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tunedradio 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.89
Type of Grad: audited 1st year micro, 2nd year development
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q/700V/6.0A
Math Courses: Multivariate Calc (A-) Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (currently taking), Statistics (A), Diff Eq. in High School
Econ Courses: lots, A's throughout, A+'s in intermediate micro and macro
Other Courses: lots of political science / development / policy
Letters of Recommendation: one very famous, one very good one (coauthor) but junior, another junior
Research Experience: substantial; senior honor's thesis, presentations at four conferences, year of RA full-time, co-authored (yet to be published) less-technical papers with two professors (one very famous)
Teaching Experience: TA for three semesters (one at graduate level)
Research Interests: devo / trade
SOP: good (but it doesn't really matter)
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NSF, Yale ($), Berkeley ARE ($), Michigan Econ/Public Policy ($), USSD ($), Penn State ($), Brown (waitlisted $), Duke ($), UC-Boulder ($), LSE (Msc)
Waitlists: Princeton PolyEc PhD
Rejections: Harvard KSG, Cornell, LSE (PhD), MIT
What would you have done differently? I actually applied last year with substantial less math and research experience and was accepted into two top 20 programs but no top 10 programs (and honorable mentioned on the NSF), so for those who are considering it, I found a year of RAing and a few more classes (and better recs) can really boost your admits.

snigai 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: International Student, top 10 University in the country, exhange student in the US.
Undergrad GPA: 85%
Type of Grad: MA in Economics, Top 3 University in the Region
Grad GPA: 4,10 out of 4,33
GRE: 770/420/5.0, TOEFL: 115/120
Math Courses: Mathematics for Economists, Mathematical Programming
Econ Courses: relevant Micro I, II; Macro I, II; Econometrics I,II all grad
Other Courses: Statistics, Probability
Letters of Recommendation: all grom grad economics professors
Research Experience: GRA for 1 semester for visiting professor
Teaching Experience: GTA for 2 semesters
Research Interests: Macroeconomics, Monetary Economics
SOP: It was allright I suppose )))
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UVA, Penn State, UC Riverside, American U (probably)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Harvard, Berkeley ,Cornell, Georgetown
What would you have done differently?Nothing. I did the best I could.

Prometheus_Econ 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 50 public university
Undergrad GPA: 4.0 GRE: 800Q, 610V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses (all As):
Undergrad Math: 3 semesters Calculus, two semesters proof-based Linear Algebra, Intro to Statistics, Probability Theory, Differential Equations, Intro to Topology, Analysis 1, Game Theory and Math. Programming, Proof Writing, Stochastic Processes (IP), Analysis 2 (IP)
Econ Courses (all As):
Undergrad Econ: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Intro Econometrics, Game Theory, Experimental Economics
Grad Econ: Quantitative Methods, Micro 1, 2nd year seminar in behavioral economics
Letters of Recommendation: 1 math professor, 2 econ professors, from 3 different universities, all advised me on research, only one I took classes with
Research Experience: Summer REU program, independent research in mathematical finance, honors thesis, gave 2 seminar presentations and 1 poster presentation
Teaching Experience: Calculus 1 (undergraduate TA), lots of tutoring
Research Interests: Microeconomic Theory, Financial Economics
SOP: emphasized research experience, and explained how I became interested in economics, customized last paragraph
Other: Applied for NSF (got honorable mention), got several departmental scholarships and awards in mathematics
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
(with fellowship)
NYU
Caltech
UPenn (after being waitlisted for funding about 2 weeks)
Carnegie Mellon Tepper
Johns Hopkins
University of Michigan (external funding)
Boston University
(with TAship)
Penn State
UT Austin
(without funding first year)
Wisconsin
UCSD
Rejections:
Princeton
Stanford GSB
Harvard
Harvard Business School
Northwestern
Berkeley
Waitlisted:
MIT
Stanford
What would you have done differently?
I would have applied to Yale as well, and perhaps applied to less safety schools.

