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

Morxjez 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: University of Chicago
Undergrad GPA: 3.83
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: Q800 V540 W4.0
Math Courses: Analysis in Rn 1,2,3 , Abstract Algebra 1,2 , Numerical Analysis, Complex Analysis, Theory of ODE (involved use of complex variable) All A's except complex analysis (A-)
Stat Courses: Mathematical Statistics (A-), and mathematical probability (A)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro and Macro (all A's), International trade and finance (A-,A), Econometrics (intro and advance) (A, B+,A), Advanced Macro 1, 2 (A+,A+), Auction Theory (A), Game Theory (A), a graduate class in numerical methods in economics (A)
Other Courses: Computer Science (A,A)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Harvard, 1 Minnesota, 1 Princeton (They are all pretty strong)
Research Experience: 1 Year part time RA, 1 Summer RA at central bank in my country
Teaching Experience: TA for math and econ
Research Interests: Asset pricing and macro
SOP: normal with customized to each program
Other: I am currently a junior year student.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Chicago($), Northwestern (WL), UPenn ($$), Columbia($$), Minnesota ($$), Wisconsin($$), Boston U($$)
Waitlists: MIT
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, UMich
Pending: nothing
What would you have done differently? I should not apply this year. I should instead work as an RA for a year or two and then apply. I think then I would have a clear shot at top 5 schools. But well, graduating in three years save me 50,000US worth of tuition fee and now I am happy with Penn, which is very good at Asset Pricing.

dale_albo 2010:
Type of Undergrad: Economics, Top South American University.
Undergrad GPA: 6.02/7 (Highest in my Class)
Type of Grad: MSc, Economics, Top South American University.
Grad GPA: 6.5/7 (Highest in my Class)
GRE/TOEFL: 790Q/780V/5.5AWA. 120 TOEFL.
Math Courses: Calculus I-III, Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Inference, Mathematics for Economists (Linear Algebra, some Dynamic Optimization), Advanced Calculus (Should be Real Analysis I), Real Analysis. All A's, except for Calculus I.
Econ Courses (u/g): Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Micro I-II, Macro I-II, Industrial Organization, International Economics, Econometrics. All equivalent to A's or A+
Grad courses: Macro Theory I, Micro Theory I-II, Econometric Theory I-II-III. In my university, I is a joint M.Sc. and Ph.D. course, while the others are Ph.D. courses. Also, Industrial Organization, Public Economics, Enviromental Economics. All equivalent to A's or A+, except for IO, B+.
Letters of Recommendation: All strong, I believe/hope. I moved them around according to the program, but the summary is 2 MIT, 2 Chicago,1 Harvard, 1 UCLA, 1 Georgetown.
Research Experience: Honors thesis, won the poster contest in the annual meeting of my country's economic society. A co-authored working paper, with a classmate, that I have presented a few times and has been submitted for publication. Also, a couple of other co-authored working papers, including one with a professor from my university. Also, a year and a half of being a research assistant for that professor.
Teaching Experience: Been a TA since 2nd year of undergrad for a bunch of courses. Of note, TA for a core Ph.D. econometrics course and for a graduate enviromental economics course. Also, have been teaching Introduction to Economics for a year.
Research Interests: IO, mostly empirical work.
Statement of Purpose: The usual, I talk about my research, what I have done and what I want to do.
Concerns:
No published or in the pipeline research. Just submitted one working paper to a journal, but I haven't heard back from them so I decided not to mention that I had submitted it.
Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Chicago, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, UPenn, Northwestern, UCLA, Yale.
RESULTS:
Will Attend: MIT.
Acceptances: Chicago, Northwestern ($?), UPenn ($$), UCLA. All declined.
Waitlists: Yale, declined.
Rejections: Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, NYU.
What would you have done differently? Wouldve tried harder to get published last year. Still, I got into my top choice, which is all that matters.

sperner's lemma 2010:
Type of Undergrad: Top 3 Canadian University (in economics)
Undergrad GPA: 95 cumulative, ~97 for math/econ courses
Type of Grad: Taking first year PhD Micro
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q800,V730,W5.5
Math Courses: Calc I-IV , Lin Alg I-III, Differential Eq, Metric Topology, General Topology, Real Analysis I-II, Intro. to Probability and Stats
Econ Courses: standard honors sequence in Micro/Macro/Metrics, and some Math of Econ
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: One well known in his field, Two semi-known. I have taken classes from the two semi-known ones. I have RAed for the well-known one for the summer. They all know me well.
Research Experience: RAed during third year summer. Did matching/social network stuff.
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Applied Game theory, IO
SOP: Spent a lot of time on it. Looking back now, it was probably too much (I didn't know about TM back then). But I think it may have helped, especially for getting me admission from Chicago since I mentioned I am a Libertarian and big fan of Friedman (both are true statements).
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: (Full funding): Stanford, NWU, UPenn, NYU, UMN, UMichigan (Partial Funding)Chicago
Waitlists: MIT
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley
What would you have done differently?
Nothing really, other than taking more math courses (especially in Probability theory). I am very surprised by my result. My letter of recommendation writers must have gone all the way for me. I am very very grateful for their help.

whoisdg 2010:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Math and Economics, Tufts U
Undergrad GPA: 3.8 Math, 4.0 Econ (Summa/PBK)
GRE: 800Q 780V 5.0 AWA
Math Courses (UG): Standard lower level curriculum, all A/A+; Real Analysis (A); Abstract Alg (B+); Complex Variables (A-); Probability (B – explained in SOP); Math Stats (A)
Econ Courses (UG): Principles of Economics (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Quant. Intermediate Macro (A), Advanced Econometrics (A), Financial Economics (A), International Trade (A), Quant. International Finance (A), State and Local Public Finance (A)
Letters of Recommendation: Michigan PhD, Stanford PhD, Duke Math PhD (two were advisors, both of whom know me very well; none are especially well known)
Research Experience: Theoretical-Empirical term paper in international trade; RA at policy research organization. **No THESIS. No academic RA.**
Research Interests: Diverse. Mostly applied micro.
Statement of purpose: Don’t have any standard for comparison...but I actually think it mattered, contrary to popular opinion. More on that below.
Other: Worked in management consulting for six months after college; a couple of national scholarships in college (e.g. NMSP); solid programming background.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Berkeley ($$), Michigan ($$), Penn (Waitlisted “very high” for $$), UCSD ($$), Wisconsin (withdrew before funding offer made), UT (withdrew before funding offer made)
Waitlists: MIT, awaiting rejection
Rejections: Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Chicago, Yale, NWU
NSF: Honorable mention (Intellectual Merit: 2 Excellent, 1 Good; Broader Impacts: 2 Excellent, 1 Very Good. Argh!)
What would you have done differently? Lots to say here. First of all, a THESIS. The one reviewer that submarined my NSF proposal clearly wanted to see more independent research experience. I’m pretty sure that was the deal breaker. Even though undergraduate theses (or “first papers”, more generally) are usually pretty bad, they are (1) an important signal of interest in and ability to do independent research, and (2) a significant learning experience. It might have been useful to take grad-level core courses, but I don’t think they’re necessary – the math courses convey the necessary skill set. Similarly, it might have been useful to RA as an undergrad, but again, from what I understand those roles are usually menial unless you have good programming/data skills.
I've also spent two years in the working world. For me, this experience was incredibly valuable. It's not for everyone, but I think it has a lot to offer - exposure to lots of interesting situations and questions, confirmation of your interest in research career, personal growth, big dollar.
Important note: I think the adcoms took the SOP more seriously than I had anticipated. Several possible explanations for this observation. The increase in applications probably leaves marginally admissible candidates indistinguishable from one another, and the statement might therefore be used as a second- or third-order criterion. Or maybe they really do sort applicants according to fit. Or maybe I’m just imagining things! In any case – I called out my interests in applied fields more than theory, and in some more specific topics that interest me (e.g. tournaments, peer effects, evaluation), and the decisions I got seemed to sort themselves accordingly. If I could change anything, I'd probably shift a little weight from applied to theoretical micro.
Overall, I’m thrilled with Berkeley. Ex-post,it’s my third-most desired program, behind the Cambridge contingent. My only disappointment is NSF – I really thought I could snag it. In any case, I now have a well-developed idea to embark upon this summer, so the process is valuable in and of itself.
Good luck to all future applicants. I hope this information is helpful!

