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Arinamay 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.96
Type of Grad: MA in Economics
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 780Q, 610V, 5.0
Math Courses: Calculus I (A+), self taught other applicable math concepts
Econ Courses: Many, all A's.
Grad Econ Courses (MA level): Micro I (A+), Macro I (A), Micro II (A), Macro II (A), Advanced Statistics (A), Econometrics (A)
Other Courses: A wide variety of courses, including a semester abroad
Letters of Recommendation: One from a very well known professor, one from my MA thesis adviser, one from another strong professor. I asked my letter writers to emphasize that, while I don't have a lot of formal math I did quite well in the math-heavy MA program.
Research Experience: Undergrad thesis(presented at a regional conference), collaborative research project with undergrad adviser, MA thesis
Teaching Experience: TAed for an intro course
Research Interests: Economics of the family, feminist economics, labor economics
SOP: Very specific to my research interests
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Duke ($$, public policy concentration in economics), UMass Amherst ($, economics)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Harvard (public policy), Chicago (public policy)
Pending: Cornell (economics)
What would you have done differently? I had a family crisis that prevented me from taking any math courses during the second year of my MA program. However, Duke was my top choice so really there was nothing lost by not taking more math courses.

amber4e86 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Unranked small university in NY, but I am an Honors College student
Undergrad GPA: 3.8, 4.0 in Econ and Math
Type of Grad: BA, majors in Economics and International Studies. Minors in Spanish and Political Science
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 590/800/5.5
Math Courses: Calculus I and II, Linear Algebra, Intro to Statistics, Math Methods for Economists (Had not taken Linear and Calc II at the time of application)
Econ Courses: Micro I and II, Macro I and II, Environmental, Development, Systems of Political Economy, International Political Economy, Industrial Organization, Money and Banking
Other Courses: a lot of International Relations and Poli Sci, a lot of Spanish, Honors College liberal arts and social science seminars
Letters of Recommendation: three econ professors who teach at my school. Two of them know me very well so Im sure they wrote amazing recommendations. They are not well known and are all heterodox, so I got mostly into the schools that they graduated from + schools where people from my school and similar background got accepted last year
Research Experience: summer internship with an environmental research agency in Australia last summer
Teaching Experience: tutor in Econ for the past 3 years at my school, GRE math tutor, writing center tutor
Research Interests: development, international political economy, environmental
SOP: I wrote about development and why I think it is important to relate human rights to the eradication of poverty
Other: Im involved in my school's student government and Ive held exec board positions in 2 organizations, attending Model UN conferences in Mexico and in the US. I like to be very active and do things, rather than sit by myself and contemplate. I guess schools recognized that and sensed that I will be reluctant to do hardcore research because I am more interested in executive positions in government, rather than in a research university once I graduate.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: American ($$), UMass ($), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ($$), Fordham (2nd on waitlist for $$), George Washington (no $), Rutgers (no $)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: too many! NYU, BU, UCLA, UCSD, Cornell, CMU, UPenn, MIT and Columbia (for different programs, not econ)
Pending: Georgetown (that's a no, but I havent gotten the letter yet), CUNY (also probably a no or an unfunded offer)
Attending: I haven't been able to decide yet.
What would you have done differently?
If I had known earlier that I wanted to study Econ, I would have taken more math. I am taking the classes I should have had now and I know that I am really good at them, but there was no way for the adcoms to know that if they only saw my grade from Calc I. I also should have applied to International Political Economy PhD programs, rather than Economics PhDs, because I am much better prepared for those with numerous internships and publications at government organizations and NGOs. A reality check was very necessary, but unfortunately, I had nobody to turn to and had to figure it all out on my own. On the other hand, I got accepted to all of my safeties and to schools that match my research interests. If I didn't care about location and I had external funding, I would have been super-happy.

eigenman 2010:
Type of Undergrad: BS Economics/Biochemistry from US R1 school, Top 10 economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.59
Type of Grad: Non-degree math/stats coursework
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 800V/800Q/5.0W
Math Courses: Undergrad-level: calc 1-2; multivariable calc; linear algebra; "applied" linear algebra; differential equations; series, sequences, and foundations (proofs intro). Grad level: stat theory I-II, applied linear regression, analysis II, time series analysis I, advanced linear algebra. Even mix of As and Bs.
Econ Courses: Intermediate macro/micro, econometrics, Latin American economics, + honors in: macro policy, quantitative macro, international trade, game theory, urban economics, money and banking. As and Bs.
Other Courses: lots of biochemistry and cellular/molecular biology, intro physics, physical chemistry, organic chemistry. As and Bs throughout.
Letters of Recommendation: Varied. Two from regional Fed economists, one from Analysis professor were generally used. For more behavioral places had letter from coauthor; for programs requiring a letter from an undergraduate instructor, tapped my quantitative macro graduate instructor. I'm sure they had nice things to say about me but perhaps they were not so influential.
Research Experience: First author on an experimental animal behavior paper published in medium-tier journal. Unpublished undergraduate thesis in behavioral neuroscience. 1.5 years (as of now) RAing at a regional Fed, one publication (another pending) in our in-house journal. Two semeters in a biochemistry lab.
Teaching Experience: Nil
Research Interests: At the time I submitted my applications, behavioral economics and evolutionary game theory, but I'm leaning toward econometrics and computational economics lately
SOP: Mostly addressed my background and suitability for graduate study
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UT-Austin (wl-$), OSU(wl-$), UW-Seattle(wl-$), Duke (MA), NYU (MA)
Waitlists: UMN, UW-Madison (bad waitlists in both cases)
Rejections: UCSD, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern, UPenn, U-Michigan, Caltech, PSU, LSE(MRes/PhD Track 1), CMU-Tepper
Pending: LSE(MSc-Research)
What would you have done differently? I probably should have bothered another Fed economist rather than asking my math prof, but I was worried about my mediocre math GPA. I also ought've interacted more with professors as an undergraduate, but nearly all of my economics courses were taught by graduates, and I made a decision to go to econ school fairly close to graduation. All of this considered I'm perfectly satisficed and looking forward to relaxing over the summer before putting my shoulder to the wheel in September.