ockam 2007:
hey, I just heard about this forum a couple weeks ago. wish I had know about it earlier, but I hope somebody else might find my info useful
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: large "top-ten" public research university w/ top 15ish econ dept
Undergrad GPA: 3.95 overall, 3.97 math
GRE: 800Q/610V/5.0
Math Courses: majored in math, with rigorous year-long sequences in analysis, stats, and abstract algebra. upper div electives included applied linear algebra and mathematical modeling. note to future applicants: the admissions director at princeton seemed to take very seriously the fact that i had taken the more rigorous math courses
Econ Courses: very few: intro to micro, mathematical econ, grad-level micro. After applying, some macro and behavioral (and said I would do so on application)
Other Courses: lots of philosophy including grad-level coursework in philosophy of science.
Letters of Recommendation: These were probably the strongest part of my application. One from a full professor each of: econ, math, phil departments. Math letter came from my real analysis prof who is also a college provost. Phil letter was from my honors thesis advisor. I took a grad course with the econ prof. I know all my letter writers quite well, so there were lots of very specific things they could say about me.
Research Experience: none in economics. Assisted research in epidemiology (with a sociologist) and genomics. Independent research in philosophy of science and sabermetrics.
Teaching Experience: tutor/TA for the computer science dept (java)
Research Interests: very broad. mostly micro and metrics, both theory and applied
SOP: 700 words, nothing fancy. described how my background in math and phil led me to economics. said my interests in econ were broad and described a couple specific topics that interest me. Used mostly the same statement at every school, changing just the last two sentences for each application
Other: Residential advisor, phil club president, and undergrad phil journal editor.
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
full funding:
Princeton, Stanford, Chicago, UPenn, Columbia, Northwestern Wisc-Madison, UBC
no $: UCSD
Waitlists:
Yale, MIT
Rejections:
Harvard, Berkeley
What would you have done differently?
absolutely nothing.

econchick06 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large, not highly ranked public university
Major: Economics Minor: Mathematics
Undergrad GPA: Overall: 3.96, Econ: 3.98, Math: 3.85
GRE: 780 Q, 600 V, 5.0 A
Math Courses: Calc I through III, Diff Equations (A+), Discrete Math (A+), Foundations of Math (Intro to Proofs) (A-), Matrix Algebra (A+), Linear Algebra (A), Probability (A), Advanced Calc (A, only A in the class)
Econ Courses: Undergrad:
Int Micro (A+), Int Macro (A), IO (A+), Urban/Regional (A+), Public Choice (A+), Math Econ (A), Econometrics (A+), Development Econ (A), International Economics (A), Money and Banking (A+)
Grad (taken as an undergrad):
Macroeconomic Theory (A), Mathematical Economics I (A-)
Other Courses: Intro Stats I and II (A+, A+), Intro to Comp Statistical Packags (SAS) (A+)
Letters of Recommendation:3 econ profs- 1 who I RA'd for and co-authored w/, 1 from grad macro prof, 1 from department chair.
Research Experience: RA for 1 year for one of my professors/TA this
Two sort-of publications (co-authored with professor,1 empirical paper in non-peer reviewed journal, and one study funded by a think tank)
Completed a thesis-type paper (we don't have a formal thesis program), will be submitting for publication shortly (and I did submit this paper to the schools I applied to as evidence of my research aptitude)
Teaching Experience: TA one semester
Research Interests: mostly applied micro
SOP: talked about my experiences with and passion for research, first para was tailored to each school
Other: founded economics club
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
full funding:
Chicago (Will be attending )
Rochester
Duke
University of Maryland
University of Virginia
Johns Hopkins
no funding:
UCLA
University of Pennsylvania (accepted off waitlist)
Waitlists:
Stanford
Rejections:
Harvard, Berkeley, UCSD, Michigan, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Northwestern, MIT
What would you have done differently?
Hmm.. I think it turned out pretty well, I probably applied to too many schools but I am happy with the outcome and wouldn't really change anything. At least I don't have any "what ifs"!