princetonhost 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top Asian University, Good Econ Dept
Undergrad GPA: 3.97
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 600V, 800Q, 4.5AW
Math Courses: Calculus I, Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Mathematical Analysis, Numerical Analysis, Intro to Stats, Statistical Inference, Regression Analysis, Real Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Stochastic Processes, Probability, Advanced Probability(grad-level) [Grades: all A's or A+'s]
Econ Courses: intro micro(A), intermediate micro(A+) + macro(A+), public finance(A+), international finance(A), game theory(A+), quantitative macro(A+), intro econometrics(A+), phd micro theory(A+), phd macro theory(A+)
Other Courses: lots of programming and computer algorithm design, hardware and software [Grades: all A+'s]
Letters of Recommendation: Two well-known econ profs, one math
Research Experience: Little
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: macro + finance
SOP: standard, same for all schools
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Princeton ($$), Yale ($$$), Penn($$)
Waitlists: Minnesota
Rejections: a couple of other top-5/10 schools
Pending: None
What would you have done differently? Pretty happy about my results. I wish I could have stayed in university for one more year before applying. I would use the time to work on a topic and write something at least since I had so little research background. Also it's good to enjoy one more year of college life
ATTENDING:
Princeton!

Springsteen 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.Sc. Management, European university
Undergrad GPA: 17/20 - ranked 2nd out of 116
Type of Grad: M.Sc. Economics, same university
Undergrad GPA: 17/20
GRE: 800Q, 410V, 3.5AWA
Math Courses(undergrad): Mathematics I, Mathematics II, Mathematics III, Statistics I, Statistics II (covers linear algebra, calculus, ODE, probability theory, etc...)
Econ Courses(undergrad): Microeconomics I, Macroeconomics I, Microeconomics II, Econometrics
Math Courses(grad): Advanced Mathematics (covers topology and optimization theory)
Econ Courses(grad): Microeconomic Theory, Advanced Macroeconomics, Advanced Econometrics, IO, Regulation, International Money and Finance, Game Theory, Information and Uncertainty, Microeconometrics
Other Courses: Some Management courses that I hated
Letters of Recommendation: 1 senior econ (phd MIT), 1 senior econ (phd Chicago), 1 junior econ (phd MIT)
Research Experience: graduate thesis (completing)
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Micro theory: Game Theory, Contract theory, Mechanism Design, Auctions
SOP: standard
Concerns: Low AWA,
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NW (waitlisted for first year funding), UPenn (waitlisted for first year funding)
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Chicago, Yale, Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, UW-M, UMichigan, LSE, Cornell
Comments: I am extremely happy with this outcome!! But, since I have been rejected at 13 universities out of 15, and many universities ranked lower than NW rejected me, I guess I was lucky to ge in NW!
What would you have done differently? Take real analysis (although it was not offered at my university...), RA to get stronger LORs
Attending: Northwestern University!

nobigdeal 2010:
Type of Undergrad: B.F.A (!) dbl major in acting and economics (from one of the top acting programs, and a top (15) econ department.
Undergrad GPA: 3.85/4 over all, 3.9 econ; received the senior year econ dept. award.
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800Q, 650V, 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP). Only linear algebra (A) in undergrad. Since then, calc III (A), real analysis (A+), math stats (A+), probability (A)
Econ Courses (undergraduate): two intro classes plus micro, macro, international trade, labor, public, development, statistics, econometrics, thesis. All A's, except an A- in my first intro course.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors (worked for one over a summer, co authored a paper with the other -- top marks in their classes), one economist at a fed (he does more academic research than policy work).
Research Experience: A senior thesis, which grew into a paper that was recently accepted into a top (sub)field journal. Over 2 years at a fed working pretty closely with an economist with who I coauthored a paper we submitted to an interdisciplinary policy journal.
Teaching Experience: Very little. Worked in a statistics lab in college where I gave a lesson on STATA.
Research Interests: Labor, behavioral
Statement of Purpose: Discussed my background and research experiences. Also wrote two paragraphs outlining my research interests in applied microeconomics, labor, and behavioral. So, fairly specific. Hardly addressed the school's strengths at all--only mentioned the school's name once, in the last paragraph.
Concerns: I have a B.F.A, and I didn't take much math in college.
Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Yale, Penn, Duke, Cornel, NYU, Brown, Northwestern, Stanford, U Chicago, U Michigan

devtron 2010: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A Econ/BS Commerce, top 25 university
Undergrad GPA: 3.80/4
Type of Grad: Math, non-degree
Grad GPA: 4/4
GRE: 800Q, 690V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Undergrad: Multivar. Calc (A-), Intro Analysis (A), Diff EQ (A), Linear Algebra (B+); Grad: Real Analysis II (A), Advanced Linear Algebra (A), Math Stat I (A) and II (In progress), Stochastic Processes (In progress)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): NA
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro/Macro, Corporate Finance, Econ of Advertising (A-), Econ of China, Econometrics, International Trade - All A's and A+'s, except advertising
Other Courses: a lot of business/finance courses, probably only marginally helpful
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ phd's, 1 econ professor, 1 math professor
Research Experience: 2 years at a federal reserve bank as an RA, 2 publications in an internally reviewed journal
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: macro and IO
statement of purpose: Pretty standard, made some changes for each school to talk about whose research I am interested in... I talked mostly about my experience, in more detail than elsewhere on the application - only briefly about my future plans
Concerns: no graduate econ, could have taken more math.
Applying to: UVA, Duke, UPenn, Minnesota, Wisconsin-Madison, NYU, Northwestern, Princeton, BU, BC, OSU, Wash U in St. Louis, Georgetown, Penn State, ASU, Maryland

xyz621 2010:
Institution:Penn
Program: Econ Phd
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: 03/02/2010
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: Relieved
Institution:Yale
Program: Econ Phd
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: 02/18/2010
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: I am just too old to get in.

