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hzzhangyu 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ from a top-tier Chinese university; Exchange at a top-15 econ department in U.S.
Undergrad GPA: overall 91.3/100 (1/48, but the program includes people doing sociology and political science); Exchange GPA 4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: V700 Q800 AW4
TOEFL: 119 (iBT)
Math Courses: Single Variable Calculus (90), Multivariate Calculus (92), Linear Algebra & Analytical Geometry (91), Probablity Theory & Math Stats (97) -- (mandates of my program, these four appear in transcripts as College Math for Social Sciences 1, 2, 3, 4: really bad course names which need explaining in the SOP) -- , Real Analysis (96, rank 1st), Stochastic Calculus(92).
Econ Courses (grad-level): Phd Micro I (A), Math Econ I (A). both at the exchange department and top in both classes.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): typical econ major requirement at home university (all but one are above 90/100); International Finance (A), Game Theory(A), Econometrics (A) at the exchange department, top in all three classes.
Other Courses: lots of typical mandates required in China.
Letters of Recommendation: all come from professors in the exchange department, two senior faculty from grad micro and undergrad international finance (both relatively well-known in their respective fields), one AP from grad math econ course (should be very enthusiastic).
Research Experience: Virtually none. Started to write a Honor Thesis only after applying.
Teaching Experience:No
Research Interests: Macro theory and behavioral macro. likely to change after 1st year.
SOP: talks about my love for math, however I have no solid research experience to write about.
Concerns: lack of research experience (also all three letters are supposed to talk about not much more than performance in class); bad names for math courses.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: MIT(wl for $ -> unfunded), Stanford($$$), Princeton($$$), Minn, UCLA, PSU
Waitlists: UPenn(-> rej), UMich
Rejections: Harvard, Chicago, Yale, Berkeley, Northwestern, NYU, Columbia, Duke.
Withdrawn: UCSD, Wisc.
What would you have done differently?
My lack of research experience partly results from some family reasons and an unexpected health incident; I guess I couldn't have done much differently.

thewhiterabbit 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: MIT, SB Economics, SB Political Science, LSE study abroad (General Course)
Undergrad GPA: 4.8/5.0 overall and across both majors (converts directly to 3.8/4.0). All 1st class marks on exams at LSE (4.0/4.0).
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 790Q 660V ?AWA
Math Courses: Statistics (AP), Single Variable Calculus (AP BC), Multivariable Calculus (P under P/no record - mandatory for first term), Principles of Econometrics (LSE advanced intro course, known in UK to be very hard, 1st/A), Differential Equations (credit by advanced standing, B), Linear Algebra (audited), Introduction to Analysis (pending, ~60hance A, 40hance B)
Econ Courses (grad-level): International Economics I (A), Politics and Economics (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (grad Varian, A), Game Theory (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Econ Research (A), Public Economics (LSE: 1st/A), Development (A), Principles of Micro (B), Principles of Macro (A)
Other Courses: Political Science degree, French concentration
Letters of Recommendation: 3 very recognizable names in my field. They all mentor the very top students regularly (since I'm at MIT) so it is somewhat hard for me to gauge strength of two of them. (I feel a little like a medium sized fish in a big pond)
Research Experience: Oodles: part time RA all through undergrad, full time RA since 2007. ~2 years field work. Speak Indonesian fluently. No journal publications. AAA+ Stata programmer. Best thesis award for political science thesis.
Teaching Experience: After school teacher for middle schoolers, test prep.
Research Interests: Development, behavioral, health
SOP: Have a lot of material to work with, will condense three NSF essays
Concerns: The obvious, math preparation. That I haven't had the chance to coauthor (just hasn't been an option) but some other people in RA jobs do. That I've been out of school longer than most people similar to me.
Other: I've done some cool work in technology innovation that is somewhat relevant to economics and which I wrote about for NSF. I'm really happy with my NSF app (and have been told by profs who are historically very honest with me that it was good).
Applying to:
Funding: NSF
Econ: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, NYU, Chicago, LSE, Columbia, Brown, UCLA, Caltech, UCSD, Oxford, BU, UMD, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UCL, Georgetown, BC
Other: Berkeley (ARE), Stanford (GSB), Chicago (GSB), Harvard (Public Policy), HSPH Economics

concilliatory 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 econ/math/undergrad
Undergrad GPA: 3.7, 3.85 math.
GRE: 800/750/5.5
Math Courses: lots of undergrad stuff (A,A-), measure-theoretic probability (A), stochastic calculus (A-_
Econ Courses: standard undergrad stuff (A, A-), Grad Micro I (A), grad micro II(A-).
Letters of Recommendation: fairly well known in their fields, seemed to like me.
Research Experience: RA in neuroscience, REU in math bio, senior thesis (in progress) in econ.
Teaching Experience: math/econ tutor for university.
Research Interests: Micro, Political Economy, theoretical behavioral
SOP: included around 5 references to recent papers relating to my research. otherwise unremarkable.
Applying to: Stanford GSB, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, other stuff. Advisor told me to apply to about 12 schools.
Acceptances: Stanford GSB (with funding), Yale, no info on rest as of yet.
Comments: I guess my recommendations were stellar. Didn't think I would be getting into Stanford GSB without any publications or major awards.

skysky 2011:
Type of Undergrad: A hopefully well-known school in Asia. One-semester visiting student experience in a top econ dept in U.S.
Undergrad GPA: 90+/100
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800 Q / 720 V / 4.5 W
Math Courses: Mathematical Analysis, Linear Algebra, Probability theory, Mathematical Statistics, Real Analysis, Stochastic Process, Mathematical Modelling, all with decent scores. Abstract Algebra, Differential Equations, finished after application. Complex Analysis, in progress.
Econ Courses (grad-level): PhD-level Micro.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Regular courses like intermediate micro/macro, econometrics, game theory etc.
Letters of Recommendation: 3 from Berkeley professors. 2 from my home institution.
Research Experience: One semester RA in the US school.
Teaching Experience: none.
Research Interests: No idea, really.
SOP: Just so-so. Not in a good mood when writing this stuff, so did not put much effort in it. Emphasized my interest in math, though. Wierd, but that was all in my mind then.
Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, Upenn, Columbia, NYU, UCSD

ypdm 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: A letter containing the details of our offer has been sent via mail.
Notification date: Feb 15
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: Feeling very happy and relieved.

jl8 2011:
Institution: MIT
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Admit
Funding: tuition + 30K stipend
Notification date: 3/9/2011
Notified through: E-mail...actually sent an email this morning to admissions since I had heard nothing. Had assumed implicit rejection.
Posted on GC : no
Comments: a relief (edited: a bit too specific)
Institution: Columbia
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Wait list
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/9/2011
Notified through: E-mail which said it is an unofficial notification.
Posted on GC : No
Comments: Strange email...W/L because they think we won't come due to better offers? Oh well...

oikomaniac 2011:
I am a new member. My results below (all funded offers):
Institution: Stanford GSB
Program: PhD in Finance
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Duke
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Northwestern
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Harvard
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Maryland
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: MIT
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Stanford
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Chicago
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Institution: Columbia
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes

papachara 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. in Economics from unknown Latin-american university
Undergrad GPA: N/A (First place of graduating class)
Type of Grad: M.S. Economics from well-known Latin-american University
Grad GPA: Average: 9.66/10.00 (first of classs)
GRE: 800Q / 570V / 4.0AWA (1st try) 800Q / 600V / 4.0 AWA (2dn try)
Math Courses: Real Analysis I and II (A+), Measure Theory (A+), Topology (A), Convexity and Optimization (A), Dynamic Sistems (A-), Probability (A), Intro to Stochastic Processes.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Microeconomic Theory (A+), Game Theory (A), Macro I and II (A+), Mechanism Design (A), Political Economy, General Equilibrium, Macroeconometrics, Microeconometrics (A-)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro I and II, Macro I and II, IO, International Economics I and II, Growth, Development, Econometrics I and II, Topics in Micro Theory, Topics in Mathematical economics, Monetary, Econometrics I and II, Public Economics. Basically A's and A+'s
Other Courses: Agent-Based modelling
Letters of Recommendation: 1 prof from NYU, 1 from UCLA and 1 from Urbana-champaign (knows me very well and should be an excellent letter)
Research Experience: RA in political economy research for 3 years, thesis in political economy
Teaching Experience: TA in econometrics, microeconomics and computational economics
Research Interests: Micro theory, computational economics and development
SOP: Very short, only 400 words long. No names mentioned and very general ideas.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Princeton ($$$), Yale($$$), Northwestern MECS ($$$), Columbia($$), UPenn($$), BU($$)
Waitlists: None.
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Stanford GSB, Berkeley, .
Pending: NYU (I think this a reject).
What would you have done differently? Not much. Getting into top programs depends on the people writting your LORs, that is why I got into Princeton. Not much to be done about this. If I had really wanted to go to MIT or Harvard I would have had to chose another MA. Conclusion: Good grades and LORs are fundamental.

Elliephant 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: business (Canadian school, econ dept. ranked >100 worldwide)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0 or 3.98/4.0, depending on conversion scheme
Type of Grad: none
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q800, V790, AWA 6.0
Math Courses: calc I-III, linear algebra I-II, applied stats, real analysis I-II (all A or higher)
Econ Courses (grad-level): none
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): intro micro, intro macro, international econ, advanced micro, advanced macro, metrics (all A+); supply-side macro (B+); did a term in China's top econ department (roughly speaking, >85 = A): international trade (90), information econ (91), Chinese development (93), urban and regional econ (98); applied metrics and forecasting (spring); managerial econ (spring)
Other Courses: none relevant
Letters of Recommendation: micro prof (reasonably well-known in IO and a past department chair); research supervisor in Beijing (used to be tenured at UNC, well-connected in health policy); UG director at b-school
Research Experience: summer fellow at an econ think tank in Beijing, one RAship at my home school, two conference presentations of my sole-authored papers
Teaching Experience: TAed micro and business statistics
Research Interests: still fluid; currently economics of human capital (education, health), transition economies, other applied micro
SOP: standard
Concerns: credibility of LORs; insufficient math background; low visibility of UG econ department
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Wharton health, Kellogg MECS, Penn, UMich, Toronto MA, Queen's MA, UBC MA
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, NYU (implicit)
What would you have done differently? If I had known in high school that I wanted this, I would have gone to a better UG school and done a double major in math and econ. However, given my constraints, I'm very happy with my results, and it's entirely possible that I would not have ended up with equally good offers if I'd had the option of slacking off in UG (by being in a better department, say). I'll write up a detailed "lessons learned" thread for applicants from low-ranked UG departments, non-quantitative majors, and internationals without a master's in the next couple of weeks.