macrodude84 2007:
Type of Undergrad: Graduated top 5% of top 10 university
Undergrad GPA: 3.90 overall and major (double major math and economics)
GRE: 800Q, 800V, 6.0 W
Math Courses:
Undergrad Math: Linear Algebra (A+), Differential Equations (A), Differential Geometry (A), Grad level Abstract Algebra (A-), Topology (A-), Grad level Real Analysis I/II (A-/A-), Statistics (A), Partial Differential Equations (A-)
Econ Courses:
Undergrad Econ: Intro Econ (A+), Intro Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intro Econometrics (A+), International Trade (A), Monetary Economics (A+), Health Economics (A-), Financial Economics (A), Industrial Organization (A), Game Theory (A+), International Macro (A)
Grad Econ: PhD-level micro (A), PhD-level macro (A-), PhD-level econometrics (B+), Mathematical Economics (A+)
Letters of Recommendation: All economics professors, including the chair of the department.
Research Experience: Two years research with public policy professor, plus summer internship with think tank in DC.
Teaching Experience: TA master's-level micro and macro
Research Interests: Macroeconomic theory, search theory, labor economics (theory), some interest in behavioral econ
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
UPenn (funding)
Rejections:
Princeton
Harvard
MIT
What would you have done differently?
Not really sure. Perhaps done a little better in the math classes. Written a better statement of purpose, maybe?

anukriti 2007:
Type of Undergrad: Masters in Economics from the best economics department in my country...history of students being accepted to Top 10 universities every year.
Undergrad GPA: 69%. Ranked 3rd in my class.
GRE: 800Q, 570V, 4.5 W
Math Courses:
Undergrad Math: Linear Algebra , Differential Equations, Topology, Real Analysis, Statistics, Partial Differential Equations, Game Theory, Calculus
Econ Courses:
M.A.Econ: Microeconomic Theory, Advanced Macroeconomic Theory, Basic and advanced Econometrics, Public Economics, International Trade, Forecasting Methods and applications, Economics of Regulation, Applied Consumption Analysis, Comparative Development
Letters of Recommendation: All economics professors with Ph.D.'s from Yale, Cornell, Princeton. One of them working in a leading research institute in the US now.
Research Experience: One year research with an international research organization in DC.
Teaching Experience: Undergraduate Statistics for one year.
Research Interests: Development, Health, Education
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
Columbia
Rochester
Maryland
Brown
Wisconsin
Waitlisted
NYU
Rejections:
Princeton
Harvard
MIT
Yale
Cornell
UPENN
What would you have done differently?
Nothing actually. I tried my best!
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SMH 2007:
Type of Undergrad: No one knows my university outside my country (which is a third world country).
Undergrad GPA: 3.78; Econ:3.81, Math:4.0
GRE: Quant : 800, Verbal : 570, AWA : 5.0
Math Courses: Cal 1-3 (A/A+/A), linear(A),prob(A),stats(A), ODEs(A), numerical solutions to ODEs (A+), Partial diff eqs (A+), Discrete Maths (A+), Quantitative and Computational finance(A)
Econ Courses: inter'l finance, monetary econ., dynamic econ,dev econ,IPE,econometrics1-2, Applied econ, macroeconomic analysis, public econ, (apart from all the regular micros and macros and a couple more)
Recommendation: 2 econ people and one math prof, no big names. i know all of them were full of praise for me in their letters like they are for everyone else
Research Experience: RA for a year
Teaching Experience: TA for ODEs, stats, elementary formal logic, microeconomic-II, econometrics & research methodology (grad level course)
Research Interests: econometrics
SOP: nothing special
Other: a substantial part of my CV and personal statement was only to show my achievements in sports, i know it doesnt count much but i cudnt just leave it out
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UVA, Rice, Rochester, Wisconsin-Madison, UNC (UNC funded from univ, rest funded via a scholarship)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Chicago
(did not hear from U florida and ohio state)
What would you have done differently? if the econ dep at my univ had not made it mendatory for us to take stupid univ core courses (50 units of that) in SS like politics and sociology then i would have taken courses like real analysis and functional analysis
overall it was pretty difficult to choose between wisconsin and rochester first and then after that i got a funded offer from UNC so another difficult decision, but i would probably stick to my original decision of going to rochester