mornington 2010:
Institution: UPenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: "Very High Waitlist"
Notification date: 03/02/2010
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: not yet (but will do)
Comments: Don't know about first year funding yet, but if this happens, it will make a very happy man out of me.

blinks112 2010:
Institution: UPenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: March 3, 2010
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: "Very high" on waitlist for fellowship
Institution:Northwestern
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: Feb. 27, 2010
Notified through: Website
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: Wasn't too surprised
Institution:Minnesota
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Waitlist
Notification date: Feb. 25, 2010
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: On the longer waitlist
Institution:Wisconsin
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: Feb. 27, 2010
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: Waitlist for funding

OogieBoogieMan 2010:
Institution: Upenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: waitlisted (very high they say) for fellowship
Notification date: 03/02
Notified through: Phone (Email later)

tommyg28 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top UK BA econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.85(ish) equivalent
Type of Grad: MA econ, same uni
Grad GPA: 3.9
GRE: 800Q, 720V, 5.5AW
Math Courses: The usual (real analysis I, II, Topology, functional analysis, linear algebra, ODE I, II, advanced statistics and probability theory, etc.) Mostly As, one A-
Econ Courses: Many: Micro I-IV; Macro I-IV; Econometrics I, II; Economic theory; IO, etc. All As, some A+
Other Courses: None, econ all the way
Letters of Recommendation: From people who knew me well, but alas, few people know them. Nice letters though.
Research Experience: Undergrad thesis and Grad dissertation - they were OK.
Teaching Experience: Coached various sports, but pretty sure this counts for squat
Research Interests: Everything. Probably IO, stock-flow macro dynamics and labour if I had to narrow it down.
SOP: Bland
Concerns: Interpretation of UK grades
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Duke ($$), U Washington-Seattle ($), Georgetown ($$)
Waitlists: UCLA
Rejections: A lot: MIT, Princeton, Stanford, NYU, Columbia, Michigan, Yale, Penn, etc.
What would you have done differently? it's been said many times before, but I didn't pay sufficient heed: LORs matter! Unless you have Slightlyconfused's profile you need to get well-known profs to write decent enough LORs. I'm a little disappointed with my outcome. My faculty is pretty weak at the mo, so I don't think I could've done much better. But I should've done my MA elsewhere to get access to better letter of recommendation writers. Shucks.

triple_sec 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: MA in Econ in a small country in Eastern Europe; univ is among the best in the country but has little, if any, international renown
Undergrad GPA: 4.92/5.00, 1st out of 182
Type of Grad: MPhil Econ at another, English-speaking, univ in the same country
Grad GPA: 3.94/4.00
GRE: 800Q, 660V, 4.0AWA (Nov 2007); 800Q, 630V, 4.0AWA (Nov 2009)
TOEFL: 112/120 (30R, 27S, 27L, 28W)
Math Courses: Calculus (actually, it was more like real analysis; 5/5), Linear Algebra, Linear Programming, Multivariate Analysis (4/5, the last three went under the same course), Probability Theory (5/5), Operations Research (5/5), Advanced Math (A, actually Measure Theory)
Econ Courses: Micro (A,A,A), Macro (A,A), Metrics (A,A,A-,5/5), Monetary Theory (5/5), Recursive Macro (5/5), Time Series Analysis (A,5/5), Intl Macro (5/5), Game Theory (5/5), Public Econ (A), Behavioral (A), Metrics Intro (5/5), Public Econ (5/5), Labor (5/5,4/5), IO (5/5), Micro (5/5,5/5), Macro (5/5,5/5), Corporate Finance (5/5)
Other Courses: Statistics minor, plus some Political Science, Accounting, Law (the first two years of my undergrad were rather a joint social sciences—business—econ program before specialization to econ)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors (1 MIT PhD, 1 Harvard PhD), 1 math prof; I guess they were solid
Research Experience: MA thesis (mainly a survey but contains also a standalone RBC model) plus a preliminary project for a series of research seminars
Teaching Experience: a lot, TA for 7 courses altogether (4 math, 1 grad macro, 1 undergrad micro, 1 undergrad macro) and much, much tutoring
Research Interests: econ of information, mechanism design, macro
SOP: Enthusiastic as it should be, emphasizes eagerness for research
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Yale, Berkeley, NYU, Northwestern, Duke (declined)
Waitlists: Princeton, UPenn (asked them to take me off)
Rejections: MIT, MIT Operations Research, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, Stanford
What would you have done differently? I don't know. What could I have done differently to get into my absolute, unsurpassable dream school, MIT? Probably nothing. I have to come to terms with the fact that either I'm not *that* good or this year has been unusually competitive (or both). Anyways, I'm extremely delighted with my actual offers—I would be a moron if I weren't, of course.

econslave 2010:
Type of Undergrad: BA in Economics from top 15 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.7ish
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q / 630V / 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I/II, Intro to Statistics, Probability Theory, Linear Algebra, Multivariable Calculus, Discrete Math, Ordinary Differential Equations, Real Analysis (Note: Some grades were good, but most were not.)
Econ Courses (Undergraduate): A lot of basic field courses, but also econometrics and advanced theoretical econometrics
Econ Courses (Graduate): N/A
Letters of Recommendation: (1) RA-ed for 2.5 years; (2) RA-ed for, co-authored decent article with, advised for thesis, and took two courses with; (3) Took an advanced economics course with as an undergraduate and did very well in the class (Note: None of the letter-writers are well-known, but all went to top 10 PhD programs.)
Research Experience: 2.5 years RA for one professor, 1 year RA for another professor, undergraduate thesis (ranked best), summer RA at prestigious policy think-tanks, 1 year full-time RA position with top 10 school professor
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Behavioral/experimental, decision theory, micro theory, applied micro
Concerns: Lacking in math (not many classes and less-than-stellar grades). Didn’t graduate with any honors or anything.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCSD (TA $), Michigan (no $), Boston University (no $)
Waitlist: Minnesota
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Chicago, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Penn, Columbia, NYU, UCLA, Wisconsin, Caltech, Brown, Cornell, Duke, CMU, Maryland, Texas, PSU, Stanford GSB, Chicago Booth
What would you have done differently? Besides getting better grades as an undergraduate, not much. I applied to all of the top 20 and several others, and got into a few great schools. Perhaps I would’ve taken a different RA position, but it seems to have worked out anyway.