econchef 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small Liberal Arts University, Atlantic Canada (Honors Econ, Minor Math)
Undergrad GPA: 3.95 (4.0 Econ) (4.0 Math) (Converted) (top graduate in Econ)
Type of Grad: MA Econ, Queen's University
Grad GPA: 4.0 (Converted) (top graduate)
GRE: 800Q 570V 5.5AW
Math Courses: calculus (I,II,III), linear algebra, ODE, Discrete, Intro Stats, History of Math, Intro to Game Theory (All A or higher)
Econ Courses (grad): Micro, Macro , Econometrics, Resource, Applied Econometrics, Research Problems and Methodology, Empirical Micro (All 90%+)
Econ Courses (u/g): Adv Micro, Adv Macro, Uncertainty and Strategy (Adv Micro II), Econometrics (full-year), All intermediates and Intros, a bunch field courses (All A or Higher)
Letters of Recommendation: All positive, 2 full professors (1 resource econ, very well established; 1 applied time series), 1 associate professor (gaining a big rep in time series), I supplement with three other profs who know me well at universities where they have contacts.
Research Experience: master's essay, summer research paper in u/g, Internship at Inter-American Development Bank (Poverty Research / HH Exp'd Surveys), 3 applied metrics courses in Grad, very strong STATA programming skills and LATEX knowledge
Teaching Experience: Taught tutorials for principles (Micro and Macro) for 2 years in u/g; environmental econ and principles macro at Queen's
Research Interests: Econometrics, Labor, Education
Concerns: Could have taken more math; Small unknown undergrad
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Berkeley ($$$), Princeton ($$$), BU ($$), U Toronto ($$$), Queen's ($$$), Chicago (3rd year)
Waitlists: MIT, U Penn, U Mich
Rejections: Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, NYU, Yale, Columbia
What would you have done differently? Well if I had a time machine, I would have gone back to the start of first year and convinced myself not to take any political science courses in second year and instead replace them all with math courses. I also might have convinced myself that I should have taken more math in fourth year instead of taking basic sciences for med school (I applied and got in but decided to continue with econ grad school). The only other thing I might have changed regarding my record with said time machine would have been to write my MA essay on a time series theory topic as opposed to one in applied micro but I'll be honest these wouldn't be the first things I would do with a time machine. Perhaps with those changes I might have had a better shot at Harvard but there's always some noise in the dgp so who knows. Overall, I'm very excited by my results and can't wait to visit my top two offers.

LAecon 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: International Student, Joint Econ and Math + Computer Science double major at a top US Econ PhD granting school. (Transferred in Junior Year from no name east coast business school)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA:N/A
GRE: 790 Q, 590 V, 3.5 AWA / 740 Q, 610 V, 3.0 AWA
Math Courses: At business school: Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Calc I-III, Intro to Prob and Statistics (All A's). At PhD school: Analysis I (A), Probability and Statistics (B), Topology (A), Scientific Computing (A), Analysis II (Current Semester)
Econ Courses: At business school: Intro Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro/Macro, Money and Banking (All A's). At PhD School: Intro to Econometrics (A-), Public Econ (A), Africa in the world Economy (A), International Econ (A), Advanced Macroeconomics and Finance (A).
Other Courses: Whole Computer Science Major (As(, Plus Honors Thesis (A and Current Semester)
Letters of Recommendation: Great (I expect) one from a really well known economist who I've taken classes and worked for. Great one from political scientist I've worked for and are currently trying to get a paper published with. I have no idea one from the chair of my department who didn't know me that well.
Research Experience: Worked the whole summer for my main letter writter, a really well known economist, also for my number two letter, will end up coauthoring a paper with him. Writing my own honors thesis.
Teaching Experience: Nothing.
Research Interests: Macro, DSGE, Finance, Development and International.
SOP: Pretty bland, just changed Universities and sometimes faculty I'm interested in. One page and a half. Actually sent a couple in with a small grammatical mistake. Talked about my research experiences, a little bit about my interests, and about my thesis.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UPenn ($$$), Minn ($$$), UCLA ($$), Duke ($$$).
Waitlists: Carnegie Mellon
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Northwestern, Chicago, Booth, Stanford GSB, Brown, NYU, Princeton, Stern and Yale.
Pending:
What would you have done differently?
The only thing in my opinion that could have gotten me into higher ranked places in my opinion would have been to get a better third letter of recommendation, which is something that I could have done in my department in retrospect; or a master's abroad. This last one IMO, is not worth my time, as I got into great schools.
I will make a post in the Getting into PhD's from low ranked schools thread, but I hope my example here shows that if you care about the two years you will invest in a masters and will not get funding, if you have the grades try to transfer to a department with a good PhD. From my previous department I wouldn't have been able to enter a top 50 place. My money / time was better invested in an undergrad where access to great economists is commonplace.

tcttc 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: University in China ranked between 3-5. Econ department is not so famous.
Undergrad GPA: 3.79 overall, 3.92 last 2 years
Type of Grad: Master of economics in US university with top 20 econ department
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: V640+Q800+AW3.5
Math Courses (undergrad-level): calculus, linear algebra, ODE, probability, statistics, complex analysis, functions of real variables, stochastic process, intro to topology, abstract algebra, measure theory, numeric analysis, dynamic programming
Math Courses (grad-level): measure and probability, linear models, Functional analysis
Econ Courses (PhD-level): RA for economists , Micro 1 & 2, metrics 1,2, Metrics 3.a & b
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): primary + intermediate micro, macro and metrics sequence, several math econ courses
Other Courses: Finance 1 in B-school
Letters of Recommendation: 1 young Associate professor from UCSD (know me quite well, took class with him),
1 new hired assistant professor from Northwestern (took class with him and get an A+),
1 young associate professor from Univ of Florida (took class with him and get an A),
1 senior full professor from Harvard (my director, know me well, work with him).
None of my references are famous economists. But they are all very kind persons. Two of them think I am strong. I didn't talk with the other two too much.
Research Experience:1. undergraduate thesis (excellent thesis award),
2. 2 course projects in my first year in US.
3. worked with my director on a conference project. And finally he converted it to a working paper and put my name on it. not published and not theoretical. I feel very grateful for him to put my name on it but I didn't talk it too much in my sop.
4. Now RAing for a professor in Law school. mainly coding in R and run all kinds of regressions.
Teaching Experience:none in english, undergraduate metrics in Chinese
Research Interests: metrics theory
SOP: Pretty good I guess. Although my AW is low, I ask for help from my friend who is good at writing proposals and my directors.
Concerns: Low AW, funding
Others: TOEFL 110
Applying to: (all econ PhD) USC, U Washington, UC Davis, UT Austin, BU, Duke, NYU, Berkeley, Stanford, Northwestern, UCSD, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT
Results:
Acceptances: Duke($$), BU(waitlisted for 1st year/$$ from 2nd year), UT Austin($$), USC($$$),UC Davis(?), U Washington Seatle(asked about my other offers, then withdrew),
Rejections: NYU, Berkeley, Stanford, Northwestern, UCSD, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT.

blinvisible 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BCom/BSc (Hons) Australian university. Honours in maths.
Undergrad GPA: 3.93 equiv - 89% average.
GRE: 800Q, 650V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: subjects in calculus, linear algebra, real and complex analysis, topology, measure theory, functional analysis, abstract algebra, probability, statistics, stochastic calculus and processes, partial differential equations
Courses (PhD-level): probability, measure theory, functional analysis, statistics
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to micro/macro, Inter macro/micro, metrics, topics in micro, game theory
Other Courses: operations research, finance, history and philosophy of science
Letters of Recommendation: Maths prof and thesis supervisor, Econ prof (BU), Statistics prof (UMN). All enthusiastic I presume.
Research Experience: Honours thesis in probability/statistics, summer RA work in statistics
Teaching Experience: Calculus and probability for 2 years
Research Interests: Decision theory, mechanism design, market design
SOP: There was one.
Concerns: My application was non-standard in enough dimensions that it was difficult to get comparisons. I had the minimal econ background, unusual LsOR and a few years since completing undergraduate study. I had no idea what to expect.
Other: 3 years working between finishing uni and application
RESULTS:
Attending: Duke-Fuqua (Decision Sciences)
Acceptances: Duke-Fuqua (Decision Sciences)
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Caltech, Wisconsin-Madison, U Penn, Stanford GSB (EA&P), Kellogg (MECS)
Waitlisted: Minnesota, Princeton
What would you have done differently? During the admissions process not much... This forum is a great resource and lurking here helped me avoid many mistakes I may otherwise have made.
A few years back I would have attempted to forge stronger relationships with professors. This would have helped me both figure out what I wanted to do earlier as well as potentially provided the elusive RA/letter of recommendation opportunity. As it was, I didn't realise that I liked real (as opposed to undergraduate) economics until my final semester and did not take the classes I could have.

kipfilet 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics, top school in small European country
Undergrad GPA: 18/20, converted to 4.0/4.0, top of my class
Type of Grad: MPhil in Economics in progress (2 year Masters including 1st year PhD coursework)
Grad GPA: 19/20, converted to 4.0/4.0
GRE: Q800, V710, AWA 5.0
Math Courses: Calc I (already includes some intro real analysis and lots of proofs), Calc II (multivariate calc, topology, lots of optimisation), Linear Algebra, Math I (difference eqns, dynamic programming, discrete-time optimization), Math II (differential eqns, optimal control), Advanced Math (advanced topology and real analysis, measure theory, correspondence theory). All A's
Econ Courses (grad-level): Full Macro and Micro sequences, lots of random trimester courses (game theory I and II, time series, microeconometrics, energy economics, etc), all A's.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Lots of them. In my country, programs are not flexible at all. We spend 3 years being bombed with economics courses just about everything.
Other Courses: some Law, Finance and History courses. Two seminars on European Union institutions.
Letters of Recommendation: My thesis advisor and three assistant professors who know me well I guess (was a student and worked/working in projects with all of them).
Research Experience: Summer internship at a Ministry, applied macro research; lots of minor projects; macroeconometric paper with two colleagues; co-authoring an empirical paper; my MPhil thesis (in progress) is supposed to be one of the three papers one usually writes for a PhD.
Teaching Experience: twice TA (lecturer) for Multivariate Calc, twice TA (lecturer) for intermediate macro (all undergrad)
Research Interests: Macro: monetary economics, DSGE's, asset pricing. Also interested in behavioural.
SOP: Pretty standard, not customised at all. I actually sent the same SOP to ALL schools, only changing their name.
Concerns: Coming from a school that is virtually unknown in the US (and better known as a business school in Europe), no letter of recommendation from a senior professor.
Other: TOEFL 119, Erasmus in a well-known university in the Netherlands.
RESULTS
Acceptances: Minnesota ($$$), UPenn ($$$), LSE (), Oxford (MPhil, no ), Columbia ($$$), Chicago (no $), Northwestern (no$ 1st year), NYU($$$)
Waitlists: UCLA (rej), MIT (rej), Northwestern (acc), NYU (acc)
Rejections: Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, UCLA, MIT.
Attending: NYU
What would you have done differently?
Not much, I think. I regret not having asked a letter of recommendation from a well-known professor at my university whom I later discovered to be rather willing to write it (I had never worked for him). Not asking any senior prof for a letter of recommendation was a huge risk I took, and I only discovered the value of seniority much later (i.e. after having discovered TM). My 2nd year MPhil grades (1st year PhD courses) have been rather good so far, and my thesis is going really well (my apologies for not being very humble in this aspect), so I guess I could have a stronger profile if I decided to apply next year. Anyway, I'm not going to cry over it, as I'm already ecstatic with my outcome! This was an extremely long and stressful process, and I'm really glad that it has come to a happy ending. See you all in the job market!

