Profiles and Results 2020

[tutonic]

Seeing as to how the admission cycle of 2020 is ending, it seems apt to consolidate all the results in one place, as people have done in the past.

 

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?

[tutonic]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: UK Distance-Learning (Accounting & Finance)

Undergrad GPA: First Class Honors (ranked 3rd in cohort)

Type of Grad: Top 10 Econ Department in Asia

Grad GPA: 3.1/4.0

GRE: 166Q/155V/5.0AW

Math Courses: Math I, Math II, Stats I, Stats II

Econ Courses: Intro to Econ, Micro, Macro, Econometrics

Grad Econ Courses: PhD Micro I, Micro II, Metrics I, Metrics II, Macro I, Macro II and 4 other PhD field courses

Letters of Recommendation:

1) Thesis Supervisor (PhD Top 10)

2) Thesis Committee Member (junior faculty, PhD Top 10 Europe)

3) Thesis Committee Member (PhD Top 10, Repec Top 5%)

Research Experience:

a) 2 years for someone at my masters institution, on a short research project in my field of interest (went abroad to present the completed paper at a conference).

b) 2-year long Masters' Thesis.

Teaching Experience:

TA-ed for a bunch of courses (undergrad and masters-level ones) during my time at my masters institution.

Research Interests: Applied Micro (Education).

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UVa

Waitlists:

Rejections: Chicago-Harris (Public Policy), JHU, WUSTL, Cornell, Penn State

Others: Withdrew from Rice, Warwick after getting UVa admit. Incomplete application that resulted in rejection from UCSB despite several emails to the grad admissions to rectify it (linking TOEFL to my account; my GRE linked just fine). No hard feelings though.

Pending: UNC-Chapel Hill

Attending: UVa!!

Comments: Never thought I'd finally get to write up one of these, after 5 years on this website. I am very glad I got one admit from a school that wasn't my safety. Was a bit on-the-fence about it, since I had the option to continue on and do my PhD at my masters institution and save 2 years from having to re-do the coursework, but the virtual open house really helped nudge me in the right direction.

 

What would you have done differently?

Apply a bit earlier. I ended up only applying in end-Dec and missed out on a lot of the 15 Dec deadlines that a number of good programmes have. Overall, I am surprised I managed to place in the Top 30s, given that I got little-to-no formal math, and semi-decent grades in my PhD coursework (my school grades students from Cs to As, even in PhD courses). I think my research experience and LoRs were what helped a lot.

[throwaway2019]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: MIT

Undergrad GPA: 4.0

Type of Grad: Dropped out of physics masters

Grad GPA: n/a

GRE: 170Q / 169V / 5.0 AW

Math Courses: Calc/DiffEq/Linalg, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Probability, Differential Geometry

Econ Courses: Game Theory, audited first quarter of Ph.D. Micro

Other Courses: Lots of physics, EECS, and music classes

Letters of Recommendation: Two from NYU profs I RAed for, one from Ph.D. Micro professor (I got an A on the midterm)

Research Experience: Two years as an RA at RAND doing policy work, half a year as an RA at NYU for some IO professors

Teaching Experience: None

Research Interests: Theory

SOP: Standard

Other: I was an engineering major, took very few econ classes, and dropped out of a physics masters program, so I think my profile is fairly unusual and perhaps interesting.

 

Comments:

I applied last year and got rejected everywhere, but then reapplied this year and got in. The only differences between last year and this year were the number of places I applied to (6 last year, 14 this year), my recommenders (I got recommendations from three RAND employees last year, none of whom were professors), and the fact that I also applied to NSF this year (I didn't bother last year). I'll post my results from both years below, on the off chance this is helpful.

 

RESULTS (2019-20 cycle):

Acceptances: Columbia ($41k), University of Washington ($28k)

Waitlists: Columbia (accepted)

Rejections: Berkeley, Harvard, Harvard BusEc, MIT, Northwestern, NYU, NYU Stern, Princeton, Stanford, Stanford GSB, UChicago, Yale

Attending: Columbia

 

RESULTS (2018-19 cycle):

Acceptances: none

Waitlists: Northwestern (rejected)

Rejections: Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, NYU, UChicago

Attending: Reapplied fall 2019

 

Comments: Ph.D. applications are pretty crazy. As we all know, decisions are pretty random. My results over two years confirm this, if nothing else.