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.

decision09 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 overall, top 15 econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.75/4.00 Graduated High Honors Economics
GRE: 760Q, 580V, 5.0 AW (last year 740Q)
Math Courses: Analysis I (B)(blew first 2 exams but aced final to save myself), Modern Algebra (B+), Probability Theory (A-), Ord Diff Eq (A), Combinatorics(Winter 2010), CalcI,II,II,LA(A)
Math Courses (Grad): Intro Topology (Winter 2010)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Econometrics (A-), Random Field Courses (A), Research Seminars (B+(due to ULWriting) and A), Game Theory (A), Time series Analysis (A-)
Econ Courses (Grad): Micro I (B+), Micro II (B), Econometrics I (B), Math for Economists (B)
Letters of Recommendation: Well-known senior professor from research seminar
The other from a younger associate prof, said he wrote me an A+ letter (took game theory with him + unofficial adviser)
Research Experience: Financial econometrics research for senior thesis(publication: in process); experimental micro theory research. Labor research paper that will likely become my third year paper for my PhD, it caught the interest of a Senior person at my undergrad institution.
Teaching Experience: None.
Research Interests: Everything but Theoretical Econometrics.
Statement of Purpose: Much better the second time around but still about 1800 words, I had a few things to write about my career outside of econ and how it will influence my research.
Other:
Concerns: Poor performance in critical math classes, test jitters!
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Wisconsin Madison, Cornell
Rejections: Umich, Penn, Yale, Texas, Penn State, BU, Maryland, Mich State, Princeton, Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, CalTech, Stanford, Northwestern, Duke

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.

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.

roadvirusss 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Liberal Arts College.
Majors: BA Math, BA Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.93/4 (3.93 math, 3.97 econ)
GRE: 800 Q, 610 V, 6 AW
Mathematical Courses: Linear Algebra (A-), Vector Calculus (A), Cryptography (A-), Combinatorics (A), Intro to Analysis (A), Differential Equations (A), Real Analysis I (A-), Real Analysis II (A), Probability Theory (A), Statistical Theory (A), Complex Analysis (A), Abstract Algebra I (A), Deterministic Ops Research (Spring), Topology (Spring)
Econ Courses: Intro Macro (A-), Intro Micro (A), Empirical Methods (A), Econ Stats (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), International Econ (A), Energy Economics (A), Econometrics (A), Game Theory (A), Advanced Micro (Spring)
Other Courses: Took five semesters of Chinese (didn't have time for the minor), though I doubt this will help.
Letters of Recommendation: One econ prof (did research with, took three classes with), chair of math department (took several classes with, academic advisor), math professor who was director at summer REU (worked with for two months). None are particularly reputable, but all three I know fairly well and will write solid recs.
Research Experience: Summer grant for econ research, math REU in graph theory (I'm continuing both projects for senior theses right now)
Teaching Experience: None aside from grading
Research Interests: Micro Theory
Concerns: No graduate level courses offered at my school, lack of big-name recs.
Work Experience: "Head Statistician" for the school's football and basketball teams, tutoring calculus, four semesters of grading (calc, multivariable, prob theory, real analysis), and those two research positions.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: BU($$), UW($), Cornell(no$)
Rejections: Yale, Kellogg, Berkeley, Princeton, NYU-Stern, Stanford, Harvard, Penn, Caltech, UCSD
Waitlists: UCLA (rejected)
Attending: None. A tough decision, but for a number of reason's I'm going to take a year off. Has just as much to do with wanting to make certain of what I want to do with my life, as with increasing the number of options.
Done differently?: Perhaps I could have spent more time researching schools and individualizing my essays. Going way back, I should have been more active finding research opportunities, or maybe chosen to attend a more prestigious school

MorgieLilly 2010:
Type of Undergrad: B.A in Economics-Philosophy and Mathematics from top 10 undergrad with a top 15 econ department.
Undergrad GPA: 3.85
GRE: 780Q, 640V, 4.0W
Math Courses (undergrad):Cal I, Calc III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Probability and Statistics, Advanced Logic, (all As)
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro-econometrics (A-), Graduate Macroeconomics (A-)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro/Macro(A-,B+), Advanced Econometrics (B+), Advanced Macro (A), Game Theory (A-), Economic History (A-), International (C, took abroad in Ghana)
Letters of Recommendation:
Economics. Well Known. My boss.
Economics. Well Known. Professor. (I wrote an empirical research paper for his course.)
Philosophy of Science. Professor. (I took two classes with him. I wrote a paper that I presented at a philosophy conference. He advised me on a documentary that I made as a senior.)
Mathematics. Professor. (Adviser for my senior research project.)
Geophysics. Researcher. (Adviser for my REU research project. )
Research Experience: REU Intern in geophysics at Lamont Earth Observatory, summer 2007 (My paper was accepted to the 2008 ASLO Conference). I also published a paper in the philosophy of science when I was a sophomore, but I'm not so proud now of what I said and the journal was not a big deal at all. Full-time economics RA since July 2008 for one of my letter writers. I've made a bunch of documentaries and I included one in my application.
Research Interests: Development, Growth Theory, Economic History.
Statement of Purpose: Talked about my background, why I chose to pursue interdisciplinary undergraduate study. Talked about my experiences abroad in Ghana, my research experience at Lamont and as an RA and my motivation for studying development and poverty issues.
Applied to: MIT, NYU, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Columbia, UMich, Princeton, Yale, UCLA, UC Davis, BU, Duke, Brown, Northwestern, U Penn
Admitted: BU(wl/$), UCLA(wl/$), UC Davis($$), Michigan($$/Regents Fellowship), Brown(wl/$)
Rejected: MIT, NYU, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Princeton, Yale, Duke, Northwestern, U Penn
Attending: Brown(no first year funding, 19.5K+health+tuition years 2-5)
What I would have done differently: I don't think I would have gone to any other school over Brown. I would have considered MIT, Yale or Harvard. But honestly, I couldn't be happier. The debt will be worth it. I know it.