chisquared 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BBM Quantitative Finance and BSc Economics. Small university in SE Asia.
Undergrad GPA: 3.92/4.00
Type of Grad: MSc Applicable Mathematics, LSE
Grad GPA: In Progress
GRE: 800Q, 660V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (A-), Real Analysis (A-), Intermediate Mathematics for Economics (A+), Advanced Mathematics for Economics (A), Stochastic Calculus (A), Numerical Analysis (A), Probability Theory and Statistical Inference (A-), Continuous Time Optimization (Grad, IP), Probability and Measure (Grad, IP), Stochastic Analysis (Grad, IP)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Advanced Microeconomics (IP)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Microeconomics (A+), Intermediate Macroeconomics (A-), International Economics (A+), Economics of Financial Intermediation (A+), Applied Econometrics (A), Economic Development in Asia (A)
Other Courses: A lot of other business and finance courses. A few courses in psychology, sociology and political science.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Stanford PhD, 1 Berkeley PhD, 1 Harvard PhD, 2 UPenn PhDs distributed over different schools. All supposedly good letters.
Research Experience: Undergraduate thesis in political economy (A-), a few research assistantships
Teaching Experience: A few terms as a teaching assistant
Research Interests: micro theory, game theory, financial economics, political economy
SOP: Standard
Concerns: Unknown undergrad institution. Limited (read: almost none) placement history. Unknown letter of recommendation credibility.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: LSE ($$$, initially on a waiting list for funding), Michigan (off the waiting list, $$), BU ($$, initially on a waiting list for first-year funding)
Rejections: Tons. Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Chicago, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern (Kellogg MEDS), UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Caltech, UCSD (actually, I never heard from them. Should probably send them an angry email.), Chicago Booth, Stanford GSB, Wharton, Minnesota
Withdrawn:
Attending: LSE
What would you have done differently?
It's hard to say, really. A few ideas, though:
(i) Work harder on my senior thesis. Winning the senior thesis prize may have helped me sneak on to a few more waiting lists.
(ii) Write a more interesting SOP. It probably wouldn't help much, but it just might matter on the margin, and it's hard to say where I was or wasn't a marginal candidate exactly (at least, for the schools ranked just above where I was admitted. I'm only kidding myself by trying to claim I could have been a marginal candidate at Harvard/MIT.).
(iii) Done more undergrad field courses in econ. This would help me write a more interesting SOP, I guess, since it would give me more research ideas. This would mean that I'd have to drop one of my majors, or not do a senior thesis, though. I'm not sure I would be willing to do the former ex-ante, nor the latter ex-post.
(iv) Tried to go on exchange at the one top 10 department my undergrad had an exchange program with. Someone from my undergrad did this, and it seemed to have helped her out a lot this admissions season. That being said, that entails the same kind of tradeoffs that I mentioned in (iii), so I'm not sure I'd do this if I could do everything over again.
(v) Worked really hard on my MSc, graduate with distinction, and apply for admission in fall 2012 instead. I may still consider this, in fact.
(vi) Considered schools that I was applying to more carefully. While I don't think I'd have applied to fewer schools, there are some programs (PSU, CEMFI, Toulouse) I wish I applied to after all the deadlines were over but before the admissions results were released. While I wouldn't have gone to any of those aforementioned programs over any of the options I had, this may have been a wiser decision ex-ante (even if I may be out a few hundred dollars ex-post).

SubEffect 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 US liberal arts college.
Undergrad GPA: overall 3.89, with about the same in econ/math and a strong upwards trend since freshman year
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800 Q 720V 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Modeling (A), Math Stats I (A), Math Stats II (A), Differential Equations (A), Data Analysis (A), Real Analysis (B+), Topics in Analysis: Dynamical Systems (A+), Senior Research Project (A) [freshman year: Honors Linear Algebra (P), Honors Multivariable Calc (B)]
Econ Courses (PhD-level): NA
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (A), Advanced Micro (A/A-), Intermediate Econometrics (B+), Adv Econometrics (A), Polit Econ of Africa (A), Economic Development (A+/A), Public Policy Evaluation (A), Experimental Economics (A+), Behavioral Economics (A), Senior Research Project (A+), [freshman year: Int. Macro (A-), International Polit Econ. (A-)]
Other Courses: Nothing too useful, except for Comp Sci (A+).
Letters of Recommendation: 1) prof with MIT PhD, took two high level classes with and talked a lot about research ideas; 2) assistant prof with Berkeley PhD, did independent research and took three classes with; 3) prof at top policy school who I worked for. From my NSF feedback, it sounds like they were all good, though the ones from my undergrad profs were probably stronger.
Research Experience: JPAL field RA for a year; RA for a prof at a top 5 econ for a summer; did independent research project with a prof at my school; thesis for my math major, which won best paper award in department; separate thesis-like econ paper, which won best paper award in my department
Teaching Experience: TA for Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Econometrics
Research Interests: Development, Behavioral, Auctions, tons of different applied micro topics
Statement of purpose: Probably fine.
Other: Can't think of anything
RESULTS:
Attending: Yale
Acceptances: NSF, Yale ($$, off waitlist), Berkeley ($, off waitlist), Cornell ($), Brown ($)
Waitlists: MIT, Chicago Booth, Columbia
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, NYU
What would you have done differently? I spent a long time thinking about this, especially the painful stretch between the first wait list and getting the NSF. My school has had really good placement in the past, and my profs had been pretty excited about my chances at top 5 schools, so letting them down was a bit of a bummer. With another year at JPAL, especially at the Cambridge office, or taking real analysis 2 to get the A , maybe I could have been a contender at M/H? Still, I'm pretty eager to start working on my own research, so wouldn't have wanted to take more time off beforehand; this also lets me be near my girlfriend, which is a high priority. The one thing I would change is to apply to more business PhD programs, but Yale was my third choice behind the Cambridge schools, so I am very happy to be going there. Since they do a lot of behavioral/dev combined, it might even be a better fit for my interests than the others.
A couple of people have asked for advice on the NSF. It didn't end up helping me too much with admission (since Yale would have worked out anyway), so I feel kind of bad getting it when it might have helped someone else, but it did get me into Berkeley. Jeeves and others have a lot of good things to say, so I'll just focus on three things.
First, working at JPAL/doing a proposal on development topics is clearly a huge advantage. JPAL produced at least 200f the NSF's this year, which is just absurd. All three my reviewers mentioned it, and two included it in their comments on both intellectual merit and broader impacts. Second, don't be bashful about multiple applications. I put out feelers in a proposal last year, and the comments were extremely helpful in succeeding this time around. Even if you're rushing to finish it, you'll be able to get a sense of what they think of your idea. Third, just follow their criteria for broader impacts. In your personal statement, you can dedicate a paragraph to each one individually; make their lives easier in checking off excellent for each one. Non-econ related things, such as tutoring or mentoring other students is looked upon favorably, especially if you plan to continue doing so. Also, make sure to devote some substantial part of your research proposal to broader impacts, they look for that too: I had the final half page be just about ways that my proposal could be broadly applied. If you can tie in broader impacts in any way, do it.

gkhn 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad:Econ (one of the top state universities in my country) and Math
Undergrad GPA:Econ CGPA:4/4, math CGPA:3.86/4
Type of Grad:n/a
Grad GPA:n/a
GRE:780Q 550V AWA(3.5)(rescore 3.0),First try was 760Q 530V 3.5 AWA
Math Courses:Calculus 1-2,Advanced Calc.1-2(all AA except Adv. calculus 1 CB) linear algebra 1-AA,Basic linear algebra AA,Differential equations AA, Real Analysis BA,point set topology(AA),Lebesgue Integral(AA)
Econ Courses (grad-level):n/a
Econ Courses (undergrad-level):Mathematical economics 1-2,intermediate macro,micro, Mathematical statistics for economist 1-2,Intro to Econometrics 1-2,International Trade courses(1-2),and other standard courses all AA
Other Courses:-
Letters of Recommendation:1 from stanford phd,1 from upenn phd,1 from university of manchester.
Research Experience:No experience.
Teaching Experience:TA-intermediate micro,and econometrics
Research Interests:Micro theory,Game theory,Mechanism design
SOP:ordinary.I described my research interests and some papers I appreciate.
Concerns:GRE score,and no research experience.
Other:
RESULTS:
Attending: Minnesota
Acceptances: Toulouse M2(ecomath)($$), UBC MA($$), CEMFI($$),
Waitlists: UCLA(rej), Uminnesota($$,eventually)
Rejections: Yale, MIT, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Northwestern(on hold,rej afterwards), Upenn, JHU
Comments:
(i) I do not know which school got which GRE score as I rescored my AW, and ETS did not send my second scores to some places.(UCLA got my first try scores).In the nutshell, I can say that GRE destroyed me completely. First, my classmate with less stellar math grades, similar econ grades got into places where I was wait-listed. In such a case, it is important to make yourself known to DGS. After an inquiry regarding my rejection, UMN put me on short-list for admission(they said they had made a clerical mistake). Northwestern put my application on hold for a while although I was rejected eventually. So, GRE myth is true in some sense.
(ii) For internationals, having a master's degree is very important. This is what I heard from the ad-com member working at Top10 after his seminar.
(iii) Initially, my plan was to apply only top places and master programs in order to have a chance to strengthen my profile for the next cycle. However, this process turns out to be too long and stressful. For this reason, I avoided attending master program to improve my profile.

