Profiles and Results 2014

[sevet]

Profile:

 

Undergrad: Mathematical Economics from a Canadian university known predominantly for Engineering & Math (top30 for math)

Undergrad GPA: 79%/B+ cumulative, 82%/A- economics courses, 78%/B+ math courses, ~85%/A average in the 3rd/4th year micro/macro/metrics courses

Econ courses: Intermediate Macro I/II/III (84/86/87 - A-/A/A), Intermediate Micro I/II/III (77/84/83 - B+/A-/A-), Econometrics (76 - B), other econ electives are mostly around ~80%/A-.

Math courses: Calc I/II/III (84/82/82 - A-/A-/A-), Lin Alg I/II (77/77 - B+/B+), Probability theory (75 - B), Intro to optimization (74 - B), Regression & Forecasting (85 - A), Diff Equations (66 - C), and other unrelated/low-level courses

LORs: From my macro II/III professors, ranked 8/60 and 5/28 in those classes. And also from micro III, most published faculty in department but only was about top 1/3 of class

Research/Teaching: N/A

Applying to: Waterloo, UWO, Carleton, McMaster, Queens, UBC, SFU

 

Results:

 

Acceptances: Waterloo ($), Carleton ($), McMaster ($), SFU ($), UBC (no $)

Waitlisted: -

Rejections: UWO, Queens

Attending: UBC

Comments: Honestly knew UWO was a long shot, but thought UBC would also be another rejection. But both of my strong letter writers have ties to UBC (including ex-faculty) so I'm thinking that really saved my application since I know just looking at my marks it's simply not a competitive application to UBC. Queens was a little surprising, I knew it was still a reach school for my application, but I thought given my letters and semi-decent grades I would have received an offer. The other schools were all relatively safe bets save for SFU, that offer came the latest out of the bunch. All acceptances except for UBC were funded, not first round max funding but still a decent amount.

 

What would you have done differently?

Other than the usual "should've tried harder", I really should have taken more honours math level math courses. Took some at the math major level, but took some at the non-specialist level (for science majors, etc.). Could've taken real analysis but simply chose not to, and in retrospect if I knew everything I know now from reading this board, I would've taken it and applied to some US programs even if my undergrad is from a relatively unknown school for economics. But all in all, other than no funding, got into one of the top 2 MA programs in the country so can't complain. Not sure whether I will be pursuing a PhD afterwards, but I should have a good idea not too long after starting in the fall.

 

[jrdonsimoni]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BA in Business Economics low-ranked UK university

Undergrad GPA: Upper second class honours (2:1)

Type of Grad: MSc in Business Management at low-ranked British university & MSc in Behavioural Economics at a top-6 UK department

Grad GPA: High Merit for both

GRE: 166Q/158V/4.5

Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro (B+) Macro (A+), Metrics (B+), Econ Data analysis (A-), Time series metrics (B+), Adv. Micro (B+), Behavioural econ (A+), Experimental econ (B+), Econ Research Methodology (A-), Thesis (A-)

Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Business economics (A), Intermediate Macroeconomics (A), Japanese Economy (B+), Chinese Economy (C+), EU Economy (B), Managing the Economy (B-), Business Environment [principles of economics] (A), Thesis (A+)

Other Courses: business modules (marketing, hr, strategy, finance etc.)

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from MSc thesis advisor, good but not amazing either (D. Phil Oxford), 1 from Micro professor, decent but nothing fancy (PhD Tilburg), 1 from experimental professor, good I suppose as she seemed very enthusiastic, but I didn’t know her so well (PhD Erfurt University)

Research Experience: Small research paper for a class; one experimental paper where I had to design and conduct the experiments myself; BA and MSc theses, the latter was an experiment I designed and ran myself

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: behavioural, experimental, macroeconomics

SOP: Interest in economics, teaching, doing research. Some bits about how the targeted school would allow me to achieve those goals, etc. (standard in a way) / for the German ones which also asked a Cover Letter I described how their programme (the structure and the coursework) could help me complement and support my training and future career.