dauntilus 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA in econ & math at top 10 econ dept
Undergrad GPA: 3.88
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA: 4
GRE: 800q, 660v, 5w
Math Courses: Linear algebra (A), Real Analysis (A), Abstract Algebra (A), Numerical Analysis (A), Complex Analysis (A-), Probability (A)
Econ Courses: Undergrad: Intermediate Micro, Macro (A, A), Game Theory (A), Financial Econ (A), Metrics (A)
Grad: Micro (A), Game Theory (A), Psych in Econ (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 great letters from good economics faculty with a record of putting students into top schools. 2 knew me very well, 1 not as well.
Research Experience: 2 years RA experience for 1 professor, no publications
Research Interests: Applied micro, Behavioral econ
SOP: More or less polished, minor changes for each school. I found 1 small typo in 1 school's SOP after submitting.
RESULTS:
Attending: MIT
Acceptances: Berkeley, Yale, Chicago, MIT, Caltech, UCSD, Cornell (no funding), NYU Stern Waitlists: NYU
Rejections: HBS, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, MIT GSB, Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, Stanford, Brown
What would you have done differently? I would have started taking grad classes my third year- I thought they would be harder than they are.

wobuffet 2010:
Profile
Type of Undergrad: top 15-ish US national university, econ PhD program is top 20-30
Undergrad GPA: 4.00 (easier to attain than at other schools)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 790V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Honors Multivariable Calculus (pass/fail option); Essential Stats; Honors Linear Algebra; Statistical Inference I; Abstract Algebra; Probabilistic Models; Real Analysis (single-variable)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Macro; Intermediate Micro; a bunch of field courses (Int'l Finance; Public Econ; Econ Growth; Health Econ; Econ Analysis of Institutions; Econ and Psychology; Theory of Econ Growth; Labor Economics); Econometrics I; Econometrics II; Game Theory; grad core Micro I (mandatory pass/fail); grad core Micro II (mandatory pass/fail); grad applied econometric methods course (graded, in progress when I applied); grad class on economic theories of inequality (graded, in progress when I applied)
Other Courses: two intro comp sci classes
Letters of Recommendation: one reasonably well-known prof I RA'd for, took 2 classes with (1 undergrad, 1 grad), and planned to write a thesis under; one somewhat less-known prof I had an undergrad class with and planned to TA for; one well-known prof I took two grad-level courses with (including Micro II, in which I internally got an A); and another well-known prof I RA'd for for a year or so. [I mixed and matched somewhat for schools that only accepted 3 LORs]
Research Experience: RA'd for 2 semesters + 2 summers (under 2 diff profs)
Publications: Nah.
Teaching Experience: none at time of application, although I was planning to in the spring
Research Interests: applied micro (especially public and labor)
Statement of purpose: Tried to be honest; it probably ended up sort of dry.
Comments: Going in, I had basically no idea how most of my letters were going to turn out; I was only reasonably confident about one of them.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Berkeley ($$, attending), Stanford ($$$), Yale ($$$$), UMich (no $), Chicago (waitlisted for $), Northwestern ($$), NYU ($$$)
Waitlists: MIT (eventually rejected), Princeton (eventually rejected)
Rejections: Harvard, UPenn, Columbia
What would you have done differently? On the margin, I guess having done some research on my own would have done the most good, or perhaps getting to know a few professors better. (But ex post, I wouldn't change a thing! In particular, attending a well-regarded private research university for my undergraduate studies definitely worked out well for me.)

ilikefreefood 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Econ major from a top 5-10 Midwestern liberal arts college.
Undergrad GPA: 3.73/4, magna cum laude, distinction in major for senior thesis research.
Type of Grad: first semester of PhD microeconomics at Maryland
Grad GPA: 3.00/4.00 (B+)
GRE: 800Q 640V 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc II-III (A,B+), Linear Algebra (Pass), Statistics (A), Mathematical Structures (A-), Real Analysis (B, taken as a non-degree student at a local school Fall 2008), Probability (A, taken as a non-degree student at a local school Summer 2009)
Econ Courses: Principles Micro/Macro (A-,A), Intermediate Micro (A) Intermediate Macro (B), Econometrics (B+), PhD Micro Theory I (B+), pre-thesis seminar (A-), Ag. & Food Econ. (A), Development Econ. (B+), Econ. of Inequality (A), Econ. of Water Policy (B+), British Econ. history (B+)
Other Courses: A pass/fail seminar on game theory, a Poli. Sci. course on agent-based computer modeling (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ. professors (liberal arts college profs but with Chicago/Stanford PhDs), including my thesis adviser who has previously stated that my thesis was one of the best he's ever advised. 1 Partner at my Econ. consulting firm with whom I've worked extensively on econometric analyses (PhD Cornell).
Where possible, a third Econ. professor (PhD Chicago).
Research Experience: ~3.5 years as an RA in a major Econ. consulting firm; I specialize in statistical and econometric analysis within my office.
Awards: Thesis award from state Economics association, thesis presentation award from state science association, college fellowship
for (non-research) work in development related to microfinance.
Research Interests: Development, environmental/resource economics, urban economics, general applied micro.
Statement of Purpose: Well-written but fairly standard; mentioned specifically my interest in development and applied micro fields.
Other: This is my second time applying, and I am reapplying to several schools with the additional Probability and PhD micro courses and a new letter of recommendation. I am deferred at Minnesota ARE from last year.
Applying to: Maryland, Maryland AREC, Duke, UC Berkeley ARE, Washington, Wharton Applied Economics, Michigan, Penn, Yale, Chicago, Michigan State, Northwestern, WUSTL, Georgetown, Texas, Boston University, UCSD, Cornell, Brown, UC Davis ARE, Illinois, Penn State, Virginia
RESULTS:
Attending: Boston University
Acceptances: Boston University (no $), U. of Washington ($), Michigan State ($ waitlist), Illinois ($), UC Davis ARE ($), Maryland AREC ($).
Rejections: Maryland Econ., Duke, UC Berkeley ARE, Wharton Applied Economics, Michigan, Penn, Yale, Chicago, Northwestern, Washington U. in St. Louis, Texas, UCSD, Cornell, Brown, Penn State, Virginia
No Response: Georgetown
What would you have done differently?
I would have taken more care to keep my grades in key courses consistently high in college to avoid a few potential red flags. I would have started my math education earlier and taken more classes as an undergrad. I would have worked only 2 years as an economic consultant and timed the business cycle to avoid applying in 2009 and 2010. I would have applied last year to a few schools that just missed my 2009 list (BU, Washington, and Illinois were all nearly on it), and potentially avoided the annoyance of waiting another year. I would have done more research to discount the advice of my advisors who said I would definitely get into schools on my 2009 list. All those things said, i feel that BU is really a fabulous program for my interests, and I am very, very excited to be headed there.