HealthEconGirl 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Econ from top-30 U.S. university
Undergrad GPA: 3.76 / 4.0, magna cum laude
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q800, V720, AW5.5
Math Courses: Calc I&II (AP), Multivariable Calc (A), Diff Equ (A), Intro to Proofs (A), Upper-level Probability Theory (A), Lin Alg (A), Intro to Analysis (A-)
Econ Courses (grad-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Regular econ major courses (mostly A's, one B+ and one B), IO (B+), African Development (A-), Econ Reforms and Corruption (A-), Pol Econ of Growth, Redistribution and Poverty (A-), Intermediate Econometrics (A), Senior thesis seminar (A)
Letters of Recommendation: Senior thesis advisor (Columbia Ph.D.), one Assoc Prof (Foreign Ph.D.), one Epidemiologist (Berkeley Ph.D.), one former supervisor
Research Experience: Senior thesis, RA for epidemiologist since August 2010, Paid Internship where I basically do standard RA work (data cleaning, analysis) since June 2010
Teaching Experience: none really, but LORs talked about my potential for teaching
Research Interests: economics of global health, specifically HIV and sexual behavior in developing countries
SOP: Highlighted my senior thesis, significant time working in a developing country, and well defined research interests; customized to each school
Concerns: While I have extensive work experience that is relevant, it's not the standard econ RA work; no graduate econ classes despite being in a research univ.
RESULTS:
Attending: UCSD
Acceptances: UCSD ($), UBC ($$$)
Waitlists: U Mich (Withdrawn), UCLA (Withdrawn)
Withdrawn: BU, U Toronto
Rejections: UC Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Harvard, MIT, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Duke, UPenn, UMD College Park, NSF (Honorable Mention)
Comments:
Overall, I am very pleased with this result. Even though I had a lot of rejections (and that was hard), you only need one good admit, and I am extremely excited about UCSD. I applied to all of the top ten on the advice of my undergrad advisor, but I knew that cracking the top ten was a long shot.
The best thing I did was apply for the NSF GRFP. The application process, and particularly the process of developing a research proposal, really helped me crystallize my objectives and research interests, and I believe the experience made my SOPs that much stronger.
Taking my choice of undergrad institution, GPA, GRE, and work experience as given, there isn't much I would have done differently. However, writing the SOPs took me much, much longer than I expected. If I could do it again, I would start drafting SOPs over the summer.
A note about my LORs: a lot of people say that LORs from non-economists are useless. But I decided to go with an letter of recommendation from an epidemiologist who is extremely well know both within and outside her field, knows me really well, has a good sense for my research ability, and wrote me a glowing recommendation. I believe that if they are relevant to your research interests, LORs from disciplines that are close to econ, such as math, poli sci, or epidemiology, can be acceptable, and may even be preferable to letters from econ profs who barely know you.
I'm so glad the waiting is over!

beeconomist 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Math and Economics double major at Maryland
Undergrad GPA: 3.9 overall, 4.0 math, 3.7 economics
GRE: 770Q, 730V, AWA 4.5
Math Courses: Calc II (A+), Calc III (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Differential Equations (A), Intro to Analysis (A), Number theory (A), Probability and Statistics (A), Advanced Calculus (A-), Math of Finance (A), Stochastic Processes (A), Advanced Calculus II (A), Advanced Linear Algebra (A) , Numerical Analysis (IP)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A-), Intro Macro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Econometrics I (A+), Development (A), Honors Thesis I (A), Risk and Uncertainty in Economics (IP), Mathematical Economics (IP), Econometrics II (IP), Honors Thesis II (IP)
Other Courses: C Programming (A), Writing for Economics (A+)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 very strong from assistant professor I've RA'd for a year and a half, 1 very strong from distinguished professor I've RA'd for a year, 1 semi-strong from professor who is director of the econ honors thesis program
Research Experience: RA for macro professor (1 and a half years), RA for environmental economics professor (1 year), received a grant to complete a math research project, 2 summer research programs for women in mathematics, honors thesis
Teaching Experience: Tutored math for a semester
Research Interests: When I applied, it was macro. Now I'm interested in learning more about public, health, environmental, and agricultural and food policy.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Maryland (graduate assistantship), NYU (fellowship), Penn (waitlist for funding), UVA (fellowship), Duke (1st year tuition), GW (fellowship)
Waitlists: Columbia, Johns Hopkins
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, UNC, Georgetown
Attending: Maryland

ggoofer 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Econ, Math at Non-HYP Ivy
Undergrad GPA: 3.89 overall, 3.94 Math, 3.97 Econ (out of 4)
GRE: 790 Q, 660 V, 4.5 AWA
Math Courses (undergrad level): Baby Linear Algebra (A+), Multivariable Calc (A), Honors Analysis (A), Linear Algebra (A-), Honors Algebra (A-), Topology (A), Stochastic Processes (A+)
Math Courses (grad level): Measure Theory (A+), Applied Functional Analysis (A), Algebra (A), Probability (A), Topics in Group Theory (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad level): Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Prob & Stat (A+), Intro to Econometrics (A+), Money and Banking (A-), Financial Economics (A+), Game Theory (A), Intertemporal Economics (A+), Trade (A+)
Econ Courses (grad level): Micro I (A), Micro II (A), Decision Theory II (A+), Contract Theory (in prog)
Other Courses: Stochastic Calculus for Finance (A-)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ, 1 math. I know these people well. Expecting strong letters.
Research Experience: Econ, none worth mentioning. Spent a summer working on finite group theory with a math prof here. Learned how much I hate group theory.
Teaching Experience: TAing is not allowed. I have done a lot of tutoring for the department since sophomore year.
Research Interests: Micro theory topics
SOP: Weak. Did not spend much time.
RESULTS:
Attending: Northwestern
Acceptances: Northwestern ($$$$), Berkeley ($$), Princeton ($$$), Yale ($$$$), UMN ($), Cornell ($$$)
Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Penn, Chicago
What would you have done differently? Not much really. Very happy with my results. I should have spent more time on my SOP probably. Wish I could have gotten econ research in somehow, but it is borderline impossible to get anything that is not applied/data monkey work (and any theory stuff you do yourself e.g. for thesis most likely sucks). Also would have stopped taking undergrad econ courses a lot sooner. Most are a waste of time.

barkles 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. double major in Mathematics and Economics from large public US university (top 15 econ)
Undergrad GPA: 3.80 - will graduate summa cum laude
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA:
GRE: 770Q/630V/4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Lin. Algebra and Diff. Eqs. Applied Linear Algebra, Real Analysis I & II, Abstract Algebra I & II, Probability and Statistics I & II, Topology, Stochastic Processes (gpa ~ 3.80)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): 4 intro courses, International Trade, Financial Economics, Econometrics, Game Theory, Industrial Organization, Cost-Benefit Analysis (IP), Macroeconomic Policy (IP) (gpa = 4.00)
Other Courses: 1 class in C++ programming
Letters of Recommendation: 2 econ profs, one senior faculty who I took a course with and one junior faculty who I'm doing research with right now, plus a math professor who is my adviser for my honors thesis and who I did a bunch of research for.
Research Experience: Did research in the math department (at first just to do it, ended up being the material for my honors thesis) for a professor at my school. We will try to get the work published eventually; we're working on a draft right now. Also am an RA for an economics professor which began right before I started applying.
Teaching Experience: Just some tutoring, nothing major. Didn't mention it on any apps
Research Interests: Macro (?) Really don't know actually.
SOP: Pretty standard I think. I didn't feel that great about it, but my letter of recommendation writers said they thought it was strong FWIW
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Carnegie Mellon ($$$), UCSD($), UIUC ($$), Iowa ($$), UPitt($$)
Waitlists: Wisconsin*, Princeton (later rejected)
Rejections: MIT, Yale, Northwestern, NYU, Michigan, Rochester
Attending: Carnegie Mellon University
*Based on my short email conversations with the department, I believe I would have been made an offer if I had still been interested. However, I was pretty set on CMU at that point and asked them to withdraw me from their waitlist.
What would you have done differently?
I think there are two main things that hindered me from breaking the top 10. The first was my relatively low GRE quant score of 770. I only took the test once, and by the time I realized that the median accepted student had an 800 GRE Q score at basically every school I was applying to it was too late to try to retake it. The second thing was a couple of mediocre math scores that could easily have been higher: a B in topology and a B+ in Abstract Algebra II. I took both of these spring semester of my junior year, and for some reason I decided to go into mega-slacking mode right before finals. Here's a continuous bijection for you: finals: A -> B. Wah wah. Those were the two biggest "warning flags" on my transcript I think; if I could go back and change any two grades, those would be the ones.
I also wish I would have taken a couple of grad school classes, either in math or in econ. Undergraduate econ classes are for the most part mind-numbingly boring in my experience, with only precious few exceptions.
Overall, though, I'm perfectly happy with my results and with the prospect of attending Carnegie Mellon in the fall.

ryanmagic 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Rank 3 University in China (Fudan), B.A. of econonmics, with one semester exchange experience in UC Davis.
Undergrad GPA: 3.57 in Fudan, top 10%; 4.0 in UC Davis (courses with * below).
Type of Grad: N/A.
Grad GPA: N/A.
GRE: 800Q 540V 3.0 AWA, TOEFL 105.
Math Courses: Advanced Math (differential calculus, integrals, a little differential equations)(B&A-), Linear Algebra(B+), Probability Theory(A), Statistics(A-).
Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Political Economics(A), Micro(A), Macro(B+), International Trade(B+), History of Economic Thoughts(A), Econometrics(A+*), Macro Development(A*), Money and Banking(A+*), Financial Management(A-), Industrial Economics(A), Investment(B), Economic History of China(A), Accounting(B), Contemporary Chinese Economy(B+), Theory on Capital(C+).
Other Courses: C programming(A).
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from UC Davis, 1 from Fudan.
Research Experience: RA for a term, one independent project and one team project in progress.
Teaching Experience: Representative for a course.
Research Interests: Labor, Development, IO.
SOP: So so.
Other: Awarded the National Scholarship in China (for top 1tudents).
RESULTS:
Acceptances: BU MA, UC Davis ARE MS.
Waitlists:
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Cornell, Duke, CMU, Rochester, Maryland, Berkeley AREC, BU, JHU, UC Davis, Georgetown, U Colorado - Boulder, UC Davis ARE PhD.
Pending: Syracuse, Columbia QMSS.
What would you have done differently?
I would apply to Canadian master programs, Duke master and Tufts master.

mallikagarg 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics from top Indian University
Undergrad GPA: N/A
Major GPA: N/A
Type of Grad: MA Economics from mid ranked Indian University
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q 790 V 640 A 3.5;
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Math for economists, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis, Statistical methods and probability, Differential Equations, Advanced multi-variable calculus.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Econometrics, Game Theory, International Trade, Industrial economics and investment analysis, International Banking and Finance, Development Economics
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro I & II, Macro, Public Finance, Money and Baning, Economic History, Comparitive economic development, Development Economics, Economic Systems
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from grad quant prof, 1 from grad econometric prof, 1 from a well known economist i've RAd with.
Research Experience: one year's experience as an RA
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Applied Microeconomics, Industrial Organisation
SOP: Nothing out of the world
Concerns: Inadequate research experience, no publications, inadequate math courses, unknown Graduate university, unknown recommenders.
Applied to: MIT, stanford GSB, Chicago, Texas (Austin), Texas A&M, UIUC, Rice, Vanderbilt, USC, MSU, UCR, UVA, Clemson, Colorado at Boulder
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Clemson ($$); Colorado (Without funding)
Rejections: MIT, stanford GSB, Chicago, Texas (Austin), Texas A&M, UIUC, Rice, Vanderbilt, USC, MSU, UCR, UVA
Attending: Clemson
What would you have done differently?
With my kind of background, I am happy to have made it to where I did. Though, I guess I should not have targeted so high. I could have got better results had I applied to more schools in the 30-60 range and completely skipped the top 15.