narinka11 2010:
Institution: ASU
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: No word yet
Notification date: 2-26-2010
Notified through: Email
Posted on grad cafe: Yes
Comments: Excited though still worried about the funding. Without funding I won't be able to make it!

tm_guru 2010:
Type of Undergrad: University College Dublin, Ireland, BSc in Economics & Finance (Final Year Concentration - Mathematical Analysis) Undergrad GPA: First Class Honours - converts to a 3.74 GPA according to WES conversion, higher grades in Math and Econ, boring but required Finance/Tax/Accounting classes dragged me down
Type of Grad: National University of Ireland, Galway MSc in Economic Science (Concentratiion - Planning and Policy Evaluation), essentially it was an MPP/MPA degree but we don't really have that in Ireland
Grad GPA: 4.0 (1st out of cohort of ~50 students across 3 concentrations with a lot of common classes)
GRE: 780Q, 630V, 5.0AWA
Math/Stat Courses: 3 semesters of Linear and Matrix Algebra, 2 semesters of calculus (although very little if any multivariate calculus), courses called 'Analysis and Calculus', 'Complex Analysis', various Math for Econ/Finance classes, 3 semesters of Math Stats/Probability... I honestly have no idea if I am prepared for core classes adequately... all A's except one B and one awful grade which I explained in my SOP.
Econ Courses: 3 semesters of Macro (1 MS-level), 4 semesters of Micro (1 MS-level), 4 semesters of Econometrics (1 MS-level) 2 semesters of International Econ, 2 semesters of Public Econ, 3 semesters of Game Theory, Economics of Innovation, Economics of Education... tons really... I hope this will help me get started with research
Other Courses: Tax/Accounting/Finance/Management, nothing useful
Letters of Recommendation: All were strong but mainly graduated in the 1960's or 1970's, 1 has a UCI PhD, 1 LSE, 1 UMD CP (Math), and one had a PhD from Edinburgh but who has an impressive CV and was a visiting professor at Berkeley last year... I used different combinations of three for different schools. I will speak more about this below.
Research Experience: Central Bank internship, MS Thesis (my adviser awarded me the highest grade he has given to a student in 30 years at that University)
Teaching Experience: lots, 3 semesters as a TA, 6 years giving private tutorials to groups of 1-10 students amounting to probably over 200 students in over a dozen different subjects from math to stats to econ
Research Interests: Applied Micro - health, education, labor, public policy, etc.
Statement of purpose: I had too much to explain for it to stand out, I spent the entire 1000 words explaining the holes in my profile (more on this below)
Concerns: Everything...
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Rutgers (no funding), PSU (generous TA funding), UPitt (top fellowship),
Waitlists: BC, UMass-Amherst
Rejections: CMU, Rochester, Syracuse, Cornell, Wharton, Georgetown, UVA, Duke
What would you have done differently?
As many know, this is my second time around, the mistakes I made in last year's applications are embarrassing when I think about them so I will only say this about it - I was blissfully ignorant of the entire process, how many schools to apply to, what a US PhD program entailed, what to say in a SOP, how I would compare to other students... you name it, I messed it up! Seriously, I applied to schools that suited me geographically, no other criteria, I had no idea what I was doing or about the research strengths of different schools... then I found this forum! I am also fortunate to have a fiancee who eventually helped me understand the US education system.
I have ended up at this point in my life not because of careful planning or organization, but through sheer luck and good fortune. I picked my UG degree ten years ago on a whim, and I am lucky that it covered the required analysis, calculus, and algebra courses... We have denominated degrees in Ireland, so you have to decide which one to pursue at age 17 before graduating from 'secondary' school and then apply through a centralized application system. I was going to do Electrical Engineering, but the dot.com crash in 2000/2001 made me change my mind literally an hour before the deadline... only for that decision I would be in a very different place in my life.
I also pursued a Master's degree in Ireland with the intent of 'lecturing' at a community college-type institution but as soon as I returned to the classroom something just changed, I suddenly found myself devouring journal literature, participating in class, loving my TA duties, and acing all my exams... I can only think that the change in my attitude towards classes and college was maturity. As an undergrad I was rarely even in class, never mind an active participant.
Other mistakes - I hurriedly took the GRE as I had no idea how important it was (I took one - paper - practice exam). I decided not to retake as I was worried about not getting an 800 and the signal that might send. I probably could have gotten an 800 with one day of genuine preparation...
In terms of LORs, the three schools I got accepted to, and one of the waitlists were a particular combination of letters, I used that combination for Duke too, but not anywhere else. I know it is a small sample size, but of 5 schools with that specific combination of letters I got 3 acceptances, and 1 waitlist. I got 1 waitlist and 7 rejections when I didn't use that combination of letters. Interesting, very interesting.
However, I can say with all honesty that I am delighted with how things have worked out for me, I am sure I will be very successful and more than intellectually satisfied at UPitt.
Lastly, I am a prime example of the noise associated with applicants coming from unknown schools/countries. I received the top fellowship from 400 applicants to UPitt this year, received full funding at PSU, but was rejected by Syracuse. It is bizarre!
If any forum members, and especially applicants coming from unknown universities, have any questions please feel free to PM me!