Le_Walrus 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Engineering, top three university in a small, but well known Latin American country
Undergrad GPA: 5.2/7
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800Q, 570V, 3.5AWA
TOEFL: 109/120
Math Courses: Advanced Calculus, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Numerical Analysis, Complex Analysis, Optimal Control Theory, Probability and Statistics, Operations Research I and II
Econ Courses: Micro and Macro Theory
Other Courses: Lots of Engineering courses.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 econ professors, 1 math professor, 1 computer programming professor
Research Experience: Research assistant in several economics projects, undergraduate thesis in macro involving dynamic programming
Teaching Experience: TA of computer programming, Micro theory and Dynamic Macroeconomics
Research Interests: Macro theory, growth
SOP: The usual, maybe a little different because of my engineering background
Other: My grades may seem low, but in fact they are really high, and my recommenders avail that.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Rochester ($)
Waitlists: JHU
Rejections: Princeton, Berkeley, Northwestern, Minnesota, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, Duke, UCSD, WUSTL, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Pittsburgh, Indiana
Pending: Texas, UWO
What would you have done differently?
It was an somewhat expected outcome, coming from an relatively unknown university with an engineering background. My advice to other people with similar background? Get a masters degree. And start talking to people who know people...

TeaMania 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 25 liberal arts college but the econs department is at least top 10 among LACs. BS in Econs, Physics and Maths
Undergrad GPA: 3.96/4.00
Type of Grad:-
Grad GPA:-
GRE: 800Q 720V 4.0AWA
Math Courses: Linear Algebra, Multivariable calculus, Intro to Abstraction, Real Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Maths Method for Physics, a few more senior year.(all As
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro , Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, Advanced Econometrics, Advanced Macro, Game Theory, International Finance, Labor Econs, (all As)
Other Courses: Physics Major, Japanese Minor
Letters of Recommendation: 3 Econs professors, of which two are well-known, at least by liberal arts college standard. One knows me very much, and said extremely good things about me. Another said something like " the best in the past 15 years". Not sure about the last one.
Research Experience: for a professor, since summer of sophomore year. Coauthor a paper. R&R at the time of application (I only said "submitted" in the applications, because I didn't know the distinction.) Now forthcoming at a top field journal.
Teaching Experience:None
Research Interests: Development, Labor
SOP: Standard and did not customize
RESULTS:
Acceptances: University of Maryland($$, off the waitlist), BU(no $)
Rejections: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Cornell, Northwestern,Rochester, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Upenn
Atttending: Maryland
What would you have done differently? I would have applied to more and a wider range of schools. I was ignorant of the process, and didn't spend enough time researching schools, partly because I was taking a lot of classes. I overestimated where I stood in the competition, because I underestimated the importance of grad classes and undergrad/letter of recommendation reputation. Nevertheless, I am glad to make it and will make the most out of my education at UMD. Hope my case will serve as a warning to top students from LACs: this game is very difficult to play, even after taking my warning into account.

asdfjkl 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics from a Public University, top 10 Economics Department
Undergrad GPA: 3.77 overall, 3.94 Economics GPA
Type of Grad: 1 second-year field sequence in the Economics Department
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: Q: 800, V:640, AWA:4.5
Math Courses: Analysis (B), Linear Algebra (Pass), Multivariable Calculus (A-)
Econ Courses: Advanced Micro (A), Advanced Macro (A+), Game Theory (A), Auction Theory (A-), Advanced Econometrics (A-), along with Econ History, International Monetary Economics, Research Economics (all As), also Psych and Econ, Behavioral Corporate Finance
Letters of Recommendation: 2 very strong letters from Professors from the Economics Department at my undergraduate university (with a history of sending undergraduates to top Economics departments), 1 from the Business School, 1 from the Federal Reserve Board
Research Experience: Summer RA/Intern at the Federal Reserve Board, RA for a Professor at the Business School and RA to another professor in the Economics Department at my university, also worked for a graduate student in the Economics Department
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Applied Micro - beyond that Labor? IO? Development? Psych and Econ?
SOP: nothing special and I did not bother making it specific to the schools I applied to
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UMichigan (attending! no funding initially, $$$$$ at the end), Northwestern (waitlist for funding, ultimately would've received a tuition waiver), UCSD ($$), UCLA ($$)
Waitlists: UPenn Wharton - Applied Economics (would've been accepted to the program off the waitlist with $$)
Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Berkeley, UPenn, NYU, Columbia, Yale, ChicagoWhat would you have done differently? A LOT more math. My letter writers had told me I had sufficient math to competitive at all schools; however I think that my lack of strong math background really hurt me on the margin. I think I may have gotten into better schools if I'd taken more math and done better, but I preferred to work on research projects for professors and graduate students throughout my undergrad - so I can't say I regret my decision for get more research experience at the expense of a stronger math background.

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.

cluelessness 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Ivy league, major in economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
GRE: 800Q/780V/5.0Writing
Math Courses: multivariable calculus, linear algebra, statistics, optimization, introductory real analysis, probability
Econ Courses: intro+intermediate+1semester of grad micro, intermediate macro, econometrics, law and econ, an applications course, public finance
Other Courses: a few in hard sciences, engineering, humanities
Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors from undergrad institution (took classes from them, one was my thesis advisor)
Research Experience: undergrad thesis and a junior year research project
Teaching Experience: none at college level (tutored a middle school kid though)
Research Interests: uncertain
SOP: was probably on the weak side
Other: I didn't apply directly from undergrad; spent some time working after graduation
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NYU, Berkeley
Rejections: Yale, Penn, Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern, MIT
What would you have done differently?
I think stronger evidence of research potential would have helped (an RAship maybe). I also think my SOP was on the weak side.

walt526 2010: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Political Science from UC Davis (started at a well-regarded LAC in the Midwest)
Undergrad GPA: 3.50/4.00 (combined)
Type of Grad: MA in Economics from lower-tier public university
Grad GPA: 3.92
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 6.0AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-III (high school with AP, plus C from Fall 1998), Linear Algebra (A), Intro to Statistics (A), Math for Economists (A), Intro to Formal Math (A-), Numerical Analysis (A), Axiomatic Set Theory (B+), Real Analysis (in process), Mathematical Statistics MA-Level (in process), Operations Research (Spring 2010), Applied Linear Algebra (Spring 2010)
Econ Courses (MA-level): Advanced Micro Theory (A-), Advanced Macro Theory (A), US Economic History (A), Cost-Benefit Analysis (A), Applied Econometric Analysis (in process), Econometric Theory (in process)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Economics (B+ from spring 2000), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (D), Public Microeconomic Theory (A+), Economics of Development (A-), US Economic History (A-), World Economic History (A), Economics of Education (A), Econometrics (A), History of Economic Thought (Spring 2010)
Political Science Courses:
- High School: AP American Government, AP Comparative Government
- LAC: International Relations (A-), American Political Thought (B+), Central European Politics (A), Russian Politics (A-), Soviet and Russian Foreign Policy (A)
- UC Davis: Systematic Political Science (A-), The Legislative Process (A-), The Politics of Interdependence (A-), National Security Policy (A), Intro to Judicial Politics (A), Judicial Politics: First Amendment (A), Judicial Politics: Equality (A-), Seminar in American Political Behavior (A+)
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (1 WUSTL, 1 UC Davis ARE, 1 Stanford)
Research Experience:
- Research assistant to LAC political science professor (developing new course in environmental international politics)
- Research assistant to UC Davis political science professor (judicial politics--read a sample Supreme Court decisions and classified the argument type of each paragraph)
- Masters Thesis: Does State Support for Public Four-Year Universities Decrease as Minority Enrollment Increases?
Teaching Experience: TA to Intermediate Micro
Research Interests: My research interests lie along the intersection of political science and economics. I am interested in Public Choice (Law and Economics and Institutional Factors), Industrial Organization, and Miscellaneous Applied Microecomics
Statement of Purpose: Should be strong
Concerns: The D in Intermediate Macro came in a semester wherein I received incompletes in my other courses (personal issues) in winter quarter of 2004). I completed the two lower-division courses that I needed to fulfill the BA in Political Science at community college (statistics and history of western civilization). No topology, possibly weak advanced math grades.
Other: Have a career certificate in Accounting from a community college, worked for 2 years as an accounting administrator and 3 years as a purchasing agent for an electrical contractor.
Applying to: UC Berkeley, Northwestern, Stanford, Michigan, UPenn Wharton (Applied Econ), WUSTL, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, Texas, UIUC, Maryland, Virginia, UC Davis, George Mason, Vanderbilt, Rochester, Michigan State, Georgetown, UC Irvine, UMass-Amherst, Arizona, Colorado, Syracuse, Kentucky (might whittle down the list some)