tsimonoce 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Joint (not double) Math / Econ major - Top 15 for Econ.
Undergrad GPA: 3.70 Cumulative, 3.96 in Econ, 3.63 in Math.
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800q / 610v / 4.5awa
Math Courses: LOWER DIV: Calc 1-3 and DiffEq taken in HS. Vector Calc (B), Linear Algebra (B). UPPER DIV: Probability (B), Stochastic Processes (B), Statistics (A-), Math Reasoning (A-), Analysis 1 (A+), Analysis 2 (A+), Applied Linear Algebra (A).
Econ Courses: Micro 1 (A+), Micro 2 (A), Micro 3 (A+), Macro 1 (A+), Macro 2 (A-), Metrics (A), Game Theory (A+), Micro Research Class (A), Grad Micro (IP), Senior Thesis (IP).
Letters of Recommendation: All three got PhDs from Stanford and I did research with. 2 really well-known and one assistant prof.
Research Experience: Small Micro class research, independent research project over summer (with a prof), and Senior Thesis.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro - especially Game Theory / Contract Theory
Concerns: Feeling pretty good
Other: All 3 letter of recommendation writers think I will crack top 5.
Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford GSB, Stanford Econ, Berkeley, Chicago, Northwestern, Yale, U Penn, NYU, Michigan, UCLA, UCSD, Wisconsin, NSF.

anfield 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 Liberal Arts College. Big econ department for a school of its size (but i have no clue about its research reputation though). Econ and Math double major.
Undergrad GPA: 3.69 overall, 3.93 Math, 3.83 Econ
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: None
GRE: 800Q 620V 4AWA
Math Courses: Calc 2, Calc 3, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, Abstract Algebra, Probability (all As), Topology (A-), taking now: Numerical Analysis, Real Analysis, Differential Equations (I expect As, or at least A-)
Econ Courses (grad-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), Labor Economics (A), Applied Econometrics (B+), International Econ I (A), International Econ II (A-), British Economy (A-), European Economy (A-)
Other Courses: A bunch of liberal arts type of courses (but not relevant to economics by any means).
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ Prof (one is my thesis advisor and one I RA'ed for a year), 1 Math Prof.
All are senior professors and sort of the most known within my school. I think the two Econ recs will be good, but the Math one is questionable.
Research Experience: 1 year RA for Econ prof in labor, and doing my honors thesis in labor as well.
Teaching Experience: Tutor some Maths for Calc students, but does that count?
Research Interests: Labor and Development
SOP: Just typical I guess, I talked about how I developed my research interests.
Concerns: Low grade in Econometrics (one of my letter of recommendation writer said she would address that in her letter, but that's my only hope)
Other: I definitely need funding in order to attend.
Applying to: Far Reach: MIT, Michigan, NYU, Columbia, Yale, Princeton
Less Reach: Maryland, BU, WUSTL, Penn State, Brown, Duke
Realistic: BC, UVA, Canergie Mellon

thesparky 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Econ with honours, top 4 Canadian
Undergrad GPA: ~3.9X/4.0 (converted)
Type of Grad: none
Grad GPA: -
GRE: 800Q 650V 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III (A-, A, A+), Honours Linear Algebra (A-), Proofs (A), ODE (A+), Probability (A+), Stochastic Processes (A+)
Econ Courses: Inter. Micro I-II (A, A+), Inter. Macro I-II (A-, A-), Stats-Metrics (A+, A+, A+), Development Econ (A+), Game Theory (A+, A+), Human Behaviour (grad; A+), Honours Thesis (A, A), Math Econ (A, A)
Other Courses: some commerce courses (As), some relevant non-econ courses (A, A+), several unofficial grad course audits
Letters of Recommendation: econ/psych prof; current boss (well known); econometrics prof
Research Experience: A couple of directed studies (A+s), thesis, some years RA for first letter of recommendation writer, currently full-time RA for second letter of recommendation writer.
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: Behavioural econ
SOP: Its a statement of purpose alright.
Concerns: No real analysis. Oh well.
Other: Had a SSHRC (Canadian NSF) last year.
Applying to: Some top 5 (with B-schools) and a few others

liamc 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics (Quant. Track), Top 30 liberal arts college, minors in Math & CogSci
Undergrad GPA: 3.77
GRE: 800Q 730V 4.0AWA
Math Courses: Honors Calc I-II (A+), Honors Calc III (A-), Honors Lin Alg (A), Probability (A), Real Analysis I (A), Real Analysis II (A-), Mathematical Neuroscience (A), Grad Analysis (B+), Statistics (IP)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro Theory I (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Inter. Micro Theory (A+), Quant. Inter Micro Theory (A-), Statistics (B), Quant. Econometrics (A-), Quant. Game Theory (A), Behavioral Economics Seminar (A), Senior Honors Thesis (IP)
Other Courses: Newton's Principia (A)
Letters of Recommendation: All (supposedly) strong from thesis advisor and econ professor, both somewhat famous, and well-known math professor
Research Experience: Worked in a psych lab 2+ years, presented posters at conferences. Did a theory paper independently and presented it at a conference this year.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Game Theory, Neuroeconomics
SOP: Bold statement of an ambitious research project, and general ode to the economics profession
Concerns: Not looking forward to moving
Other:
Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley, Northwestern U, Brown, CalTech, Cornell, Duke, Wash U St Louis, BU, BC

zorro12 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Group of 8 Australia
Double Major: Economics / Mathematics
Undergrad GPA: 3.79 (converted)
Exchange GPA: 3.33 (top 10 economics)
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 790Q 660V 4.0AW; 770Q 690V 4.0AW
Math Courses: calculus, linear algebra, optimisation theory, discrete mathematics, ODEs, PDEs, applied mathematics
Econ Courses: micro (up to 4th yr), macro (up to 4th yr), econometrics (up to 4th yr), game theory, law and economics, industrial org, international finance
Letters of Recommendation: I assume they will be positive
Research Experience: honours thesis
Teaching Experience: 1st year micro and macro
Research Interests: micro, game theory
Concerns: (1) If I'd seen the results forums from last year before I'd applied I would have applied to some lower ranked universities. (2) Exchange GPA. (3) 770 on the quant section of my 2nd attempt at the GRE.
Applying to: Berkeley, Brown, CalTech, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, MIT, Northwestern, NYU, Princeton, Stanford, UCSD, UIllinois, UPenn, WUSTL, Yale
Comments: Implicit rejection from CalTech

Econ1012011 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 U.S. Liberal Arts College. Well-respected Econ Dept but some difficulty placing people into PhDs in recent years, perhaps b/c of lack of grad classes to take and failure to keep pace with big U.S. universities and foreign universities in their emphasis on math in undergrad econ curriculum.
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
Type of Grad: M.Sc., top ten European program. 1 year of coursework, no thesis, didn't do as much of the PhD core theory sequence as I should have.
Grad GPA: 8.4/10.
GRE: 800 Q / 800 V / 6.0 W (native English speaker)
Math Courses: Calc I and II (AP credit from high school), Calc III mini course (A, at my undergrad institution), Calc III (A-, taken after my B.A. at so-so university #1, not known for econ or math, approx. rank 50), Linear Algebra I (A, taken after my B.A. at so-so university #2, not known for math, approx. rank 80), Math for Econ (A-, post-B.A., masters-level but taken at so-so university #2), Intro to Sets and Proofs and Stuff (A, taken post-M.Sc. at so-so university #1), Ordinary Differential Equations (A-, post-M.Sc., so-so university #1), Real Analysis I (A-, post-M.Sc., so-so university #1; taken fall 2010, some schools didn't allow submission of fall grades), Mathematical Statistics (B+, post-M.Sc., graduate level, so-so university #1, ditto on fall grades.) In progress: Real Analysis II, Mathematical Statistics II.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Did masters in econ. Didn't do PhD-level micro (the Mas-Colell textbook), did mostly masters-level stuff. Did PhD macro, applied micro, applied econometrics, and six standard electives (e.g. labor, public).
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Full major, 3.9/4.0. Did the most advanced international econ, development econ, and econometrics. Didn't do the most advanced micro and macro theory. Econometrics grades somewhat erratic (Intro: A+. Intermediate: B. Advanced: A-.)
Other Courses: Basic Latex, Matlab, and Maple class during Spring 2011 so no grade on transcript.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from masters who knows I wasn't the best student in the class (Princeton PhD), 1 from undergrad who adores me but didn't teach me any advanced stuff (MIT PhD), 1 former boss who is a PhD economist but not an academic (Columbia PhD).
Research Experience: One summer RA in college doing non-quant stuff, 2 years at a relatively well respected think tank (but it's not academia for sure), 3 years in research department at international organization (very applied, far from academia).
Teaching Experience: TA'ed intermediate micro and macro early in undergrad career, nothing since then.
Research Interests: international, macro labor, environment (not the most coherent storyline).
SOP: Pretty decent (this is a skill of U.S.-trained applicants, I think), but I may have expressed interest in too many different things. Was careful to mention that I know who is doing what in areas I was interested in within each department to show I was paying attention.
Concerns: Most are mentioned throughout up above. Main ones: 1. My math might look like an afterthought, and my grades are in the A- average range, not As. 2. I'm old. Too many years away from school hurts you. 3. I don't come across as focused on a coherent set of topics / tools. 4. I wasn't a rock star at my masters. Solid, but not a rock star, as I hadn't done the needed math yet when I entered that program.
Other: My list of schools is a bit odd, because I have geographic constraints (the result of being older). Also applied to a few law schools as back up, and got offer of full funding at a top school, so I have options if I don't get funding at an econ program.
Applying to: Already Rejected Yale. Still waiting (in geographic order) Harvard, MIT, Columbia, NYU, Princeton, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, Georgetown, Duke, University of Michigan, University of Washington.

