economics, Business Cycles, Topics in Chinese Economy, Honors Thesis (All 90+)

Letters of Recommendation: Grad Metrics II Professor (Leading figure in Nonparametric Metrics), Grad Metrics I Professor (Yale PhD, good publication records), RA Supervisor (Brown PhD)

Research Experience: Undergrad RA, Undergrad Honors Thesis

Teaching Experience: TA for Principles of Economics I and II

Research Interests: Econometric Theory

SOP: Typical, but expressed my interest in Metric Theory strongly

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago, UCLA, UCSD, Wisconsin, Penn State, UBC, USC

Waitlists: UPenn, Brown, Duke

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Columbia, NYU, Caltech

Pending: TAMU

Attending: Probably Chicago

Comments: I applied mostly to schools with strong metrics groups. As you can see most top 10s rejected me and I guess it’s because of my strong focus on econometrics only. Glad that UCSD gives me a good funding package, I love this school. A pity that Yale rejected me since it’s my dream school.

 

What would you have done differently?

Some minor things which would not change my results so much: I should not have written my diversity statement (which I think really hurt me) and should have used the letter of my dean on Stanford and Yale. Should not have applied NW and Caltech (wasting money on schools with very small metrics groups). Let me return to my freshman year and I would have studied harder for advanced calculus. Well, if I’m rich enough I’ll exchange to Berkeley!

Edited by Jerrybai
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 2 in China, then transferred to top 30 US

Undergrad GPA: 3.99/4 in US

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 165V/169Q/6.0AW

Math Courses:

Calculus I and II (95+), Linear Algebra 1 and 2 (95 , 85),

Probability, Real Analysis 1,2, Complex Variables, ODE, Algebra 1 , all A's

 

Econ Courses:

Principles of Economics 1,2 (75, 90);

Intermediate Microeconomics; Intermediate Macroeconomics ; Economic Development ; International Economics ; Econometrics ; Math for Economists (Phd) ; Statistics, all A's;

Microeconomics 1 (Phd) (B+)

Letters of Recommendation: Phd Math for Econ Professor, Complex Variable Professor, and two professors I've RA ed for; I'm sure the last two played a major role here.

 

Research Experience: Undergrad RA

Teaching Experience: grader for years

Research Interests: Development

SOP: nothing special

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, UCSD, BU, Upenn, Northwestern, Columbia

Waitlists: Duke, Cornell (for first year fund), have withdrawn from both

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Berkeley,

Attending: most likely Yale, will decide after visit day

Comments: A little bit disappointed by the MIT rejection, but how can one not be happy with these results? I am still struggling a bit among stanford/princeton and yale, but I guess given my interest Yale would be a nice place.

 

What would you have done differently?

Really not much. I have been concerned about getting recommendation letters back when I was a sophomore, but everything worked out alright; you just need one professor who really appreciates your talent and willing to help you, then doors just open up one after another.. Bottom line is that hard work pays off, but you also need a bit of luck to meet the right person to give you a push.

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Type of Undergrad: BA in Econ, PoliSci, Intl Relations from large, mid-rank state university

Undergrad GPA: 3.1

Type of Grad: MS in applied econ from small, unranked, but regionally highly-regarded program

Grad GPA: 3.8

GRE: 169V/162Q/5.0

Math Courses: Undergrad: Calc I/II(A/A), Multivariate Calc(B), Economic Statistics©, Linear Algebra(A), DiffEq(A), Grad: Mathematical Economics(A-), Operations Research(B+), Linear Programming(A), Integer Programming(A), Data Analysis(A+)

Econ Courses (grad): Micro I(A-), Macro I(A-), Metrics I/II(A/W), Environmental(A), Energy(A), Topics(A), Resource I/II(B+/A-)

Econ Courses (undergrad): Micro(A-), Macro(B+), Metrics(B+), Intl Finance(A-), Intl Policy(A), Intl Trade(W/B), Development(C+), History(B)

Other Courses: too many poli-sci courses, some basic science leftover from aborted engineering studies

Letters of Recommendation: All econ professors from grad school. None extremely well-known, but all are active.