econlaw 2010: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math and Econ from a large state univeristy
Undergrad GPA: 4.0/4.0
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800Q, 540V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I II III, Advanced Calculus I II, ODE, PDE, Real Analysis I , Linear Algebra, Probability Theory, Mathematical Statistics, Numerical Analysis, all A or A+
Econ Courses (PhD-level): N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Econometrics, Game Theory, Intermediate Micro and Macro Theory, Advanced Micro and Macro Theory, Mathematical Economics (in progress) All A's and A+
Other Courses: None
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors (1 very good from a well-known economist, 1 fairly good from a junior economist) 1 very good from a Math professor
Research Experience: Except for term papers and thesis, none.
Teaching Experience: TA in Math Department
Research Interests: Not sure but currently Micro Theory
statement of purpose: Standard
Concerns: I don't know. I have studied hard and done everything that I can but feel that I'll have a lot rejections.
Other: None.
Applying to: Princeton, Yale, Northwestern, Stanford, Berkeley, UPenn, UCSD, NYU, Cornell, UCLA , Penn State, Maryland, Minnesota, UW-Madison, Carnegie Mellon, Arizona State.

helloworld09 2010: PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. statistics, NE Asia
Undergrad GPA: approx 3.7/4, econ avg 3.9ish
GRE: 800Q, 7X0V, 5.0A
Math Courses: many statistics courses & enough math to fulfill requirements
Econ Courses: 7 incl micro, macro, metrics
Letters of Recommendation: among 2 econ professors and 3 statistics professors
Research Experience: nada
Teaching Experience: nope (some tutoring..)
Research Interests: open-economy macro, international, monetary.
statement of purpose: nothing too special.
Concerns: I have no research experience and have been working at a bulge-bracket IB for the last 3.5yrs, not too sure how adcoms would see that. UMN seems ok with that so i'm not as concerned as before..
Applying to: NWU, UPenn, Columbia, UMN (accepted!!), NYU, UCLA, Brown, Maryland, Rochester, BU, JHU, PSU, WUSTL, BC, UW-Seattle.

Churchill 2010:
Institution: Cornell
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 02/10
Notified through: Email
Posted on grad cafe: No
Comments:
Institution: Duke
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 18k
Notification date: 02/22
Notified through: Email / Website
Posted on grad cafe: No
Comments:
Institution: Northwestern
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Waitlist
Notification date: 02/24
Notified through: Website
Posted on grad cafe: Yes
Comments:
Institution: Minnesota
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Waitlist
Funding:
Notification date: 02/26
Notified through: Email
Posted on grad cafe: Yes
Comments:

seniorplow 2010:
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: Feb 18
Notified through: Email to go to website
Comments: first bummer
Institution: Minnesota
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: Feb 25
Notified through: Email
Funding: 20K + tuition for first year, TA for 2-5
Comments: yay
Institution: Northwestern
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: Feb 24
Notified through: Website
Funding: None
Comments: none...
Institution: Michigan
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: Mar 1
Notified through: Website
Funding: None
Comments: none...
Institution: Berkeley
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: Mar 2
Notified through: Email
Funding: Billions
Comments: Damn and I wanted to go there too
Institution: UPenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Wait-listed
Notification date: Mar 4
Notified through: Email
Funding: not applicable unfortunately
Comments: "high on waitlist" not sure what that means

yes_no_maybe 2010:
Institution: USC
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 21k, 5 years
Notification date: 2/26/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC:Yes
Institution: Boston College
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Wait listed
Funding: Yes if out
Notification date: 3/1/2010
Notified through:E-mail
Posted on GC:No
Institution: UC Berkeley
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: 3/3/2010
Notified through:E-mail
Posted on GC:No
Institution: Maryland, College Park
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 18k, 4-5 years
Notification date: 3/3/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Institution: Columbia
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: 3/5/2010
Notified through: E-mail to check the website
Posted on GC: No
Institution: Brown
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Wait listed
Funding: Yes if out
Notification date: 3/8/2010
Notified through:E-mail
Posted on GC:No
Institution: Princeton
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: 3/9/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Institution: MIT
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: 3/11/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Institution: Stanford
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: 3/12/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Institution: UPenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: 3/13/2010
Notified through: E-mail to check the website
Posted on GC: No

donkey 2010:
Institution: U Penn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected from the wait list
Notification date: 4/15/10
Notified through: E-mail