What would you have done differently?

Nothing - it worked out in the end. But I recognize the roll luck played in this!

Edited April 15, 2020 by throwaway2019
formatting

[askangbuzz]

Type of Undergrad:

Top 30 USNEWS

 

Undergrad GPA:

3.95+

 

Type of Grad:

NA

 

Grad GPA:

NA

 

GRE:

170Q/165V/4.5AW

 

Math Courses:

CalcI~III,Vector Calculus,Discrete Mathematics,Mathematical Reasoning, Linear Algebra Honors,Applied Linear Algebra, Real Analysis1+2, Probability1+2, Stochastic Processes, Differential Equations,Linear Systems of Differential Equations, Optimization (all A+/As)

 

Econ Courses:

Principles of Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro/Macro/Metrics,Advanced Metrics,Honor Seminar Micro,Labor,PhD Micro/Metrics(still in progress when I applied) [b+ in labor, A- in grad micro, A+/As others]

 

Other Courses:

C++, MATLAB, Managerial and Financial Accountings (all As)

 

Letters of Recommendation:

One from Thesis Advisor:Been RAing for him for a year already.

One from a very prominent professor. Took her class.

One from a top2 junior whom I RAed for.

One from a prof I RAed for a year.

They all agreed to write me a strong letter. Should not be bad, I guess

 

Research Experience:

RAed for all three writer letters.Working on a thesis by the time I was applying, not finished yet. My advisor said it should be publishable

 

Teaching Experience:

Been a grader for letter writer 2 for a quarter, if that counts.

 

Research Interests:

Trade and labor

 

SOP:

Ok SOP. Customized only when the application guideline explicitly told me so.

 

Other:

I transferred from a top50 to a top30.

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances:

Princeton, Yale, Chicago

 

Waitlists:

Penn

 

Rejections:

Harvard, MIT, Stanford/GSB, Berkeley, Booth, NYU, Columbia,LSE, Northwestern

 

Pending:

UCLA

 

Attending:

Princeton!

 

Comments:

I am really happy about my result! I got a lot of help from this forum, especially by reading past applicants' profiles and results. I want to post mine hoping it can help future applicants someday! But for future applicants, the most helpful thing is to ask your (potential) letter writers for help!

 

What would you have done differently?

1.I hope I could have decided to do a PhD in my second year, not the third year. I guess I got lucky to have met my first letter writer, who gave me tons of hand holding and introduced me to lots of opportunities. Without his help, I would not have got into any of the top schools.

2.If I had known I am going to do the PhD, I would NOT take the accounting nonsense. I would finish analysis by the second year so I can go on to take grad sequences in my third year. Also I can start my thesis much earlier

3.I should have taken grad micro more seriously and not get an A-.

 

That said, I would not think that doing the above would get me into Harvard/MIT. Just ease of mind I guess.

Edited April 15, 2020 by askangbuzz

[evoi]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Canadian business school (BBA Econ/Math)

Undergrad GPA: 3.85/4

Type of Grad: Same as undergrad, MA Econ

Grad GPA: 3.95/4

GRE: 167Q/165V/4.5

Math Courses: Probability (A), Statistics (A), Operations Research (A), Linear Algebra (A), Multivariate calculus (A), Topology (A-), Real Analysis (A), Stochastic Processes (A-), Differential equations(A-)

Econ Courses: Intermediate micro (A), Intermediate macro (A), Introduction to Econometrics (A)

Grad Econ Courses: IO (A), Time Series Econometrics (A-), International Macro (A), Monetary Macro (A), Applied Econometrics (A), Micro (A)

Other Courses: Bunch of finance classes

Letters of Recommendation: Chair of Econ department (full prof, got A in his graduate class), Thesis advisor (Associate professor, was his TA for 1 year) , Top 10 Full prof for whom I've been a RA.

Research Experience: 1 year RA with Econ prof, 6 months undergrad RA with Statistics prof, masters thesis.

Teaching Experience: 3 years TA (Probability, Statistics, Operations Research, Linear Algebra, Intermediate Macro, Graduate Applied econometrics).

Research Interests: Macro, labor, international

SOP: Standard, usually not customized, except for a few.