Ineedanap 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small, women-only, liberal arts college (double major in Econ/Poly Sci; won honors thesis prize for both depts and school-wide)
Undergrad GPA: 3.89/4.0
Type of Grad: Top 3 US program (Policy MA, took grad econ/extra math courses while there)
Grad GPA: 3.9/4/0
GRE: 800Q/710V
Math Courses: Linear algebra (A), Ordinary Diff Eqs (A), Multivariable Calc (A), Calc-based probability (A), Analysis (A)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro (A), Micro (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): A lot... all A's (major GPA: 3.98/4.00)
Other Courses: A lot of Poly Sci/ Policy coursework...
Letters of Recommendation: Both from well-respected, top 50 economists globally. Worked as an RA for both.
Research Experience: Honors thesis in undergrad, 3 years of quant-intensive RA experience since then.
Teaching Experience: grad-level economic growth course
Research Interests: International economics, macroeconomics
SOP: Strong (doesn't everyone think so??)
Concerns: I worked for a couple years in the private sector and then got a policy MA... may come across in my application as "unsure of what I want to do with my life so I'm defaulting to a PhD in Econ"
Other:
Applying to: MIT, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Berkeley, LSE, UCSD, Columbia

econger 2011:
Institution: LSE
Program: EME 2y
Decision: Accepted
Funding: no "graduate support scheme" - other available scholarships pending till July...
Notification date: 01/21/11
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: if I don't get any form of financial support, I cannot afford the fees (plus living expenses London!) - so I guess I hope for PhD-admits or other Master-programs, which are more generous

Sushi 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: Feb 16
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: no
Comments: 12 more... hoping I didn't shoot too high.

nigritude 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 16 February
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: no
Comments: lawls.. makes me wish i applied to more schools

thirty 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: Feb 16
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: no
Comments: Started thinking about applying next year if I don't get any offer.

coffeefanatic 2011:
Throwing my results so far into the mix...
Institution: Wharton
Program: PhD in Applied Economics
Decision: Interview
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/15/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Who knows how many they interviewed...
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/16/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Unsurprising.
Institution: Stanford GSB
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/18/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Super long-shot/terrible match for my research interests, anyway.
Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: university-wide fellowship
Notification date: 02/21/2011
Notified through: Email from department
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Nice.
Institution: Duke
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: graduate school fellowship
Notification date: 02/22/2011
Notified through: Email to check website, follow-up email from department
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Very nice.
Institution: Penn
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/24/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Ouch.

Pinkee 2011:
My apology for posting late too.
Institution: Penn State
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Full fellowship
Notification date: really early
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comment: One of the earliest decisions.
Institution: UC Berkeley
Program: PhD in ARE
Decision: Recommended for admission
Funding: Nominated for competition
Notification date: 02/04/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comment: Email saying a more formal letter would follow, but haven't received it yet.
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/16/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: No
Comment: My top choice, perfect match for my research interests (development and political economy). I thought I had a shot, but got to know the sad result about a week before the official notification, so kinda prepared for it.
Institution: Stanford GSB
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/18/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: No
Comment: Super long shot. I actually regret applying...
Institution: Penn - Wharton
Program: PhD in Applied Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/22/2011
Notified through: Email to check the website
Posted on GC: No
Comment: I think my research interests do not really match.
Institution: Penn
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Waitlisted
Notification date: 02/24/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comment: One of my top choices. Hoping for the best.

vidamilonga 2011:
I just got an account, so I'll post my results so far in chronological order. Somewhat schizophrenic results...
Institution: Yale
Program: econ PhD
Decision: rejected
Funding: n/a
Notification date: mid Feb
Notified through: email to check website
Posted on GF:no
Comments: not surprised, but a little disheartened
Institution: UPenn
Program: econ PhD
Decision: waitlist
Funding:n/a
Notification date: 2/25
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: high on waitlist
Institution: Harvard
Program: econ PhD
Decision: accepted!
Funding: not specified, but I did submit my documents late
Notification date: 2/25
Notified through: phone call
Posted on GF: yes
Comments: total surprise! but super excited
Institution: UC Berkeley
Program: econ PhD
Decision: rejected
Funding:n/a
Notification date: 3/2
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: surprised at this, especially given my Harvard admit. my recommenders told me I had a very good chance, and they're very well-connected to Berkeley. Oh, well, at least it makes my decision even easier

Milo2010 2011:
Rejections:
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 2/16/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments:
Institution: UPenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 2/24/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: A bit shaken, as this is the second reject.
Institution: UC Berkeley
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/2/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: As expected. Been told that we tend not to take our own undergrads.
Institution: Northwestern
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/4/11
Notified through: Checked the website.
Posted on GF:
Comments:
Institution: Stanford
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/6/11
Notified through: Mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: The most painful reject thus far. I was hoping not to leave the Bay Area.
Institution: MIT
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/7/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: Very much expected. It was a long shot anyways.
Admits:
Institution: UCLA
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Acceptance
Funding: No first year funding.
Notification date: 3/2/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: Really not thrilled with the "no first-year funding" part.

marginalised 2011:
Institution: MIT
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/7/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comments:

lemonade 2011:
Just got an account:
Institution: U Penn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Fellowship
Notification date: 2/24/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comments:
Institution: MIT
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/7/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: My dream collapsed...
Institution: Princeton University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/11/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: It's OK...

Cinzia 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc Economics & Math from large Canadian university
Undergrad GPA: 3.95 (not finished yet)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 620V, 800Q, 4.5AW
Math Courses: Calculus (A+), Advanced Calculus (A+), Linear Algebra II (A+), Nonlinear Optimization (A+), Real Analysis -- undergrad (A), Real Analysis -- grad (A+), Advanced ODE (A-), Concepts in Abstract Math (A), Intro Math Logic (A+); Prob & Stats I (A+), Prob & Stats II (B), Probability -- no measure theory (A+), Mathematical Stats (A+). (all undregrad except "grad real analysis")
Econ Courses: Intro Econ (A), Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A+), Advanced Micro -- game theory (A+), Advanced Macro (A), Econometrics I (A+), Econometrics II (A), Economic Analysis of Law (A+), Political Economy (in progress); graduate courses: PhD Micro Theory II -- game theory, contract theory (A), Advanced Micro Theory (in progress).
Other Courses: 1st year bio + chem + physics (I wanted to study molecular biology), Italian language courses.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from a well-known prof who taught me graduate game theory and supervised a summer research project; 1 from a young prof who taught me intermediate micro and undergrad game theory; 1 from a law & econ prof who taught me economic analysis of law.
Research Experience: summer research project in game theory --> uninteresting small paper.
Teaching Experience: none.
Research Interests: micro theory, political economy.
SOP: talked about how I got interested in economics, in particular micro theory, what I learned from my courses and research, and my own interests (not very well-defined interests); didn't mention any specific faculty.
Other: Note: the Canadian grading system is a bit different from the American one: here 90-100 ~ A+, 85-89 ~ A, 80-84 ~ A- etc., and 85-100 ~ 4.0 GPA, so it seems easier to get high GPA, but my friend told me the grades aren't inflated as much as in the States (which I don't know, but it is true that in my school, a large public school, they try to keep the course average low).
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Stanford, NYU, UPenn (waitlisted for funding), Wisconsin, UCSD (they didn't talk about funding), Toronto MA(doctoral), Toulouse M2.
Waitlists: MIT.
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, Chicago, Yale, Berkeley.
Pending: Northwestern (what happened to my application???)
What would you have done differently?
I wouldn't say doing sth. could get me into better schools (e.g. Harvard, MIT), but some things could certainly prepare me better for a PhD program, e.g. taking "analysis" instead of "calculus" courses, graduate probability, and more econ courses.

JRav 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Math, Economics; MA Math (haven't graduated yet) Top 15 US, Top 25 Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.91/4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: 4.0/4.0
GRE: 800 Q, 620 V, 6 AW
Math Courses: Honors Multivariable Calculus (A+), Honors Linear Algebra (A-), Differential Equations (A), Complex Analysis (A), Honors Analysis I (A), Honors Analysis II (A-), Number Theory (A+), Topology (A), Abstract Algebra I (A+), Abstract Algebra II (A-), Differential Geometry (A-), Graduate Real Variables (A), Graduate Microlocal Analysis (A), Graduate Abstract Algebra (A), Graduate Partial Differential Equations (A), Graduate Algebraic Topology (A+), Graduate Complex Variables (in progress), Probability & Statistics (A+)
Econ Courses: Elements of Macro (A), Elements of Micro (A), Monetary Analysis (A+), Macro Theory (A), Financial Markets and Institutions (A), Econometrics (A+), Graduate Macro I (A), Graduate Micro Theory I (A+), Graduate Macro Theory II (in progress), Graduate Micro Theory II (in progress), Corporate Finance (in progress), Economic Forecasting (in progress), Senior Thesis (in progress)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Thesis adviser whom I had for two classes (Ph.D. from MIT, among top 1% most cited economists), Professor I had for graduate macro (Ph.D. from Northwestern, among top 7% most cited), Fairly well-known math professor I had for three grad math courses (Ph.D. from Princeton)
Research Experience: Senior Thesis (in progress)
Teaching Experience: Teaching Assistant for Calculus I and II
Research Interests: Macro, Monetary Economics, Finance (?)
SOP: Talked about my senior thesis, my coursework, and department macro seminars I attended. Threw in a paragraph for each school. Solid.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Princeton ($$$), Stanford ($$$)
Waitlists: MIT, Chicago (in with funding any other year they say), Michigan (same as Chicago)
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, Brown
Pending:
What would you have done differently? I didn't take an economics course until I was a sophomore so I guess I would have started sooner, which would have allowed me to take more grad econ courses. I might have also pushed harder for a research opportunity. But I'm not complaining about Princeton vs. Stanford...

econchef 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small Liberal Arts University, Atlantic Canada (Honors Econ, Minor Math)
Undergrad GPA: 3.95 (4.0 Econ) (4.0 Math) (Converted) (top graduate in Econ)
Type of Grad: MA Econ, Queen's University
Grad GPA: 4.0 (Converted) (top graduate)
GRE: 800Q 570V 5.5AW
Math Courses: calculus (I,II,III), linear algebra, ODE, Discrete, Intro Stats, History of Math, Intro to Game Theory (All A or higher)
Econ Courses (grad): Micro, Macro , Econometrics, Resource, Applied Econometrics, Research Problems and Methodology, Empirical Micro (All 90%+)
Econ Courses (u/g): Adv Micro, Adv Macro, Uncertainty and Strategy (Adv Micro II), Econometrics (full-year), All intermediates and Intros, a bunch field courses (All A or Higher)
Letters of Recommendation: All positive, 2 full professors (1 resource econ, very well established; 1 applied time series), 1 associate professor (gaining a big rep in time series), I supplement with three other profs who know me well at universities where they have contacts.
Research Experience: master's essay, summer research paper in u/g, Internship at Inter-American Development Bank (Poverty Research / HH Exp'd Surveys), 3 applied metrics courses in Grad, very strong STATA programming skills and LATEX knowledge
Teaching Experience: Taught tutorials for principles (Micro and Macro) for 2 years in u/g; environmental econ and principles macro at Queen's
Research Interests: Econometrics, Labor, Education
Concerns: Could have taken more math; Small unknown undergrad
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Berkeley ($$$), Princeton ($$$), BU ($$), U Toronto ($$$), Queen's ($$$), Chicago (3rd year)
Waitlists: MIT, U Penn, U Mich
Rejections: Harvard, Northwestern, Stanford, NYU, Yale, Columbia
What would you have done differently? Well if I had a time machine, I would have gone back to the start of first year and convinced myself not to take any political science courses in second year and instead replace them all with math courses. I also might have convinced myself that I should have taken more math in fourth year instead of taking basic sciences for med school (I applied and got in but decided to continue with econ grad school). The only other thing I might have changed regarding my record with said time machine would have been to write my MA essay on a time series theory topic as opposed to one in applied micro but I'll be honest these wouldn't be the first things I would do with a time machine. Perhaps with those changes I might have had a better shot at Harvard but there's always some noise in the dgp so who knows. Overall, I'm very excited by my results and can't wait to visit my top two offers.

