Institution	Program (Season)	Decision & Date	St1	Date Added	Notes
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 1 Jul 2020		1 Jul 2020	TPB: We very well understand that applicants (especially international) will suffer this time. The funding for departments is cut and lot of students will defer so your chance of getting in are much lower as compared to a normal year. But at the same time, we have to do what is best for us as well. Remote learning is not what we expected when we applied and is certainly very risky for learning. It is PhD at the end of the day, not a mastrs course. Also it is difficult to accept with no funding. Hopefully, you will understand. My advice will be to keep a backup option this time when you apply.
Us Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 30 Jun 2020	O	30 Jun 2020	If you Fall 20 students are all going to defer to Fall 21, you are killing those Fall 21 applicants. The pool of Fall 21 will be the most competitive and the available spots will be even more limited than ever.
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 30 Jun 2020	O	30 Jun 2020	TPB: I am also leaning for deferring admission to F'21. Not sure how this may impact my fellowship, but I do not want to risk going into comps/qualifiers after a year of online classes. Both quality of instruction and overall learning experience will surely be affected. Not at all what I was looking for when I applied for a PhD.
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 30 Jun 2020	O	30 Jun 2020	Guys, Decision time is close. With most universities not offering funding to international students starting online, and US consulates not seeming to open anytime in the future, where are you leaning? Deferral or starting remotely. I can not imagine the 1st year of PhD to be online so I will be deferring.
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 27 Jun 2020		27 Jun 2020	TPB: Although this explicitly determines the conditions for F-1 students, universities also attach to this guideline for J-1 students (Fulbright, and other governmental funding) Look for Regulation: 8 C.F.R 214.2(f)(6)(i)(G) 3.20.7 Distance Education Limits. Here is the URL to the DoHS webpage: www(dot)ice(dot)gov/sevis/schools/reg
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 27 Jun 2020	I	27 Jun 2020	TPB: Although this explicitly determines the conditions for F-1 students, universities also attach to this guideline for J-1 students (Fulbright, and other governmental funding) Look for Regulation: 8 C.F.R 214.2(f)(6)(i)(G) 3.20.7 Distance Education Limits. Here is the URL to the DoHS webpage: https://www.ice.gov/sevis/schools/reg#f6i
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 27 Jun 2020	I	26 Jun 2020	TPB: Can anyone please link any sources that say that the US DoS doesn't allow international students to go fully online? I can't find anything.
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 26 Jun 2020	I	25 Jun 2020	TPB: Education quality will most certainly suffer. The experience of online classes cannot even be properly compared to the environment and in-depth discussions that occur at in-person classes. I am also leaning more to the idea of deferring the admission. Now, about funding, from my and other friends' experience, we find that this may vary from one University to another; some are saying they are "looking for paths to guarantee that funding is provided to those living abroad, even if they don't hold a visa" (which is a hopeful but unlikely scenario, IMHO); others match what you are mentioning; and, finally, some Fulbright scholars are suffering terribly: most of those with funding for PhD must find a way to go to the US, or otherwise they would lose their funding (cannot be deferred), and those applying for PostDocs have been deeply affected by Trump's latest travel ban proclamation, hence may not receive their fellowship. Those with research assistantships may find it possible to defer their admissions, given their departments honor it for Fall '21. It's important that they say that to you explicitly. Otherwise, you will be competing again with other applicants next year. Bottom line, US Universities are suffering a terrible financial and academic impact due to Covid-19 and the latest ban. What a dark time for academia. BTW: In many US universities, an online-synchronous (watching classes live) is not considered as "fully online" course, so they may register some of them as "hybrid" in their platforms, so that international students may complete the necessary credits for full-time enrollment even while being abroad. Yet again, this comes with a great deal of issues for those in difficult time zones.
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 25 Jun 2020	I	25 Jun 2020	TPB: Just received some communication from my department. They are basically saying that we do not recommend you start your classes completely online and those of you who can come should come. Mentions clearly that the quality of education will suffer. Moreover, international students who start online do not get any funding (apart from tuition waiver) due to international treaties which is quite demotivating as well. All in all, since there is no chance of US Consulate opening up any time soon, and there is really nothing positive that anyone has said about online education, I think deferring is the only reasonable option right now. (Also what do you mean by full online and hybrid online?) PS that also means that international students applying this year will have a very slim chance of getting through as lots and lots of internatonal students will defer and the deprtament funding is cut in most places anyway.