Other:

 

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Penn($$$), Columbia(through waitlit - $$$$), Minnesota($$), Maryland($$), Toronto($$$$), UBC($$$), UW Madison($$), Cornell($$$), Penn State($$$)

Waitlists: Columbia (accepted), Brown (declined), Duke(declined), Wharton(declined)

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Chicago, NYU, Northwestern, Michigan, Boston U

Pending: CMU Tepper

Attending: Columbia!

Comments: Very random, but this was expected. Very happy with the results.

 

 

 

What would you have done differently?

Contact profs about letters of recommendation earlier, I was a bit late on that. Maybe candidate to fewer schools (25 might be too much, I think 15 is the right number).

[zamb66]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 100 State School Undergrad (Top 40 Econ)

Undergrad GPA: 3.85/4.0

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA: N/A

GRE: 169 Q/156 V/4.0 AW

Math Courses: Honors Linear Algebra (B) Honors Calc III, Differential Equations, Stats II (3.5) Real Analysis, Stats I (A) Analysis II (Current) Econ Courses: Labor, Health, Intro/Advanced metrics, Intermediate/Advanced Micro, International, Senior Thesis (A) Education/Intermediate Macro (3.5)

Other Courses: More actuarial-focused courses, Theatre minor, Grad Intro Epidemiology (A in latter)

Letters of Recommendation: Full prof in my fields of interest (been in contact since Fall 2018, took their class), Senior paper advisor (assistant professor), Epidemiology Professor (very well-known in his field)

Research Experience: 4 years RA experience under Epi letter writer, have work in progress with him + outside coauthors

Teaching Experience: Intro Micro tutor, lead solo recitation for a 2^nd-year actuarial course

Research Interests: Health/Labor, mentioned interest in empirical IO

SOP: Somewhat personalized for each school, mentioned faculty I would be interested in working with

Other: Actuarial internship at a large health insurer last summer, P and FM exams passed

 

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Maryland ($$)

Waitlists: UVA (strong waitlist, pending), UT-Austin (rejected)

Rejections: Chicago, Columbia, Northwestern, Michigan, Duke, Brown, Cornell, UW-Madison, Boston College

Pending:

Attending: Maryland

Comments: Was a pretty rough cycle, but Maryland is a great fit. Applying straight from undergrad probably set me behind many with pre-docs/relevant industry experience.

 

 

What would you have done differently?

Polish my senior paper a bit more and study harder for the Verbal GRE. Had I planned on a PhD before my third year, I would have spent more time seeking out Summer/Post-grad RA positions.

[TinCan]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Private University in South-East Asia (BD)

Undergrad GPA: 3.26/4.0; BBA Finance

Type of Grad: MS Econ (Top 2 Econ Department in the Same South Asian Country)

Grad GPA: 3.87/4

GRE: 166 Q/153 V/3.5 AW

Math Courses: Math for Econ I (A), Math for Econ II (A-), Calculus IV (A-), Mathematical Econ (Grad, A), Business Math (Grad, A), Intro Stat (C+), Business Stat (A)

Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro I (A-), Micro Theory (Grad, A), Macro Theory (Grad, A), Game Theory (Grad, A-), Econometric Method (Grad, A), Time Series Models (Grad, A-), Panel and Limited Dependent Variable (Grad, A), Contemporary Econ Thought (Grad, A-)

Other Courses: Done some non-crdit online Math courses; tons of finance and banking courses

Letters of Recommendation: 1 Asst. Prof. I RA-ed for (Strong); Took courses with other two Asst. Professors

Research Experience: 3 RA Projects and 1+ year Central Banking Exp

Teaching Experience: Business Math, Managerial Finance (1 yr)

Research Interests: Changed with Institutions

SOP: Somewhat personalized for each school, mentioned faculty I would be interested in working with in a few SOP

 

 

 

 

 

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Georgia State ($$), NC State ($$), York (MA Econ $$$), Clemson (No Funding)

Waitlists: N/A

Rejections: UW-Seattle; UToronto (MA), OSU, UC-Irvine, Iowa State, Notre Dame, Kansas, West Virginia

Pending:

Attending: GSU

Comments: Rough cycle, but happy with GSU.

 

What would you have done differently?

Well, Can't go 5 years back in time! If I could, would have changed everything!