Segan 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large Canadian University, not very well known for economics
Undergrad GPA: 4.0
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800 Q/570 V/5.0 AW
Math Courses: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Probability/Stats for Economists, Mathematical Economics I and II (all A+)
Econ Courses: Econometrics I (grad); Intro to econometrics; Microeconomics I, II, and III; Macroeconomics I, II, and III; Environmental Economics, Economic Growth, Cost-Benefit Analysis (all A+).
Other Courses: 2 geomatics courses (1 in geostatistics), a minor in political science
Letters of Recommendation: 1 full professor, 1 assistant professor, and 1 associate professor. The full professor is a star in the department, but I doubt any will have major name recognition.
Research Experience: At the time of my application, this was a concern. I have 2 interesting research experiences in the private and public sectors related to policy, but had not worked on a strictly economics related project. Since applying, I have taken a directed research job with a professor at our department.
Teaching Experience: NA
Research Interests: Environmental economics, developmental economics
SOP: Elaborated on the contents of the mathematical economics courses I took, particularly because mathematical economics II covers the basics of real analysis and forces us to write some basic proofs.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Brown ($$), Maryland AREC ($$), UBC MA ($$), LSE MA, Cambridge MA
Waitlists: MIT
Rejections: Berkeley AREC, Columbia, Stanford
Pending: Queen's MA
What would you have done differently?
Definitely more math, and would have chosen my undergraduate institution more carefully. I am currently unsure about whether I should spend a year to upgrade math courses and take an MA in Canada, or to take what are good options at Brown/Maryland.

kipfilet 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics, top school in small European country
Undergrad GPA: 18/20, converted to 4.0/4.0, top of my class
Type of Grad: MPhil in Economics in progress (2 year Masters including 1st year PhD coursework)
Grad GPA: 19/20, converted to 4.0/4.0
GRE: Q800, V710, AWA 5.0
Math Courses: Calc I (already includes some intro real analysis and lots of proofs), Calc II (multivariate calc, topology, lots of optimisation), Linear Algebra, Math I (difference eqns, dynamic programming, discrete-time optimization), Math II (differential eqns, optimal control), Advanced Math (advanced topology and real analysis, measure theory, correspondence theory). All A's
Econ Courses (grad-level): Full Macro and Micro sequences, lots of random trimester courses (game theory I and II, time series, microeconometrics, energy economics, etc), all A's.
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Lots of them. In my country, programs are not flexible at all. We spend 3 years being bombed with economics courses just about everything.
Other Courses: some Law, Finance and History courses. Two seminars on European Union institutions.
Letters of Recommendation: My thesis advisor and three assistant professors who know me well I guess (was a student and worked/working in projects with all of them).
Research Experience: Summer internship at a Ministry, applied macro research; lots of minor projects; macroeconometric paper with two colleagues; co-authoring an empirical paper; my MPhil thesis (in progress) is supposed to be one of the three papers one usually writes for a PhD.
Teaching Experience: twice TA (lecturer) for Multivariate Calc, twice TA (lecturer) for intermediate macro (all undergrad)
Research Interests: Macro: monetary economics, DSGE's, asset pricing. Also interested in behavioural.
SOP: Pretty standard, not customised at all. I actually sent the same SOP to ALL schools, only changing their name.
Concerns: Coming from a school that is virtually unknown in the US (and better known as a business school in Europe), no letter of recommendation from a senior professor.
Other: TOEFL 119, Erasmus in a well-known university in the Netherlands.
RESULTS
Acceptances: Minnesota ($$$), UPenn ($$$), LSE (), Oxford (MPhil, no ), Columbia ($$$), Chicago (no $), Northwestern (no$ 1st year), NYU($$$)
Waitlists: UCLA (rej), MIT (rej), Northwestern (acc), NYU (acc)
Rejections: Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, UCLA, MIT.
Attending: NYU
What would you have done differently?
Not much, I think. I regret not having asked a letter of recommendation from a well-known professor at my university whom I later discovered to be rather willing to write it (I had never worked for him). Not asking any senior prof for a letter of recommendation was a huge risk I took, and I only discovered the value of seniority much later (i.e. after having discovered TM). My 2nd year MPhil grades (1st year PhD courses) have been rather good so far, and my thesis is going really well (my apologies for not being very humble in this aspect), so I guess I could have a stronger profile if I decided to apply next year. Anyway, I'm not going to cry over it, as I'm already ecstatic with my outcome! This was an extremely long and stressful process, and I'm really glad that it has come to a happy ending. See you all in the job market!

FromTheHip 2011:
Well, time to throw out my profile, which I suspect will make my results a source of hope for many with mediocre undergraduate GPAs.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS in a science field at a highly-ranked U.S. university
Undergrad GPA: 3.34/4
Type of Grad: Part time classes at a top-5 econ program
Grad GPA: 4.0/4
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 4.5AW
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), Multivariable Calculus (A), Vector Analysis (B), Differential Equations (A-), Real Analysis (B+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Two semesters of core micro (A/A), both grades near the top of the class
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A-), Intro Macro (A-), Intermediate micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A-), Two term theoretical econometrics course (B/B+)
Other Courses: A lot of very quantitative science courses.
Letters of Recommendation: All three were economists with tenure at a top-5 econ program and PhDs from top programs. One was a professor from my core micro who talked about my coursework, while another was my long-time boss (see below). The third worked as my advisor on an independent project.
Research Experience: Two years as an RA and an independent research project (still ongoing).
Research Interests: Resource/environmental, development, game theory, IO. Statement focused on resource, game theory, and development.
SOP: Fairly long. I’ve spent some time outside of undergrad and was not an econ major, so I spent a bit of time explaining how I’d come to be interested in economics and putting my non-economics accomplishments into context.
Other experience: Several years work experience before starting my economics career
Concerns: Non-economics background, low undergraduate grades
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Cornell (no $), Georgetown ($), Iowa State ($),LSE ($), Penn State ($), Rochester ($), UC-Davis ($), UC-San Diego ($), UC-Santa Barbara (no $), University of British Columbia ($), University of Colorado ($), UPenn (initially wl for $, then $), University of Wisconsin ($), Yale ($).
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Brown, Caltech, Chicago, Chicago Booth, Duke, Harvard, Minnesota, NYU, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford, University of Maryland, University of Michigan
Waitlists: BU (withdrew), Columbia (withdrew), MIT (eventually rejected)
Withdrawn: University of Wyoming
Attending: Yale
What would you have done differently? Gotten better undergraduate grades and started as an economist sooner.
Other Comments: Given where I was coming in, I’m pretty ecstatic about my results. There was a lot of variance in my admits, and I’m grateful to all the programs which were willing to take a chance on me.

SubEffect 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 US liberal arts college.
Undergrad GPA: overall 3.89, with about the same in econ/math and a strong upwards trend since freshman year
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800 Q 720V 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Modeling (A), Math Stats I (A), Math Stats II (A), Differential Equations (A), Data Analysis (A), Real Analysis (B+), Topics in Analysis: Dynamical Systems (A+), Senior Research Project (A) [freshman year: Honors Linear Algebra (P), Honors Multivariable Calc (B)]
Econ Courses (PhD-level): NA
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (A), Advanced Micro (A/A-), Intermediate Econometrics (B+), Adv Econometrics (A), Polit Econ of Africa (A), Economic Development (A+/A), Public Policy Evaluation (A), Experimental Economics (A+), Behavioral Economics (A), Senior Research Project (A+), [freshman year: Int. Macro (A-), International Polit Econ. (A-)]
Other Courses: Nothing too useful, except for Comp Sci (A+).
Letters of Recommendation: 1) prof with MIT PhD, took two high level classes with and talked a lot about research ideas; 2) assistant prof with Berkeley PhD, did independent research and took three classes with; 3) prof at top policy school who I worked for. From my NSF feedback, it sounds like they were all good, though the ones from my undergrad profs were probably stronger.
Research Experience: JPAL field RA for a year; RA for a prof at a top 5 econ for a summer; did independent research project with a prof at my school; thesis for my math major, which won best paper award in department; separate thesis-like econ paper, which won best paper award in my department
Teaching Experience: TA for Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Econometrics
Research Interests: Development, Behavioral, Auctions, tons of different applied micro topics
Statement of purpose: Probably fine.
Other: Can't think of anything
RESULTS:
Attending: Yale
Acceptances: NSF, Yale ($$, off waitlist), Berkeley ($, off waitlist), Cornell ($), Brown ($)
Waitlists: MIT, Chicago Booth, Columbia
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, NYU
What would you have done differently? I spent a long time thinking about this, especially the painful stretch between the first wait list and getting the NSF. My school has had really good placement in the past, and my profs had been pretty excited about my chances at top 5 schools, so letting them down was a bit of a bummer. With another year at JPAL, especially at the Cambridge office, or taking real analysis 2 to get the A , maybe I could have been a contender at M/H? Still, I'm pretty eager to start working on my own research, so wouldn't have wanted to take more time off beforehand; this also lets me be near my girlfriend, which is a high priority. The one thing I would change is to apply to more business PhD programs, but Yale was my third choice behind the Cambridge schools, so I am very happy to be going there. Since they do a lot of behavioral/dev combined, it might even be a better fit for my interests than the others.
A couple of people have asked for advice on the NSF. It didn't end up helping me too much with admission (since Yale would have worked out anyway), so I feel kind of bad getting it when it might have helped someone else, but it did get me into Berkeley. Jeeves and others have a lot of good things to say, so I'll just focus on three things.
First, working at JPAL/doing a proposal on development topics is clearly a huge advantage. JPAL produced at least 200f the NSF's this year, which is just absurd. All three my reviewers mentioned it, and two included it in their comments on both intellectual merit and broader impacts. Second, don't be bashful about multiple applications. I put out feelers in a proposal last year, and the comments were extremely helpful in succeeding this time around. Even if you're rushing to finish it, you'll be able to get a sense of what they think of your idea. Third, just follow their criteria for broader impacts. In your personal statement, you can dedicate a paragraph to each one individually; make their lives easier in checking off excellent for each one. Non-econ related things, such as tutoring or mentoring other students is looked upon favorably, especially if you plan to continue doing so. Also, make sure to devote some substantial part of your research proposal to broader impacts, they look for that too: I had the final half page be just about ways that my proposal could be broadly applied. If you can tie in broader impacts in any way, do it.

