The chart will appear within this DIV. This text will be replaced by the chart.

Legatus 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Tucked away Canadian university
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad: None
GRE: Haven't taken
Math Courses: Calculus I,II,III, Intro ODE,Intermediate ODE, PDE (why oh why am I still taking DE's...?), Matrix Algebra, Real Analysis I, Math Stats I/II, Bayesian Stats
Econ Courses: Advanced Micro/Macro, Game Theory, Information and Incentives, Econometrics I/II, Grad Econometrics, Public Finance, some econ history classes (my favourite econ classes)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from Economics professors, my advisor and a teacher I TA'd for
Research Experience: Undergrad Thesis
Teaching Experience: Lab instructor for Econometrics I
Research Interests: Econometrics, Labour, Macro??
SOP: Only UBC required a SOP, talked about my research interests, that I wanted to do a PhD eventually
Other: I'm a Canadian, 23, applying to the best my country has to offer. Not sure if I'll end up south or not, but for now I'm happy up here.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UWO($$), Queen's($$)
Waitlists:
Rejections:
Pending: UBC(?), UofT
What would you have done differently? Probably wouldn't have applied to UBC if I had known they would lose parts of my application and then be impossible to get in touch with. I kind of wish I had written the GRE and had applied to programs in the states, but I am really happy with my results. Also, grades are important but I really think the decisions are made off of only a few key courses. Plus awesome recommenders doesn't hurt either (not in the famous way but in the 1000ehind you way).

canecon 2008:
School: UBC
Major: Econ (Hons)
GPA: 3.5 (3.98 upper-econ, 3.98 math (excluding failed calc 1))
GRE: 800q 480v 5.0 AWA (despite the awful verbal I am native English speaker / English background)
Courses:
Econ:Hon micro/macro I (A+'s) Game Theory (Hon) A, Hon Macro II A+, + intro metrics I/II (A+) + lots electives (mostly A+)
Math: Calc 1 (F first time then A), Calc 2, linear, multivariable, ODE's, probability(calc based), intro proof A+'s intro analysis A
Now Taking: Honours Thesis, Advanced Macro, Econometrics
Research: Thesis
letter of recommendation: 3 Assistant Profs, I say mediocre since I had no special relationship, just took their classes.
SOP: Pretty bad I think... that might just be me - but I didn't have any professors read it since I thought it was crappy (very bad reason I know - I expect I might have had spelling/grammar errors as well ). But I guess for Master's it doesn't matter that much.
Interests: Macro, Int trade/finance/development.
Schools:
Decided to apply only for Masters:
LSE, UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, UPF, UBC, Toronto, Queens, UWO, Stockholm.
My Concerns:
First year really sucked, second year was average. Only have 1.5 years of good grades.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE Msc (1 year, Res), UCL MSc, Warwick MSc, Oxford M.Phil (??), UPF MSc($$), Queen's MA ($$), Toronto Doc. Stream MA ($$), UBC MA ($$), UWO MA ($$),
Still Waiting: Cambridge M.Phil (B), Stockholm University MSc (Research)
Rejections: None (yet)
What would you have done differently?
-known that I was going to go for grad school (in econ) earlier
-started preparing to apply in the summer, or early sept, or early october. (didnt start applications earlier because very math-packed semester. No time in summer though b/c courses and GRE - basically crammed all the math I needed in last 8 mths I would have grades for).
-Looked into scholarship opportunities for study in UK (many seem to have deadlines around sept/oct. ) I started looking the next february/march.
-Basically I did what I could. Maybe should have applied to some PhD straight away, but still not sure what I want to do and I didn't really have time to put together good apps.

manho 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Civil Engineering major, economics minor. One of the top engineering school in Canada
Undergrad GPA: 800verall, 75 0n Econ, 83 0.000000inal year
GRE: 790Q, 320V, 3.5 AWA... me no good wif words...
Math Courses: Typical engineering package. Calc I, II, III, "Advanced Math for Engineers", Linear Algebra, Differential Eq'n, Prob & Stat, Operation Research
Econ Courses: None worth mentioning, really. All undergrads.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from a finance prof, 2 from engineering. Nothing stellar, but pretty sure it was solid and above average.
Research Experience: Two research/term project as part of the engineering deal
SOP: Basically story telling that why I want to do economics, although I did a civil eng undergrad
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Toronto MA (no $)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Queens (MS Finance), UBC (MS Finance)
Pending: Toronto MFE
What would you have done differently?
I had a job lined up if I didn't get in, so that was my reason of applying to the few number of schools.
If time and money wasn't a factor, perhaps doing my GRE again and bump the verbal part up.. (320 was just ridiculous...)