triple_sec 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: MA in Econ in a small country in Eastern Europe; univ is among the best in the country but has little, if any, international renown
Undergrad GPA: 4.92/5.00, 1st out of 182
Type of Grad: MPhil Econ at another, English-speaking, univ in the same country
Grad GPA: 3.94/4.00
GRE: 800Q, 660V, 4.0AWA (Nov 2007); 800Q, 630V, 4.0AWA (Nov 2009)
TOEFL: 112/120 (30R, 27S, 27L, 28W)
Math Courses: Calculus (actually, it was more like real analysis; 5/5), Linear Algebra, Linear Programming, Multivariate Analysis (4/5, the last three went under the same course), Probability Theory (5/5), Operations Research (5/5), Advanced Math (A, actually Measure Theory)
Econ Courses: Micro (A,A,A), Macro (A,A), Metrics (A,A,A-,5/5), Monetary Theory (5/5), Recursive Macro (5/5), Time Series Analysis (A,5/5), Intl Macro (5/5), Game Theory (5/5), Public Econ (A), Behavioral (A), Metrics Intro (5/5), Public Econ (5/5), Labor (5/5,4/5), IO (5/5), Micro (5/5,5/5), Macro (5/5,5/5), Corporate Finance (5/5)
Other Courses: Statistics minor, plus some Political Science, Accounting, Law (the first two years of my undergrad were rather a joint social sciences—business—econ program before specialization to econ)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ professors (1 MIT PhD, 1 Harvard PhD), 1 math prof; I guess they were solid
Research Experience: MA thesis (mainly a survey but contains also a standalone RBC model) plus a preliminary project for a series of research seminars
Teaching Experience: a lot, TA for 7 courses altogether (4 math, 1 grad macro, 1 undergrad micro, 1 undergrad macro) and much, much tutoring
Research Interests: econ of information, mechanism design, macro
SOP: Enthusiastic as it should be, emphasizes eagerness for research
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Yale, Berkeley, NYU, Northwestern, Duke (declined)
Waitlists: Princeton, UPenn (asked them to take me off)
Rejections: MIT, MIT Operations Research, Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, Stanford
What would you have done differently? I don't know. What could I have done differently to get into my absolute, unsurpassable dream school, MIT? Probably nothing. I have to come to terms with the fact that either I'm not *that* good or this year has been unusually competitive (or both). Anyways, I'm extremely delighted with my actual offers—I would be a moron if I weren't, of course.

48chec 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics Latin American University
Undergrad GPA: 3.5
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics Latin American University
Grad GPA: 3.5
GRE: 800Q 570V 3.0 AWA
Math Courses: Multivariate Calculus, Mathematical Statistics
Econ Courses: Game Theory, Grad Micro, Grad Micro, Grad Econometrics
Other Courses: Lots of History Courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Berkeley who teaches at my Uni, 1 Michigan who teaches at my Uni, 1 MIT who teaches at an Ivy League Uni.
Research Experience: R.A. since I was a third year undergrad. Last two years I was a full time instructor working on three papers.
Teaching Experience: I have been a full time instructor for the last two years. I have been teaching Probability and Econometrics.
Research Interests: Labor, information, applied econometrics.
SOP: Made emphasis on my love for academia and my teaching and research experience.
Other: Highest national grade on an economics exam.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCLA($), British Columbia
Waitlists: UPenn, Brown
Rejections: Stanford, Princeton, Berkeley, NorthWestern, Columbia, LSE, Michigan, Texas Austin.
Pending: None
What would you have done differently?
I would have taken more math courses. I would also have taken more care of my GPA. I wish I had realized that I wanted to be an academic earlier in my undergraduate studies.

heraclitus_junior 2010:
It won't let me edit my previous post (on page 3), so I'm reposting this. My profile isn't coming up on untitled's website though. I don't know how to get it to be picked up.
Profile
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Double Major in Math/Econ. Top 3 university in a very small, isolated country. (<300 in the world)
Undergrad GPA: 3.94 out of 4.00 (converted)
Type of Grad: 1st class honors degree
Grad GPA: 3.92 out of 4.00 (converted)
GRE: 780Q, 750V, 4.5AWA (only took once)
Math Courses: First year math, second year multivariate calculus and differential equations, second year linear algebra, second year inference, second year probability, second year real analysis, third year dynamical systems, third year complex variables, third year matrix algebra, third year analysis, third year multivariate stats, honours measure theory, honours probability theory, honours mathematical economics, honours combinatorics (matroids), honours topology (point set topology).
Econ Courses: second year macro, second year micro, third year micro, third year econometrics, third year game theory, honours macro, honours welfare economics, honours empirical macroeconomics.
Other Courses: first year computer science done informally.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 professor of pure mathematics (chaired), 1 econ senior lecturer (associate professor) from my uni. They knew me very well, so their letters should've been good. 1 world-renowned economist who isn't from my university and didn't know me as well as the others.
Research Experience: Paid summer math project. Paid summer internship at my country's central bank with their research team. An honours dissertation on mathematical economics.
Publications: one single author publication in a mid-tier North American Journal (accepted for publication mid-feb 2010). one working single author paper on cooperative game theory.
Teaching Experience: Tutor for first year math and third year microeconomics.
Research Interests: Economic theory (Micro and macro).
Statement of purpose: I talked about my research experience and my goals.
Concerns: My GRE score was a real worry; I was concerned my application would not even be looked at. Also, I did a 4 year degree in 3 years so I didn't have any breadth. I also applied straight out of undergrad at a relatively young age.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Princeton, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, Stanford, San Diego, Harvard (After waitlist).
Rejections: Yale, NYU, MIT (after waitlist), UPenn (withdrawn).

Caroline_x 2010:
Institution: University of Michigan
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Admitted
Funding: Tuition Waiver + Health Coverage. 17.5K for the first year. 16K stipend guaranteed after first year, conditional on good standing.
Notification date: 02/28 (the attached letter was dated March 1st)
Notified through: Email with pdf attachment
Posted on grad cafe: Yes
Comments: So Excited! Good luck to all TMers!

seniorplow 2010:
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: Feb 18
Notified through: Email to go to website
Comments: first bummer
Institution: Minnesota
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: Feb 25
Notified through: Email
Funding: 20K + tuition for first year, TA for 2-5
Comments: yay
Institution: Northwestern
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: Feb 24
Notified through: Website
Funding: None
Comments: none...
Institution: Michigan
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notification date: Mar 1
Notified through: Website
Funding: None
Comments: none...
Institution: Berkeley
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: Mar 2
Notified through: Email
Funding: Billions
Comments: Damn and I wanted to go there too
Institution: UPenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Wait-listed
Notification date: Mar 4
Notified through: Email
Funding: not applicable unfortunately
Comments: "high on waitlist" not sure what that means

econgirl19 2010:
Institution: Rutgers
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: None
Notification date: 1/27/2010
Notified through: Email
Comments: Not going without funding.
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding:N/A
Notification date: 2/18/2010
Notified through: Email to check website
Comments: Oh well.
Institution: Penn State
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Tuition + $24k stipend
Notification date: 2/22/2010
Notified through: Email
Comments: :-)
Institution: Duke
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Tuition + $18k stipend + $2k stipend for the summer
Notification date: 2/22/2010
Notified through: Email to check website
Comments: Definitely high up on my list.
Institution: Johns Hopkins
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Tuition + $17k stipend
Notification date: 2/26/2010
Notified through: Email with attachment
Comments: Another good option.
Institution: University of Maryland
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Tuition + $18k stipend
Notification date: 3/3/2010
Notified through: Email
Comments: Excited!
Institution: Columbia
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/4/2010
Notified through: Email to check website
Comments: I wasn't really planning on going there anyway….