Concerns: coming from the UK and given my applied econ bachelor, there are hardly any math class (in fact none in the traditional sense), but the econ classes in my MSc were very maths-oriented: Time series was proof-based and Micro/macro/metrics were all intensively maths-based. Also my undergrad is terrible, which is because I was a lazy undergrad. Thankfully my MSc somewhat mitigates that, but I’m painfully aware that this will stick in adcoms’ minds, and even then it’s not flawless

Applying to: NYU Stern, UCSD, UCSB, BU, GMU, USC, Virginia, Chicago, UT Austin, Caltech, Bonn GSE, Munich GSE, EUR (Tinbergen Institute), Mannheim CDSE, Frankfurt GSEFM, Barcelona GSE (MSc)

 

Results:

 

Acceptances: Frankfurt GSEFM (high chances for 2^nd year onward), Barcelona GSE (-)

Pending: Mannheim CDSE, EUR, Munich GSE (selected for interview but declined)

Rejections: all 10 US, Bonn GSE

Attending: Frankfurt GSEFM

Comments? I seriously did not expect to get nothing at all from the US. I guess the combination of weak letters, an average profile overall definitely held me down.

 

What would you have done differently?

 

Worked harder in undergrad to get into a better MSc? ôO I was a bit down after the initial batch of rejections from the US, and I definitely should not have put all my faith on these schools. I not only should have applied to a wider selection of universities (e.g. UC Irvine, OSU, Texas A&M, etc.), but I should have bet more (and earlier) on European universities. My late realisation that I might not make it into a US programme nearly nuked all chances of enrolling into a PhD at all this year. I should have considered UK, French and Dutch universities more and sent applications to all those schools much earlier. Also should have spent more time familiarising myself with faculty between classes. All in all I’m not disappointed, professionally Frankfurt might actually be the best choice for me (their placement over the past 3 years is exemplary) and it gives me the opportunity to live in Germany which I always wanted, and besides financial aid is more than probable from Year 2 onward, and even during the first year if I’m a bit lucky.

[sillytheory]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: BS in Econ and Math, Big Ten U, Top 50-60 Econ Dept

Undergrad GPA: 4.00

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 164Q, 164V, 4.5AW (took it twice, these are my second-round scores)

Math Courses (undergrad): Calc I, II, III, Linear Algebra, (all A's), Math Stat I (B+) Math Stat II (A), Intro. Real Analysis (B)

Econ Courses (undergrad): Intermediate Micro and Macro (both A+), IO (A+), Labor Econ, Game Theory, Public Finance, Information Econ (all A's)

Other Courses: Some econ-related Poli Sci classes

Letters of Recommendation: 1 from tenured Professor with endowed chair (Labor Econ prof), 1 from Assistant Professor recently denied tenure (Game Theory & Information Econ prof), 1 from Visiting Assistant Professor (IO and Public Finance prof, know them very well)

Research Experience: None at time of application

Teaching Experience: Private tutor for a lot of econ classes

Research Interests: IO

SOP: Standardish, but emphasis on IO research ideas, coursework performance, and tried to sell teaching/tutoring ability

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UW-Madison ($$), Iowa ($$)

Waitlists: Virginia

Rejections: Stanford, Northwestern, UC-Berkeley, Michigan, UCLA, Boston U

Pending: Michigan State (withdrew app after being accepted elsewhere)

Attending: UW-Madison

Comments: The decision was a no-brainer. But, as I'll explain below, I feel I got a little lucky.

What would you have done differently?

As a result of taking some college-credit classes while in high school, I decided to finish undergrad in 3 years. Although I had been encouraged to apply for a Masters/PhD by a few mentors, as of the summer before my senior year, I was set on the workforce. But after a distasteful experience in the private sector that summer, in August I decided, "Why not, I'll go for my PhD and avoid those "what-ifs" and the idiots in the business world, at least for a while." When I told my closest advisor about this decision, they recommended I stay and do another year of undergrad. I thought that advice was silly, why spend another year stuck in the same place, going deeper into debt? But looking back, they were probably right. If I had stayed another year in at my undergrad institution, I would have taken more undergraduate-level math, some grad econ classes, written an honors thesis, done more research-assistant work, and enjoyed another year with the student org I came to love. If I had done that, I think my profile would have been much stronger, would have better letters of recommendation and I may have gotten into more programs. I also should have taken the GRE the summer before I applied so I would have more time to review before retaking it. I also think I should have applied to more programs that are similar to UW-Madison, like Cornell and Minnesota. Looking at other profiles, I think I got lucky at UW-Madison, probably thanks to my first letter writer.