Research Experience: Very little; projects and papers for grad classes, some private sector stats research

Teaching Experience: Not really; a little tutoring a long time ago

Research Interests: Environmental and resource, political economy, development

SOP: I customized it for each school and tried to be both brief and informative while remaining inoffensively bland. It probably seemed boring and vague if anyone bothered to read it.

Other: Self-studying real analysis and probability theory. I’m a little older –nearly thirty, married – don’t know if or how that affected my application though it constrained where I applied and which offers I’m willing to accept.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UC-Davis ARE($$), Oregon St AE($$), UC-Riverside($$), Oregon, Colorado($$), UW PPM($), Arizona, Wyoming($)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Arizona St, UCSB Bren

Attending: U-Dub, probably

Comments: I really wanted to choose Davis, but outside circumstances prevented it. Based on my results, it seems my target schools were a little low.

 

What would you have done differently? Maybe included a couple more reaches in my applications list and fewer safeties, but, overall, I’m pretty happy with my results. I should have planned ahead more – I didn’t even consider applying to PhD programs until last May. If I had thought seriously about getting a graduate degree as an undergrad, or about a PhD while getting a master’s, I could’ve taken pains to improve my profile. Should have prepared more for the GRE and taken it earlier – my mediocre quant score didn’t help my application.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: European business school

Undergrad GPA: 3.7 US GPA equivalent

Type of Grad: Top US MA Economics program (With a top 20 Econ and top 10 finance department)

Grad GPA: 3.83

GRE: 164Q 158V 4.5AW

Math Courses: No formal calc sequence. ODEs (A), Math Stat(A), Linear Algebra(A-), Intro Scientific Computing(A), Calc IV (B), Intro Higher Mathematics (A+), UG Real Analysis I (A-), PhD Probability and Measure Theory (B), Math for Econ (baby calc) (A), Stats for econ (a joke) (A)

Econ Courses: PhD Micro II (B+), Grad Micro I (A), Grad Micro II (A), Grad Metrics (A), PhD Metrics I (A), Grad Math Finance (A), PhD Asset Pricing (A), PhD Empirical Corporate Finance (A-), PhD Timeseries (??)

Other Courses: lots of undergrad business/strategy/accounting courses

Letters of Recommendation: 2 highly recognized finance profs, 1 top 3% IDEAS Econ prof, 1 unknown econ prof, 1 somewhat known econ prof but with good AER/QJE pubs. I more or less directly asked all of them if the letters were going to be strong enough to get into top programs, and they all said yes.

Research Experience: RA'd for 1 year during masters for a recognized finance prof

Teaching Experience: UG Financial Accounting, Business School Managerial Economics

Research Interests: Applied Theoretical Corporate Finance && Empirical Asset Pricing

SOP: Why do I want to do a PhD, my current research projects, my interests, why this school fits (1 paragraph). It took me about a week to write and tailor my SOP to all 22 programs I applied to.

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: NWU Kellogg ($$$) Finance, Duke Fuqua Finance ($$), London Business School Finance($$$), CMU Tepper Finance ($$$)

Waitlists: UCLA Anderson Finance, Yale SOM Finance

Rejections:HBS Finance, Harvard Econ, MIT Econ, MIT Sloan Finance, Stanford GSB Finance, Stanford Econ, Chicago Booth Finance, Chicago Econ, Berkeley Haas Finance, Princeton Econ, NYU Stern Finance, NYU Stern Econ, Columbia Biz Finance, Columbia Econ, Wharton Finance.

Pending: None

Attending: The best program

Comments:

 

1. APPLY TO AS MANY SCHOOLS AS YOU CAN AFFORD!!

2. Know your rec letter writers well. Plan out who you want to write your letters in advance. Letters are so.. so.. important!

3. I am extremely happy with my results

 

What would you have done differently?

