Dear future professor of our Department: (Of course this line was just for me, but the rest is also for others) Thank you for applying to Princeton University's Graduate School for the 2021-22 academic year. While I assure you that the materials you submitted were carefully reviewed by the faculty in the Department of Economics, I regret to inform you that the department did not recommend your admission for the coming academic year. The number of admission offers available at Princeton for entering graduate students is extremely limited, and we cannot offer admission to all applicants who are well qualified. Indeed, many departments consistently have applicants who would be admitted without hesitation if additional resources were available. Our decisions take into account not only the applicants' merits but also the suitability of the programs to the candidates' expressed interests. Our goal is to achieve a sound match between the strengths of our programs and the interests of the relatively small number of outstanding students that can be accommodated. Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications which we receive, it is not possible for the department or the Graduate School to go back and review applications to justify the denial or offer advice on fortifying a future application. I wish you success in your plans for graduate study and thank you for considering Princeton University.

oh my gawd when is princeton plasma gonna send the results?!

Very disappointed. At least it was a nice email :)

BSc GPA 3.69/4.0, one 1st author paper and there co-author papers, 3 year experience of research, 3 strong LOR. Sad about this result but expected due to no interview invitation. Good luck to all other applicants to this program. Maybe see you 2 years later.

My first rejection. No pre-doc but extensive research experience, 1y of industry work and top grades in European undergrad and masters. 4a/3w/1r/4p

Have an offer from a theoretically better ranked program, but would've really considered Princeton due to better fit & placements. 6a/4r/7p

Seems like this year connections are even more important than they normally are. Sad state of affairs

Posted moments ago but listed my GRE scores incorrectly; it should be V: 169; Q:152; AW:5.5. GPA is ThM (Evangelical Seminary).

I am a pre-doc at top5 and my letter writers are affiliated with 3 top5s separately, I got into none, not even a top 20.

GPA is ThM. My app was rushed; this result is not a surprise. Note: I posted this first under "New Testament" but have added "theology" so that it will show up for general searches in theology.

RIP for me, lucky for those of you who could leverage your connections. i am a full-time RA for a full tenured prof at a T3 and they couldn't get me in into their program and I'm getting smashed at all other T10s.

GPA is ThM. My app was sloppy and rushed, so this is not surprising in the least.

Losing hoap

Gotta love....

4a/1wl/4r/20p. Good luck everyone!

Got the informal acceptance two days ago, formal offer today

4a/4r/23p

Same as poster below, only got accepted to top schools were my letter writers worked at (this year it was probably extra hard to get into top schools without your advisors calling their friends due to reduced spots (Harvard wtf)). Definitely hard to justify to other international students who I'm sure are very gifted but lack connections. Secretly relieved I was not accepted to top2 schools and ‘forced' to choose them because of their ranking, the program I'm attending (solid top 7) is in my opinion the best fit for me.

Among top 5, I was accepted precisely to the schools in which my letter writers are (or were) faculty members and rejected otherwise (even from the schools generally considered lower in rank). Really, admission to top schools is becoming more and more about the connections of the letter writers. I acknowledge that I benefited from this system, but am not sure if this is healthy for the future of economics academia.