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pdilly 2008:
Type of Undergrad: BA from a less prestigious liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.75
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 770M/590V
Math Courses: Cal I-III (A's), Linear Algebra (A), Applied Stats (A), Probability Theory (B). Taking Differential Equations this semester.
Econ Courses: A's in Macro I, Intermediate Macro, Intermediate Micro, Urban Econ, Labor Econ, American Econ History, Law and Economics, B's in Micro I and Regional Econ.
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Very strong, but not from well-known professors. My best came from my statistics prof, who is also the dean of natural sciences.
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Urban, applied Micro
SOP: Not especially strong. I have only a vague Idea of what I want to do at this point.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Syracuse ($$), UConn (MA only, at this point)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Texas, Boston College, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, UC Boulder
Pending:
What would you have done differently?
I probably shouldn't have aimed quite so high... I didn't have much of a shot at BC and Texas. I would have applied to more schools in the 40-60 range.
I'm actually putting off grad school for a little while. Syracuse agreed to hold my offer till next year, and I'm going to work on improving my resume. I'm taking advanced cal and complex analysis at my dinky liberal arts college in the fall, and I'm planning to transfer to UT-Austin in the spring to take real analysis and econometrics, among other things. Hopefully I'll be able to work some research experience in at some point too.

MNGoon 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics and Political Science with a Math Minor from large state University top 25ish in general, top 20 in Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.07/4.0
Type of Grad: Master of Regional Planning
Grad GPA: 3.8/4
GRE: 780Q, 710V, 800A
Math Courses: Calculus (multi variate), Linear Algebra, Differential Equations
Econ Courses (PhD-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Public, Input-Output, IO, Urban, Housing, Game Theory, Micro and Macro Theory
Other Courses: A whole pile of Economic Development and GIS courses for Masters
Letters of Recommendation: 3 economic develoment professors (1 UC-Berkely PhD, 1 Cornell PhD, 1 Rutgers PhD), all extremely solid.
Research Experience: RA for Econ Development Prof, thesis, and cited extension work
Teaching Experience TA for Masters level Urban and Spatial Econ
Research Interests: Public Finance, Urban Econ, Spatial Modeling, Community Economic Development, Extension
SOP: Critiqued by Econ Profs
Other: Been out of school for a while, Former Peace Corps Volunteer, Currently working for a non-profit loan fund
RESULTS:
Attending: UW-Madison (Agricultural and Applied Economics)
Acceptances: Applied/Ag Econ Programs: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia State, Clemson
Waitlists:
Rejections: Econ Programs: Brown, BU, UMass-Amherst, UConn Applied: Cornell, Wharton, UNC
What would you have done differently? Maybe not have waited until I turned 30 to accept an offer. In all seriousness, as far as the application process goes, I would not have done anything differently. I spent last summer talking to former professors and asked them to introduce me to the people they know in departments that they thought would be a good fit for me. I also talked to them extensively about my interests and the work I had done with them in the past so that they would have more information to draw upon when writing the LORs. As a result, I got into more, and better programs than my profile may have suggested. I am though going to get my *** handed to me at Madison.