 

Low GRE scores. I retook it 4 times with no luck. I was probably filtered out at a lot of schools due to my GRE score. However, i am positively surprised that I got accepted at a techy place like CMU with a quant gre score in the 89th percentile. Coming from a well respected program might have helped me bypass some filters though.

 

If I wanted to break into the top top places, I think I would need more research experience. Possibly publishing a top paper, or working for a year or two as an RA at Harvard, MIT or Stanford, or another solid place. I have a few blemishes like B in prob and measure theory,but I dont think anyone cares, as long as your overall GPA is decent.

 

I was probably rejected from all the econ programs because my SOP was pretty clear in that I wanted to study finance.

 

Should I have taken more advanced PhD level math courses? No

Edited by Cerealist
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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 3 econ school in Germany;

Undergrad GPA: ~3.4? (2.2 German GPA);

Type of Grad: Top 3 econ school in Germany;

Grad GPA: ~3.7? (1.7 German GPA);

GRE: 169/165/4.5;

Math Courses: BSc. minor in Math: Analysis I, II, Linear Algebra, Probabilty Theory etc. A- on average;

Econ Courses: A lot, mostly on Industrial Organization and Macro;

Other Courses: Some graduate level courses taken not for grades on empirical IO;

Letters of Recommendation: Great to good LoR from profs from Arizona State, UWMadison and EUI;

Research Experience: Very technical Bachelor and Master thesis on empirical IO; RA to professors and at a research institute for 2.5 years total;

Teaching Experience: None;

Research Interests: Empirical IO, numerical methods, growth theory;

SOP: Talked about my extensive research experience, motivation and professors I would like to work with at the school;

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UMinnesota Twin Cities ($$), John Hopkins ($$$), UT Austin ($$);

Waitlists: UC Davis;

Rejections: Northwestern, NYU, Stern, UMichigan Ann Arbor, UW Madison, CalTech, UCLA Anderson, Brown;

Pending: UToronto, UToronto Rotman, Carnegie Mellon;

Attending: Probably UMinnesota;

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently?

During studies: I would have concentrated more on getting good grades, rather than rushing into research and doing advanced graduate classes (that could not go on my transcript anyway) to implement the fancy methods in my Bachelor or Master thesis.

During application: I would have given myself enough time to polish every single aspect of every single application and not rush.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 20 Liberal Arts College

Undergrad GPA: 3.84/4.00 (4.00 Econ, 3.67 Math)

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: None

GRE: 170Q, 170V, 5W

Math Courses: Calc I, II, III (A, A+, A), Linear Algebra (A+), Number Theory (B), Applied Math: Social Sciences (A-), Abstract Algebra I (B+), Probability (B), Numerical Analysis (A), Real Analysis I (C+), Mathematical Statistics (A), Math Capstone Seminar (A).

Econ Courses (grad-level): None

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro (A), Intermediate Micro/Macro (A/A), International (A), European International Econ (A), Economics of the European Community (A-), British Economy (A), Applied Econometrics (A), Applied Macro Seminar (A+).

Other Courses: Liberal Arts-y stuff, Intro to Comp Sci

Other: 2.5 years of work experience at an economics consulting company.

Letters of Recommendation: 1) My boss (Top 70 Econ PhD); 2a) Macro professor (Top 100 Econ PhD), 2b) Econometrics professor (Top 100 Econ PhD); 3) Math advisor, very distinguished, PhD from Dartmouth.

Research Experience: In college - minimal beside that done for classes (brief summer gigs after sophomore/junior year, grunt work). 2.5 years at the econ consulting company I am currently working at.

Teaching Experience: Tutoring calc/stats sections for 3 years at college.

Research Interests: Applied Micro, IO, Health, Law and Econ.

SOP: Standard, but trying to tailor it to each university.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Boston College ($$), UMichigan Ross (Business Econ, $$$), UNC Kenan-Flager (Accounting PhD, $$$), Georgetown ($$$), Cornell ($$, 1st year funding only after I declined the offer), Brandeis ($), George Mason (awaiting funding decision), George Washington (awaiting funding decision), Brown (Econ MA, no funding)

Waitlists: UVA

Rejections: Duke, BU, MIT Sloan (Accounting PhD), Yale SOM (Accounting PhD)

Pending: UMD, CMU, Wharton

Attending: Boston College

Comments:

 

What would you have done differently?