macrotime 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Third world country (unknown to most)
Undergrad GPA: 76/100 (math 90/100)
Type of Grad: Third world country (well known top program)
Grad GPA: 6/7
GRE: 780Q/500V/4.5A
Math Courses: Calculus, Linear algebra, ODE, Dynamic prog., optimization, probability, econometrics
Econ Courses: micro, macro, just as many courses an econ major should take
Letters of Recommendation: 1 (MIT), 2 (NYU), 1 (Duke), 1 (UCLA) all of them really strong. 4 of them publish or have published in top journals, one less known.
Research Experience: 2 years as an RA in a well known research institute, 2 years working in an interntional organization but in a more policy oriented position
Teaching Experience: TA ecometrics grad level, TA international macroeconomics, instructor undergard macro, TA while undergrad macro, an intro courses to economics
Research Interests: Macro, econometrics
SOP: Honest, just described my research interests
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
Duke ($$)
Georgetown (no $$)
Rochester ($$)
Waitlists:
NYU
Rejections:
MIT
Harvard
Northwestern
Columbia
BU
What would you have done differently?
First, I would have resaerched more the universities I wanted to apply. Probably, that would have led me to apply to other set of universities. I would have worked less, and I would have taken more math classes.

grahamcoxon 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics from top university in my country (who has always placed students in top US PhDs)
Undergrad GPA: Econ 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 ); Overall 28.27 / 30 ( = 3.77 / 4.0 )
Type of Grad: 2 years long MSc in Economics from the same university
Grad GPA: Econ 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 ); Overall 28.73 / 30 (= 3.83 / 4.0 )
GRE: 790 Q, 520 V, 4.0 A
Math Courses:
Undergraduate: Mathematics (29/30; one year long course), Statistics and Probability (30/30), Econometrics (30/30)
Graduate: Multivariate Analysis (30/30), Microeconometrics (28/30)
Econ Courses:
Undergraduate: Industrial History (30/30); Microeconomics (27/30); Industrial Organization (30/30); Macroeconomics (29/30); Organization Theory (28/30); International Trade (29/30); Innovation and Industrial Dynamics (27/30); Economic Policy (28/30); Technology and Economic Development (28/30); International Monetary Economics (30 cum laude / 30)
Graduate:International Trade (30/30); Industiral Organization (29/30); Theory of the Firm and Corporate Governance (27/30); Business History (30/30); Economics of Innovation (29/30); Labour Economics (27/30); Public Economics (29/30).
Other Courses: Undergraduate: German Language, International Financial Markets, Innovation Management, … ; Graduate: Knowledge and Innovation Management, Comparative Politics, Spanish Language, …
Letters of Recommendation: associate econ professor and MSc thesis advisor (PhD UCLA); full econ professor and teacher of graduate labour econ (PhD NYU); associate econ professor and RA supervisor (PhD Northwestern); at least two of them are very very strong letters from people who know me well; two letter-writers are well-known economists and all publish on top economics journals.
Research Experience: Honors MSc thesis; started to work on co-authored paper with my MSc thesis advisor (I don’t mention it in my application but he probably talked about it in his letter of recommendation); 3 months RA at Dept of Quantitative Methods of my undergrad/grad university; 1 year RA at CHILD (Center for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics);
Teaching Experience: 1 semester of Multivariate Analysis (graduate)
Research Interests: Political Economy, Behavioral Economics, Microeconomic Theory
SOP: nothing special, talked about reasons to pursue graduate studies in economics, research experience, research interests and future plans; used almost the same text for all universities; 2 pages research proposal outline added for European programs who asked for it (LSE, UCL, Oxford, UPF)
Other: international applicant; TOEFL: 107/120; no application for external funding; honor roll student in both years of MSc; submitted everywhere MSc thesis as writing sample; at least other 10 (very very strong) students applied this same year for almost the same US top programs from my university (in this sense, this was a strong year for applicants from my country/university)
RESULTS:
Admitted : Caltech (w/ funding), BU (w/out funding), LSE MSc (w/out funding), Oxford MPhil (w/out funding)
Waitlisted: Yale (not admitted in the end)
Rejected: UCSD, Columbia, Berkeley, MIT, Princeton, Northwestern, Stanford, NYU, Chicago, Harvard, LSE MRes/PhD, UPenn, Oxford Dphil, Stokcholm School of Economics, Stockholm U
Never got an answer : UPF, UCL
What would you have done differently? I would say the standard “taken more math classes” or try the alternative version “taken more graduate econ theory classes”, but since I decided to try the path of an Econ PhD less than 12 months ago (when I had already taken all classes needed to graduate) this wasn’t an option. Maybe I should have applied to a more diverse set of schools (no European at all; some Business School or some lower-ranked school with programs/faculty in line with my interests like Stanford GSB, Northwestern MEDS, Rochester or Carnegie Mellon), because I acted clearly as a risk-loving individual (I didn’t overestimated my profile, though…I know my chances at top15 schools were thin, but just wanted to come all the way to the U.S. only if it was really worth). Anyway, in this case, it worked.

