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daniel.k 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top Brazilian BA Econ
Undergrad GPA: 8.4/10 (2nd in my cohort so far - graduating in June)
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 800Q, 460V, 3.5AWA (Toefl 113)
Math Courses: Calculus I & II, Mathematical Econ I & II, currently auditing Linear Algebra, Stat I & II, Econometrics I, II & III (A's or A+)
Econ Courses: many, Micro I & II, Game theory, Info & Corporate Governance, Macro I & II, Monetary Econ, Economic history, Brazilian Econ history I & II, Financial Math, International econ, Institutional Econ, Development
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Very good, I guess. One got his PhD at UCLA (my thesis supervisor) and the other did his Post Doc at LSE (did pretty well in his class and kept in touch since then)
Research Experience: Currently writing undergrad thesis
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: Development, Info, IO, Financial Econ (Corporate Governance)
SOP: Standard, I suppose.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE MSc Econ, Tilburg MSc Econ, Barcelona GSE MSc Econ (half TAship), Toulouse M2 Eco-Math, CEMFI Masters ($$)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: None
Pending: None
What would you have done differently? At the beginning I care nothing about grades. The first year is supposed to be the easiest at my uni and I didn't take advantage of that. Had no idea I'd be willing to get a masters or PhD. It's particularly easy/simple to take more math because math courses are offered by another department and I wouldn't get fully accredited for that. Anyway, should have taken more. At least Linear Algebra and maybe Analysis. Other than that, I think it's almost impossible to go straight from undergrad to top PhD's coming from a Uni which is outside the Europe-US axis. Most of the people from Brazil that go to top PhD's did their masters at a top school at home.

Philippmetrics 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Ba Economics small school mainly known for business
Undergrad GPA: 5.65/6
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 800 / 550 / 4.5
Math Courses: not that many math classed offered just applied math for economics students, as much as I could but econ only really starts in the 3 semester and was at a school for politics in the 5th as an exchange
Econ Courses: standard micro / macro 1-3 etc. all 5.5 or 6.0 of 6
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: don't really know, one from a math professor i had 3 or 4 courses and one from a young phd from upf
Research Experience: worked a bit for the math professor, nothing serious
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests:
SOP: I guess the usual
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE Msc EME, Oxford Mphil, Cambridge Mphil (all no $)
Waitlists:
Rejections:
What would you have done differently? Maybe tried to apply in the US for a PHD directly? But not really sure if I want to do a PHD anyway. Applied for funding before it was too late

hecka88 2010:
PROFILE:
(at the time of application)
Type of Undergrad: B.S. in Mathematics and Finance, Minor in Economics from a large public school in Midwest, overall top 80 by USNEWS
Undergrad GPA: overall 3.794/4, Econ 4.0, Math 4.0
GRE: 800Q 360V 3.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus 1-4, Liner Algebra, Differential Equations 1-2, Probability Theory 1-2, PDE 1, Numerical Analysis 1, Real Analysis 1, Honor Real Analysis 1 (in progress), and Intro to Statistical Theory, all A/A+
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Econometrics 1
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Micro, Intro to Macro, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Development Economics, all A/A+
Other Courses: intro to programming, java, some finance and accounting courses, and some physics and astrophysics courses as GE.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 finance assistant professor (WUSTL) and 2 math full professor (NYU and MIT)
Research Experience: senior honor thesis on executive compensation
Teaching Experience: TA for one semester for an honor business technology class
Research Interests: Development Economics, Macroeconomics, and Financial Economics
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE Msc Economics (1 year), UCL Msc Economics, Warwick Msc Economics (2 years), UWO direct entry PhD (18000 plus tuition)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: (all PhD) Northwestern, Brown, John Hopkins, Cornell
Pending: Toronto MA (Don’t care anymore)
What would you have done differently?
I have decided to attend LSE and apply again next year. Overall, I think I should apply to more schools and retake the GRE for higher verbal score. And I should have taken more Econ classes and obtain at least one recommendation from Econ professor. Anyway I’m quite satisfied with my LSE offer.