[ceecon]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Transfer to US News top 10 from Unranked State School

Undergrad GPA: 3.88 (GPA and courses all from better school)

Type of Grad: N/A

Grad GPA:

GRE: 168 Q/161 V/5.0 AW

Math Courses: Abstract Algebra (A), Real Analysis (B+), Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes (A), Linear Algebra (A), Calc (A, A, A-)

Econ Courses: All A’s with an A- in Metrics

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: Prof I have RA’d for for a year at top 5 business school, Undergrad program chair at better school, Grad chair of math at better school. First two should have been stellar. The last was a risk, but we had a good relationship, so I thought I’d go for it.

Research Experience: One year RA at top 5 business school, personal research paper under review at journal, Coauthor on unpublished paper with managing professor

Teaching Experience: 1 year TA-ship for Econ intro course

Research Interests: Political Economy/Econ History/Development

SOP: Specific to each school. What I’ve done, What I want to do, How I fit in to their school

Other: Plenty of coding experience in Python/STATA, applied for NSF, attended multiple conferences, networked with professors

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: None

Waitlists: Wisconsin (Rejected)

Rejections: MIT, Minnesota, Stanford, Michigan, Harvard, Harvard PEG, Penn, Northwestern, Princeton, Chicago Econ, Berkeley, Cornell, Chicago Booth, Columbia, Yale, NYU Stern

Pending:

Attending: None

Comments: Painful.

 

What would you have done differently? Truly, I could have done nothing more for this applications season. I wish I would have used this past year acting like I wasn’t going to get in, taking PhD level econ courses as an Undergrad.

[elliotish]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 30 Asian Univ

Undergrad GPA: 3.92/4

Type of Grad: -

Grad GPA: -

GRE: 158/170/4.5

Math Courses: Calc 1, 2, 3; Advanced Calc (Analysis); Linear Algebra; Prob; Stat; Numerical Analysis; ODE; Stochastic Process; Time Series Analysis; Financial Math (All A)

Econ Courses: Principles & Intermediate Micro and Macro; Metrics; Financial Metrics; bunch of field courses (Econ Policy, Money and Banking, International Finance, etc.) (All A)

Other Courses: Programming (A-); Rice Math and Stat Camp for Econ PhD Students (Both Distinction)

Letters of Recommendation: 2 profs for whom I RA'ed, 1 thesis supervisor

Research Experience: 2 RAship, 1 independent project, 1 thesis, 1 work in progress coauthored with a prof

Teaching Experience: -

Research Interests: Applied Micro, Time Series Metrics, Finance

SOP: Customized only to the extent to which a few names and their researches are mentioned

Other: -

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: UConn (Tuition Waiver + $$), Missouri (TW + $$), GaTech (no funding), BGSE Master's (TW), Tufts Master's ($$$), CEMFI (no funding), Tinbergen Institute MPhil (TW + €1240 per mo.)

Waitlists: -

Rejections: JHU, UIUC, UVA, GSU, Arizona, ND, Pitt, Vandy, Rice

Pending: Purdue, Florida, Virginia Tech, Queen's (all withdrawn)

Attending: Tinbergen Institute

Comments: International students from regionally but not globally recognized institutions without overseas connections should be refrained from applying to US Top 30 or even Top 50 programs, an issue uncompensatable by high grades. EU schools put much more weight on scores (GRE, GPA, language) during admission process and so students with exceptionally high grades and GRE scores can aim high in EU instead.

 

What would you have done differently? Try to build some connections with profs in universities that I would like to attend through undergrad advisors. Also take PhD Micro during summer sessions in another institution since my school does not allow undergrads to take or even audit the course.

[justanotheruser]

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: T100 US Liberal Arts

Undergrad GPA: 3.8/4.3

Type of Grad: Top Canadian MA Economics

Grad GPA: 4.2/4.3

GRE: 158/168/4.5

Math Courses: Calc I-III; linear algebra; real analysis; functional analysis; probability and statistics; ODE (all A, A-); topology (B+)

Econ Courses: Micro, Macro, Metrics (undergrad and PhD), field courses (all A, A+)

Other Courses:

Letters of Recommendation: 1 undergrad prof, 2 grad profs, all well-known in fields. Did coursework with them and one supervised my thesis.

Research Experience: 2 years at Fed

Teaching Experience: TA'ed math courses in undergrad and intro econ in MA

Research Interests: Macro-Finance

SOP: Only some customization of SOP to show research questions aligned with faculty.