Econ07 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: International, Top in the country
Undergrad GPA: 9.3/10.0
Type of Grad: MSc
GRE: Q800, V550, A4.5
Math Courses:Undergrad: Calculus I-III, 2 semester Lin Algebra, Probability, Statistics, Real Analysis
Grad: Real Analysis II, Measure Theory, Statistics
Econ Courses: Lots of undergrad, core grad sequence in Micro, Macro and Econometrics
Electives: Contract Theory, Finance, Advanced Theory
Letters of Recommendation: All domestic based. Two tenured, two junior. All had PhDs from top 7.
Research Experience: MSc thesis in progress, Undergrad thesis
Research Interests: Theory, Public Finance
SOP: Discussed my background and interests
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Chicago(Ext fund), Columbia($), MIT($, not immediately), Northwestern (waiver, Ext fund), NYU($), Princeton($), Penn($), Yale (lots of $)
Rejections: Chicago GSB-Econ, Stanford GSB-Econ, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford
What would you have done differently?
Not have applied for the Fulbright. Focused more on the GSBs, emphasizing theory or not have applied to those.
Advice: Relax. Focus on every aspect of the app (LORs, courses, research exp). Now, I believe this forum overemphasizes math (but, still, you should have Real Analysis). Having recomendants that are known by the Adcom seems to be important.

kgreene1906 2007:
Type of Undergrad: Big 10 midwestern School
Undergrad GPA: 3.32
Type of Grad: Smaller BIG 10 school with a Ph.D program in the top 50
Grad GPA: 3.599
GRE: 800 V, 780 Q, 4.0 wirting
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Diff Eq, Linear Algebra, Proof Writring, Abstract Algebra, Advanced Calculus I and II, Real Analysis(B-), Math Stats I and II, Engineering Stats, Grad Complex Analysis, Grad Real Variable Theory.
Econ Courses: MA Micro and Macro, Monetay Theory, Growth and Development, Game Theory and Firm Behavior
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Pretty Solid, one came from a UCSD grad, one came from a Cal-Berkley Grad and one came from a Michigan Grad
Research Experience: None...
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 semesters
Research Interests: Trade, Development, IO
SOP:
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: SIU-Carbondale, Howard, Purdue, UIUC, Northern Illinois, Michigan State
Waitlists:n/a
Rejections:WUSTL, Berkley, Harvard
Attending: SIU-Carbondale(they are waving me out of alot of classes, it should take me 1.5 years to finish my course work and 1.5 to 3 to do my dissertation)
What would you have done differently? I waited until the LAST MINUTE to apply to places. And basically I wish I had took school alot mroe seriously. But dont underestimate the power of good reconomentation letters...by looking at my GPA, i really shouldnt have gotten into a few places, but letters will get u in.