in_limbo 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ and Math from a top U.S public with a good Econ PhD program
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800Q, 640V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses(undergrad): Calculus(I-III), Linear Algebra, Diff eq, Discrete, Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Chaotic Dynamical systems, Probability, Topology
Math Courses(grad): Analysis, Measure Theory
Econ Courses(undergrad): standard, including Econometrics and Advanced Macro
Econ Courses (grad): Quant Methods, Macro I and II.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ, 1 Math. Did some good RA work for one of them
Research Experience: RA for about a year and currently doing an honors thesis
Teaching Experience: Principles, Intermediate Micro
Research Interests: Macro theory and public finance
statement of purpose: pretty standard
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Minnesota($$), LSE-EME(no$)
Waitlists: UCLA (Withdrawn)
Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, Penn, NYU, Northwestern
Attending: Minnesota
What would you have done differently?
I am extremely happy with my outcome. Minnesota was always a top choice for me given my research interests and I probably would have chosen to go there over most of the other schools I applied to. That being said, in retrospect it was probably a good idea to apply to some safeties given the tough admissions season. Also, my grades in some classes weren't stellar which is probably why I was rejected at many of the other top places. My advice to those applying in the future is to really concentrate on getting As in important math classes. The margin for error is minimal and the difference between a B+ and an A is larger than you might think. I think its also extremely helpful to have a good idea of what you might want to study as you can then apply to schools that may not be top 5 overall by have fantastic programs in your chosen field. However, the most important part of your application are your recommendation letters and these can very often make up for other parts that are lacking.

Fantiki 2010:
Type of undergrad:
1. B.Sc. Finance from the best business school in a mid-size European country. In terms of financial research output the school is usually ranked as Top 10 European/Top 100 worldwide
2. (concurrently) B.Sc. Systems Science from the best university in the same European country
Undergrad GPA: not obvious to translate, somewhere between 3.6 and 3.9, Top 5%
Type of Grad:
1. M.Sc. Finance, same business school as above
2. (concurrently) M.Sc. Computer Science, same university as above
Grad GPA: again hard to translate, I would say between 3.8-4.0, Top 5%
GRE: 800Q, 570V, 3.5AWA
Math Courses (undergrad): Introductory mathematics I (Calculus, Linear Algebra, Analytical Geometry) (B+/A-), Introductory mathematics II (Theory of continuity, Measures and Integrals) (A), Introductory mathematics III (Functional analysis, DE) (A), Introductory mathematics IV (PDE, IE), Introduction to optimization (A), Introduction to statistical inference (A), Time series analysis (B+/A-)
Math Courses (grad): stochastic processes (A), optimization theory (B), mathematical investment theory (B+/A-), game theory (A), decision making (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad): Introductory, Intermediate micro, Intermediate macro, International economics and finance, Money & Banking - A:s
Other Courses: Finance & Computer Science (theory courses may be relevant), LSE summer school (A)
Letters of Recommendation:
1. Finance full professor, thesis advisor, many A publications
2. Computer science full professor, thesis advisor, many A publications (in comp science)
3. Circulating weakly positive letters from semi-famous full professors in finance and economics
Research Experience:
1. B.Sc. thesis in finance
2. B.Sc. thesis in systems science
3. M.Sc. thesis in finance - on decision making under information asymmetries in finacial markets (game-theoretical model+empirical evidence)
4. M.Sc. thesis in computer science - empirical part (as a chapter in an article) accepted in a top general interest journal, but the publication is not related to economics/finance (biology), I am a coauthor, but there are many others
5. RA for the computer science professor
6. Research internship at an internationally well-known company, also 1 paper from there, but published in a professional journal
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Information economics, financial economics (theory + empirical)
Statement of purpose: http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/119180-post-your-statement-purpose-sop-here.html#post789723
Other: graduated in advance, some good awards (placed third nationwide in math competition, scholarship for publishing thesis etc.), strong technical skills (Assembler and similar hardcore stuff)
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Columbia finance ($) -> accepted this offer, LBS finance ($), UNC-CH finance ($), UBC finance ($), LSE finance (external EU funding)
Rejections: Stanford finance, UCLA finance, Stern finance, Wharton finance, Haas finance, Kellogg finance, CMU finance, INSEAD finance, MIT economics, Penn economics (out of the waitlist)
What would you have done differently?
Probably not much, may be would establish better relationships with a couple of professors at my school. The application process to US universities is difficult for European applicants because information asymmetries are pretty large. I would recommend to establish good relationships with professors who have strong ties to schools you are applying (e.g. coauthoring, previous academic positions etc.). Also if you are coming from a less known educational system/school try to get short but informative course descriptions for the key courses as an attachment to your transcripts (e.g. course names like Math I-IV are not very helpful for admissions commiteas). I have received the feedback from some schools that these two things helped my case.
Overall I did much better than I expected.