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 25 Jun 2020	I	25 Jun 2020	Quick update for international students: Just wanted to let you know that me and other admitted friends have made the attempt to get an expedited (emergency) appointment at the US Embassy, since our I-20 / DS-2019 forms have start dates (mid Aug) that happen before than the closest available dates (late Sep and early Oct), yet our requests have been denied. Make sure to get in touch with you departments and/or office of international students, so that you can make an informed decision on whether starting classes on a remote basis [FYI international students cannot go fully online due to DoS regulations, so online-synchronous/hybrid courses will be the most frequent case], or maybe request a deferred admission for Fall '21. Best of luck for all.
University Of Zurich (UZH)	Economics, Masters (F20)	Accepted via E-mail on 24 Jun 2020		24 Jun 2020	161Q 159V; 110 TOEFL; Undergrad in Linguistics with a minor in econ. Bad GPA, bad LoR. Applied in Feb and they answered now, 4 months later... After all the 300CHF woko flats have been taken, why, god why
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 24 Jun 2020	O	24 Jun 2020	TPB: Although we totally agree in feeling uncomfortable with remote learning, I would say it is highly unlikely that they will change the beginning of core sequences (micro, macro, metrics) to the Spring semester for two main reasons: (1) The start of sequences in the Fall gives a fairly continuous scenario for the courses (only 1-2 weeks of break between courses at the end of the year), while having a sequence starting in the Spring semester would mean around 2-3 months between courses; (2) professors are still expected to do research and teaching, they are not on any kind of hiatus. Several if not most research projects are still ongoing, and are expecting to make use of graduate RAs work time ASAP. That is why universities are trying to make the necessary efforts to accommodate international students, instead of recommending a deferred admission, which, if taken systematically by international students, would mean a terrible impact to the PhD programs. That being said, I should emphasize that remote learning is not the best scenario, and comes with a great deal of issues: State Department regulations on amount of online credits for international students, inability to access a University library and specialized books without online materials, uncertainty about funding and payment-wiring arrangements, difficulty in arranging times for synchronous classes for students in different time zones, etc. The last resort would be to try and get an expedite emergency visa interview at the nearest US Embassy, and then try to board a humanitarian flight to the US. Otherwise, the only two choices are either to accept the online-synchronous setting, or defer admission to Fall 2021. What a horrible year it has been, and we are barely ending June...
All	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 20 Jun 2020	I	20 Jun 2020	Yes, many from different countries will not be able to go there because of US travel ban. South asian people will be added to that list as its codiv cases are rising!
US Universities	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 20 Jun 2020	I	20 Jun 2020	To all international students. As the second wave of Covid-19 cases in the US has just begun, it seems almost impossible that US Consulate will open and we will get out a visa for the fall semester (considering you want to go to the US). Since most unis have decided to go ahead with the course, it is likely that we will be given an option to start online (with less funding) or defer to next fall. I am skeptical about starting online as PhD was not about rote learning for me otherwise I would have never applied. What are you guys thinking. I also think that if many international students choose to defer, the PhD course can itself be deferred to atleast January 2021 (which seems like the best case scenario right now). Since PhD is a specialized course with a small batch, unlike bachelor's and master's courses, the timelines of the course can be changed. What are you guys thinking?
CEMFI	Economics, PhD (F20)	Interview via E-mail on 10 Jun 2020	I	15 Jun 2020	TPB: I got an email from Prof. Nezih Guner about the interview, which is tomorrow. It's super late. Don't know why they took this long.
University Of Toronto	Economics, Masters (F20)	Accepted via E-mail on 12 Mar 2020	I	12 Jun 2020	Is there any international student starting MA in economics at the University of Toronto this year?
Bonn	Economics, PhD (F20)	Accepted via E-mail on 12 Jun 2020 Undergrad GPA: 3.96 GRE General (V/Q/W): 159/168/4.50 GRE Subject: n/a ♦	U	12 Jun 2020	no words of funding
Paris School Of Economics	PPD, Masters (F20)	Other via Other on 12 Jun 2020		12 Jun 2020	Hey, does anybody know if people on the waitlist still have a chance to be admitted?
Johns Hopkins SAIS	International Economics, Masters (F20)	Accepted via E-mail on 6 Mar 2020 Undergrad GPA: 3.50 GRE General (V/Q/W): 170/160/5.00 GRE Subject: n/a ♦	A	10 Jun 2020	$42k/year funding; Economics degree from small, no-name liberal arts undergrad; a couple years of fairly technical work
All	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via POST on 10 Jun 2020	O	10 Jun 2020	TPB: That is not 100% true, but improving your scores will help your application. If you can afford it, I suggest you take the GRE a second time. If you can't afford it or get a lower/same score the second time around, you'll still find good universities that accept students with scores lower than 165 (just a few I know: University of Tennessee and University of Houston - I have a couple of friends who got in and had scores lower than 165).