ranjan123 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics from a large South Asian University, best in my country.
Undergrad GPA: 63.5% (60 0s considered first class)
Type of Grad: M.A. in Economics from the same institution
Grad GPA: 66.2%
GRE: 800Q, 420V, 4AWA
Math Courses: Mathematics for Economists (Chiang), Mathematical Economics (Simon & Blume) (covers Multivariable Calculus , Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Introduction to Real Analysis among others)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): All typical economics undergraduate courses
Other Courses: Masters level micro, macro, econometrics and international economics.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 economics professors (1 Harvard PhD, 1 Sussex PhD, 1 Manchester PhD) first two should be solid, third might be a general one.
Research Experience: 6 months for a policy research institute in my country.
Teaching Experience: Teaching in a public university in my country; 2 semesters micro, 2 semesters development, 1 semester labor.
Research Interests: Microeconomic Theory, Game Theory, Applied Microeconomics, International Economics.
SOP: Just wrote about my interests in economics
Other: Male, 26
RESULTS:
Attending: Simon Fraser University (MA)
Acceptances: MA: SFU ($$), Concordia (no $)
Waitlists: PhD: NYU (later rejected)
Rejections: MA Programs: Waterloo PhD Programs: Cornell, Duke, Virginia, Vanderbilt
No Result: Queens (MA), Toronto (PhD)
What would you have done differently? May be my relatively unknown undergraduate institution harmed me. I had to apply for an MA right after completing undergraduate.

tangsiuje 2008:
Type of Undergrad: UK (top 5 in Economics), 3-year PPE degree (not from Oxford), economics major, second year on exchange in Canada.
Undergrad GPA: "First" (70+) in all first year modules; 91.2/100 overall (all A) in Canada; third-year results in June/July.
GRE: 790Q, 520V, 6.0AWA (<--that's why you should do philosophy: philosophers average 5.0 on AWA)
Math Courses: quantitative techniques in economics (first-year course in economics department on constrained optimization and some matrix algebra), Analysis I+II, Linear Algebra (first-year courses in the maths department, taken as overload courses this year: in progress)
Econ Courses: more micro than macro, one-year econometrics course (in progress), the usual hotchpotch of field courses.
Letters of Recommendation: One from Canada, one from the UK. I think that both are very good economists, but I just took their classes and letters cannot possibly have been that amazing/personalized.
Research Experience: Nil.
Teaching Experience: Nil. (Or, I've actually done quite a bit in the private sector, but I never mentioned that in my applications.)
Other: female, 23, non-native English speaker
Results
Acceptance: Toronto doctoral stream MA (funding with TA/RA duties) <-- attending
Waiting: Queen's MA
What would you have done differently? Not stressed out as much. Had a bit more faith in myself. Been a little less obsessed with what people on TM say.
Comment: I suppose Toronto had not filled their quota for females from insignificant Scandinavian countries.

EMEQU 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Good Latin American university
Undergrad GPA: 15.4/20
Type of Grad: Good Latin American university
Ggrad GPA: 8/10
GRE: 800Q 500V 4.0AWA
TOEFL: 260/300
Math Courses (undergrad and grad): Calculus, Probability, Statistics, Real Analysis, Mathematical Economics (optimization and optimal control)
Econ Courses(grad): Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Econometrics, Aplied Econometrics.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 strong letter of recommendation from one very well-known senior professor, 2 strong LORS from two assistant professors.
Research Experience: Master's thesis, few working papers.
Teaching Experience: TA (undergraduate), Lecturer (undergraduate)
Research Interests: Macroeconomics.
SOP: Explained why I wanted to pursue a PhD in economics.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: University College London (no $), Texas A&M ($$), UC Davis ($$), University of Virginia ($$), Arizona State University ($$$), UIUC ($$$, 1st year fellowship), Carnegie Mellon ($$$, 1st year fellowship).
Rejections: UC San Diego, Brown University, UC Santa Cruz, JHU.
Pending: Queen's University.
What would you have done differently?
I think LORs matter a lot, specially for international students (since one professor may recommend 4 or 5 students at the same time to the same university). I wish I applied to fewer safety schools.