hotfuss 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: 4 year Honours degree in economics at a major Australian university
Undergrad GPA: First Class Honours (ranked first in Honours class)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q
Math Courses: First and second year advanced maths courses, differential calculus, integral calculus, discrete mathematics, first and second year linear algebra, vector calculus, PDEs
Econ Courses: Game Theory, Advanced Microeconomics, Advanced Macroeconomics, International Trade, Applied Economics, Industrial Organisation, Mathematical Economics
Other Courses: First year psychology
Letters of Recommendation: One Fellow of the Econometric Society and two other economics professors with US PhDs (these LORs knew me very well; two of these had marked my thesis, including one who was my adviser, and I had taken one course with one letter of recommendation and two courses with another letter of recommendation (coming first in everything (including thesis), except one course))
Research Experience: Honours thesis and one other game theory paper
Teaching Experience: TA for undergrad economics courses, including intermediate microeconomics
Research Interests: Microeconomic theory and its applications, behavioural economics
SOP: Standard
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Northwestern ($$), Wisconsin Madison ($$), Penn State ($$), Maryland (?), Oxford (MPhil in Economics), LSE (MSc in Economics (Research))
Waitlists: Boston
Rejections: Yale, Princeton, Stanford, UCSD and many other places
Attending: Northwestern
What would you have done differently? Not much. I think I should have applied earlier (I worked for a few years after my undergraduate degree) or done more maths courses at university. I would have also applied for a few business schools and a couple more top 10 places.

Econ.Aprentice 2010: Type of Undergrad: Bachelor in Economics in a well-known Brazilian University
Undergrad GPA: brazilian grading system: 9.0/10.0 (from zero to ten)
Type of Grad: Masters in Economics
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 790Q, 500V, 3.5AWA
Math Courses: Linear Algebra, Calculus I, Calculus II, Operational Research, Mathematical Economics.
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Game Theory (taken at a top US university)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro, Macro, Economic History, Development Economics, Public Economics, Statistics I, Statistics II, Principle of Econometrics, Advanced Econometrics.
Other Courses: Finance, Sociology, Philosophy, Agribusiness.
Letters of Recommendation: 5 econ professors (1 PhD Harvard, 1 PhD University of Illinois, 1PhD LSE, 1 PhD Stanford, 1PhD UofChigago )
Research Experience: Individual Research tutored by a famous professor, Final Thesis tutored by the head of the Econ department of my Brazilian College.
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Contract and incentives economics, Public Economics, Macroeconomics, Development Economics.
statement of purpose: Standard format
Concerns: GRE AWA is not so high.
Other: none
Applying to: LSE, Cambridge, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Chicago.
Accepted: LSE (one of my top options), waiting for replies from other programs to make my final decision.
Rejected: none