dr12 2011:
PROFILE
Type of Undergrad: BS economics and physics from top 10 university
Undergrad GPA: 3.95
GRE: 800Q 620V 5.0AW
Math Courses: Multivariable Calc, Linear Algebra, Probability, Statistics, Diff EQs, Complex Analysis, Data Analysis
Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics (3 terms)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Macro, Micro, IO, Game Theory, Econometrics, Auctions, Finance, Options, Organization Design
Other Courses: Lots of physics courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 famous, 1 well-known, 1 assistant prof (all econ)
Research Experience: Job in private industry focused on econ analysis, research, and data work
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro theory
SOP: Standard
Concerns: No research within academia or published papers
Other: Worked for several years in private industry after undergrad
RESULTS
Acceptances: Northwestern, UCLA, UCSD
Waitlists: MIT
Rejections: Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Chicago, Princeton, Yale
Attending: Northwestern
Comments: I think working in private industry the last five years likely prevented me from cracking the top-5. I think it is legitimately viewed as a risk (e.g., potential for rusty math skills, concern of going back into private industry, added likelihood of personal distractions) - a friend I have in graduate school says that the older graduate students tend not to do as well on average (at least in his class). Additionally, it becomes harder to get academic letters of recommendation. I would recommend that people who have worked for a few years and are thinking about pursuing an econ phd to take a graduate economics course or two through a local university's extension program (if you can fit it in while working). Outside of being informative/beneficial for you, it will strengthen your application and maybe set you up for a fresher letter of recommendation. That being said, I am very excited about Northwestern as my interests are in micro theory and it has always been in my personal top-5. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to know anything else.

frozenchip 2011:
PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 10 University (Overall, Econ, Math) (top 5 depending on the ranking system)
Undergrad GPA: 3.8 Math + Econ
GRE: 780M/750V/5.5A
Math Courses: Calculus (honors), Analysis (real and complex), Algebra (honors), ODE (mostly A's, couple A-/B+), some other logic type stuff
Econ Courses: Micro (Intermediate), Macro (Intermediate and Advanced), Econometrics (Honors, Topics, Advanced), some random joke topic classes (Population economics, econ of crime, etc) (mostly A's, couple A-)
Other Courses: Statistical Modeling, Probability Theory, Intermediate level CS courses
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Stanford PhD, 1 Harvard PhD, 1 Berkeley PhD (All both supervisors and professors, 2 well known, the 3rd very very well known)
Research Experience: Undergrad Thesis, 3 years as an U-Grad RA, 1.5 year econ consulting (I've heard others complain about this, but I actually run regressions, plan pricing surveys, etc...)
Teaching Experience: Math TA (3 years) for Calculus
Research Interests: IO/Micro/Dev
SOP: Generic (was told to make it as bland as possible by my profs)
Concerns: the couple B+ grades; spent waaay too much time on non-academic activities in college (but I did have a blast)
Other: Facing the academic two-body problem.
Applying to: Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Chicago, Chicago(Booth), Northwestern(Kellogg), Berkeley, NYU, UPenn(Wharton), NYU(Stern)

LUDuckling 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 30 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 4.0 Economics/Maths/International Relations
GRE: Q 800 V 730 AW 4.0
Math Courses: Calculus, Linear Algebra, ODE, Probability, Math Stat, Real Analysis
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro, Macro, Econometrics, IO, Economic Thought, Development, Money Banking
Letters of Recommendation:professor of grad micro class; econ prof; math thesis advisor - all mentioned my originality & ability to abstract from real world happenings. One talked about I am "one of the most impressive students during his 40+ years of teaching at Harvard & xx university."
Research Experience: RIPS student industrial math research@IPAM; RA; math thesis in game theory
Teaching Experience: TA math & econ for 2 years
Research Interests: micro, behavioral, not really set
Other Experience: Co-founded a company and initiated an int'l summer school; various volunteering experiences, mainly has to do with (re)building houses for poor people(write about in diversity statement)
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Yale, Columbia, NYU, UCB, Chicago, etc.
Waitlists: MIT, UCLA, CMU
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, Caltech, etc.
What would you have done differently?
Applying straight from a non-top liberal arts college and with no significant grad course work/ research job, I am very content with my result. I think I really put everything I could reach together. I have no regrets.

eds 2011:
PROFILE
Type of Undergrad: South Italian University. Graduate in 2004.Major in Economics
Undergrad GPA: 110/110 cum laude (say equivalent to 4 )
Type of Grad: MSc in economics form a top 5 UK department in 2007,
Grad GPA: Master 90+%,
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 3.0AWA. I will be retaking it next month. Do not consider this result when evaluating my profile.
Math Courses: (UG)General Mathematics, Financial Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis Multivariable Analysis(should be calculus) , Statistics I and I. ‐ All equivalent to A's or A+.
Math Courses: (Master): introductory to math and stats 90%+
Econ Courses (masters-level): Micro, Macro, monetary economics ,international monetary economics, Econometrics ,Trade theory All 90%+
Econ Courses (PhD level) About 13 course in macro fields with famous profs at PhD level. All passed with As
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro and Macro Theory, Labor, International economics, monetary economics, Industrial econ. Development economics, economic history, History of economic thought theory, econometrics, Public economics, Regional Economics, Applied economics, Economic Policy‐ All equivalent to A's or A+
Other Courses: Summer school at UPF
Letters of Recommendation: ) 1 stellar letters from a NYU PhD undergraduate thesis supervisor well connected 2) Form a guy with PhD Michigan well known in his field. I got A in his graduate course. I am now looking for the third letter.
Research Experience: A working paper in progress with one of my a letter of recommendation writers and we are talking to start working on a paper with my second letter of recommendation writer. Not sure If I will have something concrete by December 2010 . I won special merit from the evaluation committee for the quality of my u/g thesis work, presentation skills and academic performance. I also won the prize for the best u/g thesis for that year. My MSc thesis was marked (90%+) as the best among MSc students in my year. Visitor Researcher at a well know institute .Visitor Scholar at a top 20 US department (research only) for fall 2009. I have served as a visitor scholar at the research division of the ECB
Teaching Experience: TA for intro to micro (In the USA) and for Monetary economics
Research Interests: Monetary economics , International macro, .
SOP: Should be strong.
Concerns: AGE!!!! I am, currently 33. I will been turned 34 and a half by fall 2011 .. I need to get new letters of recommendation from people I currently work with . I cannot ask for a letter from my MSc because of other personal reasons nor from the US department.
Other: Applying for the usual fellowships.
Applying to: In many programs. In the US and Europe. Suggestions are welcome !

caledonian2011 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BS from a large Asian Uni (ranked in top 60 in econphd.net), majored in Economics and Applied Mathematics
Undergrad GPA: 3.82 (top undergraduate)
Type of Grad: MS in Economics from a top European uni
Grad GPA: Highest honors, ranked top 5 graduates of about 80 people in cohort
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Linear algebra I (B), Linear algebra II (A-), Calc (B+), Multivariate Calc (B+), Diff Eq (B-), Mathematical Stats (A+), Probability (A+), Numerical Computation (B-), Real Analysis I (A), Real Analysis II (A-), Complex Analysis (A-)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro I, II, II (All A+) .. (intermediate micro is micro II), Macro I, II, III (All A), Econometrics I, II, III (all A+), International econ (A+), Game Theory (A+), IO (A+), Monetary Econ (A-), Financial Econ (B+), Math econ (A+), Health econ (B+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): PhD micro (A-), Phd macro (A), PhD Econometrics (A), Game Theory (A+), price theory (B+), master IO (A), PhD IO (B+), Empirical IO (A-), dynamic optimization (A+), Mircoeconometrics (A+)
Other Courses: None relevant
Letters of Recommendation: 1 master thesis supervisor, 1 undergrad thesis supervisor, 1 from master program... None of them is famous, but all letters should be good or very good
Research Experience: Undergrad Honors thesis (grade A-) and Master thesis (grade A, and currently polishing under my sup to send for publication), and some term papers
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Theoretical and empirical IO, applied microeconometrics
SOP: explained reasons for doing PhD, career goal, and talk (at a rather shallow level) about research interest... did not mention any names of professors
Concerns: Some poor math grades (but math dept in undergrad uni is very stringent in grades), no 800Q (but not retaking), letter of recommendation from not famous people, lack of RA experience
Applying to: (I only have "sufficient money" to apply to around 10 schools). Looking to apply to 4 top 10s (probably MIT, Stanford, Yale, NU) , 4 top 20s (probably Columbia, NYU, UPenn, UCSD)... and 2 "safeties": UIUC and Penn State
Others:I posted my profile on a seperate thread to ask for comments but I didn't get many. If anybody has any advice or comment, please PM me. I will appreciate it very much!

kida 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 02/16/2011
Notified through: email to check site
Posted on GF: no
Comments: sad to start with rejection..
Institution: Duke
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: accepted
Funding: yes
Notification date: 02/22/2011
Notified through: email to check site (yesterday department also sent email with funding details)
Posted on GF: no
Comments: soooo happy
Institution: Northwestern
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: accepted
Funding: yes /edit: called them and apparently my first email with details on funding got lost... /
Notification date: 02/23/2011
Notified through: no notification, checked site after seeing post here
Posted on GF: no
Comments: yay!

Marketforlemmas 2011:
Finally want to stop lurking and make some posts:
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Wait Listed
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Really hoping this one works out
Institution: Duke
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Comments: Excited
Institution: UCSD
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Would love to live there, but don't know about funding.
Institution: Maryland
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Ok!
Institution: MIT
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Wait Listed
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: no
Comments: Hope to win the NSF.... I hear that will help me out?
Institution: Stanford
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Sooooooooooo happy.
Institution: Northwestern
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Bad day.
Institution: Berkeley
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Ok, not for me.
Institution: Princeton
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Oh well.
Institution: Columbia
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: yes
Comments: Yay!

3yellowroses 2011:
I'm an international applicant that has been lurking around. Time to disclose my results:
Accepted:
Institution: American University
Program: Phd Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: will be notified mid march.
Notification date: 9 March 2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Waitlisted:
Institution: Tilburg University
Program: Research Master, Economics
Decision: Waitlisted. will hear from them in mid april
Funding: there's a chance to get a TA if admitted
Notification date: 14 March 2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Institution: Cambridge University
Program: DPhil Economics
Decision: Waitlisted. will hear from them in mid april
Funding: haven't heard a word
Notification date: 10 Feb 2011
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments:
Rejections: NYU, Columbia, Berkeley, MIT, Brown, Maryland, Tinbergen, Oxford.
Haven't heard of: Umass, Cornell, WUSTL, Michigan State, Paris School of Economics, Bonn GSE, LSE (Econ & Phil Msc)