Other:

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Chicago ($$$), U Penn (no funding first year)

Waitlists: Yale ($$$), Northwestern

Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, NYU, UC Berkeley

Pending:

Attending: Chicago

Comments: Super happy with the results! I think that pursuing an additional MA plus work experience really gave me some good perspective and foundations for PhD studies.

 

What would you have done differently? Not much: I probably would have tried harder in some of the more difficult math courses to get my grades up. I would have also pushed harder for RA work with profs during my undergrad.

[SSh]

Type of Undergrad: BBA with concentration on information systems from a university no one has ever heard of (from a third-world country)

Undergrad GPA: 3.16

Type of Grad: Top 3 MS program in ag econ in the US (mind you, top 3 MS program, not department)

Grad GPA: 3.0 (I scored a C+ in advanced econometrics, and then had to retake; scored B+ the second time)

GRE: 166 Q, 159 V, 5.5 AWA

Math Courses: Undergraduate level statistics, probability theory, etc.

Econ Courses: Graduate level micro, macro, and econometrics

Other Courses: A ton of programming and software engineering during undergrad

Letters of Recommendation: 2 PhDs from UC davis; 1 MPA from Harvard Kennedy

Research Experience: 4 years of economics research experience; my MS thesis was accepted at in a special issue of some above-average economics journal (impact factor: 2.9)

Teaching Experience: Some during MS

Research Interests: International agricultural development, impact evaluation, development economics, risk and uncertainty

SOP: Not sure; reviewed by like a 1000 people; took 6 months or more

Other: N/A

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Virginia Tech, UGA, Kansas State, UFL, U Conn (all ARE)

Waitlists:

Rejections: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State

Pending:

Attending:

Comments: It's okay. Didn't get into big prestigeous programs, but again, I came from gutters, and I guess I am going to a more than decent school. I'm happy!

[favourr]

Seeing as to how the admission cycle of 2020 is ending, it seems apt to consolidate all the results in one place, as people have done in the past.

 

PROFILE:

Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Nigerian University (Top 2 Private University)

Undergrad GPA: 4.79/5.00 (Economics)

Type of Grad: Top 5 Nigerian University ( Top 2 Private University)

Grad GPA: 4.95/5.00

GRE: Pending

Math Courses: Quantitative Analysis in Economics, Mathematical Statistics

Econ Courses: Advanced Microeconomic Theory, Advanced Macroeconomic Theory, Theories of Growth and Development, Manpower Economics and Industrial Relations, International Finance

Other Courses: Econometric Analysis 1, Econometric Analysis II

Letters of Recommendation:

BSc Supervisor and Graduate Professor, Thesis Supervisor; Risk Analyst, IFC Division, World Bank Group and Research Supervisors at Work

Research Experience: a) 1 years as a research assistant at two leading research institutes in Nigeria with published papers and conferences.

b) 2-year long Masters' Thesis.

Teaching Experience: Tutor for Advanced Microeconomic Theory, Mathematical Statistics (Masters' level), Introductory Econometrics I&II, Mathematics for Economists 1&II (undergrad)

Research Interests: Labour Economics

Other: International Finance, Financial Economics, and Macroeconomics

 

RESULTS:

Acceptances: Portsmouth, Newcastle, Swansea, Hull, Swansea, Dundee/UCAS, Essex

Waitlists:

Rejections: Leicester, Aston, Lancaster, City, Nottingham, Durham, UEA, Kings College London, Strathclyde, Sheffield, Brunel, CEMFI, Southampton

Pending: Manchester, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Birmingham, Sussex, Bristol, Plymouth, Exeter, Glasgow, Bath, Liverpool, Swansea, Middlesex, Manchester

Attending:

Comments: The application process has been quite intense and rigorous particularly in seeking for full scholarship opportunities but it has been worth the journey so far.

 

What would you have done differently? Definitely, I would apply earlier and draft my proposal way ahead of time too. I ended up applying at almost mid-December and because of the tight deadline, I had to speed up my proposal. Good thing that in the course of my Masters program, I had already been thinking of what I wanted to specialize in for my PhD. It helped me to fast-track the application process. Despite my good grades, my research experience definitely contributed to impressing the interviewers during my Skype interviews.