MicroIOGuy 2010: Type of Undergrad: Honours B.A. Economics, minor concentration in Mathematics, #1 univeristy in Canada for undergrad, consistenly top 25 in the world, mediocre economics department, but small and rigorous honours undergrad program
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 680V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: calculus 1 and 2 (exempt), calculus 3 (A), intro linear algebra (A), linear algebra (A-), ordinary differential equations (A), discrete structures (A), real analysis 1 (A), probability theory (A), advanced calculus (Spring), real analysis 2 (Spring)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Honours intermediate micro (2 semesters A), honours intemediate macro (2 semesters, B), honours economic statistics (2 semesters, A), behavioural economics (A), honours advaced theory (2 semesters, A for first semester, Spring), honours econometrics 1 (A), economics research project (on IO and price theory, A), honours econometrics 2 (Spring)
Econ courses (grad-level): game theory (A), experimental economics (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (Northwestern, U Montreal, Pittsburgh; not famous)
Research Experience: Experimental economics paper, some IO independent study
Teaching Experience: Just some game theory tutoring
Concerns: Recommenders are not famous. Not too many acceptances in top PhD programs in econ from my school. That damn B in intermediate macro.
Research Interests: Micro theory, IO, game theory, experimental econ
Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Yale (Rejected), Columbia, NYU, Berkeley, Stanford, Chicago, Northwestern, Penn, Princeton, Toronto (MA), UBC (MA), Oxford (MPhil), LSE (MSc (Research) (Accepted; scholarship), UCL (MSc)

Lachis 2010:
Institution: Yale
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 2/18
Notified through: E-mail to check site
Posted on grad cafe: No
Comments: Not surprised. At least I gave it a shot!
Institution: Duke
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Fellowship: 18k + health insurance
Notification date: 2/22
Notified through: E-mail to check site
Posted on grad cafe: No
Comments: Yay!!! My first admission! Very excited!

jackie21 2010:
Institution: UCLA
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: being considered for fellowship
Notification date: feb 2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Institution: Michigan
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: none
Notification date: march 2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Institution: LSE
Program: MSc Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: none
Notification date: feb 2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Institution: University of Toronto
Program: MA
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 25000
Notification date: march 2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Institution: Cornell
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 22000
Notification date: 08/03/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Institution: Stanford
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 32000!!
Notification date: 11/03/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Rejected: Yale, Princeton, Chicago, Berkeley

DerPumuckl 2010:
Undergrad: Top 3 in Germany, BA in Economics
Undergrad GPA: 1.45/5.00 (the nearer to 1, the better)
Exchange: UW, Seattle
Exchange GPA: 3.86/4.00
GRE: 800Q/560V/4.5AWA
Math Courses: 2 Math courses for Economists, 2 Statistics Classes, Game Theory
Econ Courses: A lot including Micro I & II, Macro I & II as well as Econometrics I & II.
Grad courses: None - even though advanced German courses are well above Econ 400 level.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from Profs with PhDs from Columbia, Chicago and Harvard. All should be strong.
Research Experience: RA for one Semester (for one of my letter of recommendation writers).
Teaching Experience: TA for one Semester.
Research Interests: International Macroeconomics, Finance.
Statement of Purpose: Good.
Other: Applying for Masters.
Concerns: Maybe not good enough grades.
RESULTS (Masters only):
Acceptances: Cambridge, UCL, Tinbergen ($$$) and Warwick
Still waiting for response: SSE, UBC
Rejections: LSE, Oxford
What would you have done differently? I'm attending Cambridge for my MPhil - very happy!

keano 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ, top 5 UK university
Undergrad GPA: First (not sure how this translates)
Type of Grad: MSc in Competition Economics, part-time UK university
Grad GPA: On course for distinction
GRE: 800Q, 790V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Maths for economists courses: calculus, linear algebra etc
Econ Courses (Ma-level): A lot of micro-based + econometrics: mostly As
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Lots
Letters of Recommendation: 2/3 econ professors (not well known) Current Employer (Economic consultant with Econ PhD). Hopefully v.positive but names probably won't be known in US.
Research Experience: 3.5 years in economic consultancy
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro theory, IO
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Caltech (from waitlist), EUI, LSE (MSc), Oxford (MPhil), BGSE (MSc), Toulouse (M2)
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Stanford GSB, Kellogg, Wharton (Applied Econ), MIT, UCSD, Berkeley, Wisconsin-M, PSU, Chicago, NYU
What would you have done differently? At the time of the applications process not sure I could done have lot a lot more. Looking at my results, I was a lot more successful in Europe which I would speculate is due to a lack of formal maths courses. So going back a few years, I would have tried to address that somehow.