All	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via POST on 10 Jun 2020	O	9 Jun 2020	TPB: If you're planning to apply again, please ensure that that GRE Quant score is at least 165. There's a common understanding that most Econ PhD programs consider only those applicants with a minimum GRE Quant score cut-off. This may not be true everywhere, and could be a coincidence, but this is what us commonly understood about PhD admissions in general. Best of Luck, and Cheers! :)
All	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via POST on 9 Jun 2020	O	9 Jun 2020	TPB. Application to any Econ / Appl. Econ / Ag. Econ PhD program is a stressful process by itself. Several different platforms, way too much time gone into filling forms and wiriting essays, and a lot of money may be spent in the process. Further stress may come if you have close friends and/or colleagues getting admitted, and you somehow feel "left behind"... But still, you shouldn't decline on your aspiration! Not everyone wants to purposely get themselves into such a rigorous deal as a PhD, so you have won a big first step by setting up your mind to go for it. Now, based on my experience (I have scores quite similar to yours, and got admitted this year--but was rejected last year) I could only give you these recommendations: [1] Choose well the universities you are willing to apply: Sometimes we wish for admission to a "dream school," but you might as well wonder whether it is a good fit for you aspirations as a future researcher. Beyond your interests, look for a place where you will receive attention and time from your professors, and where you are likely to receive funding. A PhD is essentially work and demands a lot of time and effort; you should be awarded for it. [2] Despite many others differ from me about this, and without trying to be repetitive, you should really prioritize the programs you are going to apply. From the first pool of programs you chose, make sure you have five of them where most of your effort will go to. It's better to make solid applications for a limited number programs were you see real odds of both getting admitted and growing as a researcher. This will help you to dedicate enough time to prepare your essays and make a robust case of what you can wait from each program, and on what can you bring there. [3] Try and evaluate the real quality of you recommendation letters. Make sure that those recommending you can provide both a good and thorough description of you abilities. It takes more than a "big name" for a recommendation letter--it's better to have someone who can give insights on your potential based on detailed knowledge of your work, instead of someone who is known as a good researcher but that may give a mediocre letter (at the eyes of an admission committee). [4] Build new abilities in the meantime, and make an effort to improve your profile based on your rejections. There is a lot of randomness in admission, but you can learn from those getting admitted or ending their first year in those universities where you are planning to (re)apply. Check their CVs when possible, and see what can you improve in your formation to increase you chances of getting admitted. It's though and takes time, but you end up improving yourself in any case. [5] Make the best to not to compare yourself to others. This is discouraging in many cases, and it's unfair with yourself. Your process is yours only, and you should not measure your achievements as relative to others since they are most likely not comparable to you. [6] Finally, do your best to make your applications early and at the same time whenever possible. After that, just disconnect from it and take a vacation. We focus so much on the admission process, that we leave aside many things that are truly important, and start to stress unnecessarily way before results start to come out. At the end of the day it's worth remembering that the PhD will be roughly 5~6 period, so it's not a matter only of education but also a life changing decision. Don't rush it. I know these are not quite ortodox suggestions, but I found them to be helpful for me. Hopefully this will help you to keep going for it, and hopefully getting the expected result.
All	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 9 Jun 2020	I	9 Jun 2020	Can anyone help me. It is now for two years that I am applying and getting all reject. My toefl score is 105 and gre is 162 quant and 152 verbal and 4 in AWA. My target is top 70 us universities. Is it my low gre quant score that cause me to be rejected from top 70. For the coming year I wanna apply again. If any one can comment on reasons of being rejected it helps a alot. Thanks.
Canadian Public Universities	Economics, Masters (F20)	Other via POST on 8 Jun 2020	I	8 Jun 2020	How are international students going to land in Canada from their home countries, given that we don't know when international passenger flights will resume? Is anyone booking their flights now? Anyone in this situation please?
CEMFI	Economics, PhD (F20)	Other via Other on 6 Jun 2020	I	6 Jun 2020	I applied on mid-November. Sent an e-mail on April and they replied saying that the deadline was 24th of April. It's already 6th of June and no news. I have been waiting for over 6 months, and I already accepted an offer somewhere else. But I am deeply disappointed I did not get any notification, as it was a school that I could have considered. And I wasted money sending them TOEFL/GRE scores. Am I the only one in this situation?

Status¹ Key: A: American; U: International, with US degree; I: International, without US degree; O: Other; ?: Unknown.