I should have gotten As in all my math classes and perhaps done a bit more research with professors during my summers in college.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Honors BS in economics with a minor in math from a non-flagship state school

Undergrad GPA: 3.88 Cumulative (3.95 Econ)

Type of Grad:

Grad GPA:

GRE: 170 VR / 170 Q / 5.0 A

Math Courses: Calc1-4 (all A), Matrix Theory (A-), Discrete Math (A), Probabilities (C+), undergrad analysis 1 (A) and 2 (Expected).

Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics I (A) and II (expected), Development (A), Natural Resources (A)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate micro (A) and macro (A), game theory (A), econ with SAS (A), cost benefit analysis (A), econ and law (A-), Energy econ (A-), labor (A), altruism (A), managerial econ (A), and 6 independent studies (all A).

Other Courses: Financial Investing (A)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from my thesis adviser, 1 from my employer (econ prof emeritus) who might have some name recognition, and 1 from my previous research adviser.

Research Experience: RA at a think tank for 2.5 years, completing an undergraduate thesis, and public sector (state-level) summer research internship.

Teaching Experience: Intermediate Micro and UG econometrics (both upcoming)

Research Interests: Applied micro, public economics, and micro theory

SOP: Standard

Concerns: Clearly my grade (C+) in probabilities will keep me out of many schools even though I defend it in my SOP and all of my letters defend it. Also, very few people from my school have gone from undergrad to a good program in a really long time (two in the last ten years have done t-30 or so). I'm hoping to not be closed out.

Other: This is my first year applying. I'm very uncertain about what is going to happen.

Applying to: Harvard, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Princeton, UVA, Wisconsin, Michigan, UPitt, Wash U, OSU, and UNC.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Duke ($$), UVA ($$), UW-Madison (PhD track MSc, no $), UPitt (?), WUSTL ($$), UNC (?), OSU (?)

Waitlists: none

Rejections: Harvard, Chicago, Northwestern, Princeton, Michigan, UW-Madison (essentially)

Pending: none

Attending: Duke

Comments: Despite what I would think of as a somewhat noisy profile, my results all make sense and fall in order.

 

What would you have done differently? I wish I had started taking serious math courses sooner because all of my college math background comes from the last two years and that was a bit of a stretch. I also would've taken earlier undergrad courses more seriously and done more than just enough to get an A for the sake of getting more out of my later research experiences.

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PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top Latinamerican University for Economics

Undergrad GPA: 8.6/10 (Honours)

Type of Grad: None

Grad GPA: None

GRE: 165Q, 158V, 4.5W

Math Courses: Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra (A+), Econ for Economists, Probability, Mathematical Statistics.

Econ Courses (grad-level): Trade and development, Game theory, Auction theory, Experimental economics

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Several intermediate micro and macro, Several econometrics, public finance, international trade, etc.

Other Courses: Several philosophy courses

Other: Over a year working as advisor of economics in the public sector.

2 published articles (low ranked journals)

Good STATA use.

Letters of Recommendation: 1) My boss 2a) Researcher whom I worked for 2b) Profesor of Intl. trade.

Research Experience: 1 year research experience (Intl. trade).

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Development economics, public sector, philosophy and economics

SOP: Hard to tell.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: LSE, UCL, Warwick

Waitlists: None

Rejections: Harvard (Kennedy), Chicago, Columbia, Georgetown

Pending: UBC, UToronto, Wharton

Attending: Most likely LSE, but lets wait to hear the other offers.

 

What would you have done differently?

Regardless of the requirements to apply to a PhD, I have no doubt that particularly for unrecognized (e.g. out of top 50 international programmes) universities, a good Masters programme can benefit the applicant vastly (in terms of admitance chances).

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