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valelee 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, minor history and arts from Peking University, No.1 in China
Undergrad GPA: 86%
Type of Grad: M.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics from a flagship state university
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 780Q, 530V, 3.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus and intro statistics were taught in high school; in college, adv mathematical analysis 1 2, topo, linear algebra, prob theory, adv stats, dynamic programming, things like that (a total of about 30 hours); in grad school, adv stat, topo, real analysis
Econ Courses: In college: pretty much standard as in U.S. schools, and mostly taught by profs with U.S. PhDs (econ 101/102 was taught by a UC Berkeley prof when he was on sabbatical). In grad school: adv micro, two adv metrics, adv environmental field classes
Other Courses: My history and western arts minor classes. Some environmental science classes in grad school.
Letters of Recommendation: four very solid letters
Research Experience: A lot. Undergrad RA since sophomore year, post-undergrad full time RA (10 months), RA in grad school, etc. Have several papers published/accepted in U.S. and in China.
Teaching Experience: In undergrad, TA for intro environmental econ and micro. In grad, econ 101 sort of things for one semester.
Research Interests: Environmental economics and policies, but had also been involved in health, energy and public policies.
SOP: Nothing special, but emphasized my consistent interests and experiences in environmental economics and policies.
Concerns: GRE not so great. Not really solid GPA.
Other: It's my second application cycle. Oh, and I am sort of a writer while in China (I published about 50 articles, prose, short novels, etc., and was editor in chief of a student publication for three years )
RESULTS:
Attending: North Carolina State University
Acceptances: UC Davis ARE (waitlist $), UNC Econ (waitlist $), NCSU Econ ($$$), Wisconsin AAE ($$), Purdue ARE ($$), UMN Applied Econ ($$, declined), Oregon State Applied Econ ($$, declined), Texas A&M AgEcon ($$, declined), VT ARE ($$, declined), Iowa State Econ (waitlist $, declined), Oklahoma State AgEcon ($$$, declined), Washington State Econ ($$, declined)
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Cornell AEM, UCSD Econ, UCSB Econ
Withdrawn: MSU ARE, Ohio State ARE
No news so far: UFL Econ

bassmantin 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Accounting/Finance at a Big 10 school
Undergrad GPA: 3.97
Type of Grad: M.B.A. Accounting/Finance
Grad GPA: 3.91
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Calculus I, II, II, Linear Algebra, Intro to Advanced Math (all A) After submission of application: Differential Equations, Real Analysis (all A expected)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, lots of grad level business school classes that overlap somewhat: managerial econ, real options, valuation, corporate finance, international monetary systems and hedging (all A) after submission: History of Economic Thought, Monetary Theory (all A expected)
Other Courses: Lots of business
Letters of Recommendation: Accounting professor, math instructor, former employer
Research Experience: N/A
Teaching Experience: two semesters intro to managerial accounting
Research Interests: macro/monetary
SOP: addressed my somewhat unique situation
Concerns: no econ prof letter of recommendation, not too much math before submitting app
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Vanderbilt, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa State, George Mason, Missouri
Waitlists: WUSTL (eventually accepted), Minnesota (withdrew)
Rejections: Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Notre Dame
Attending: WUSTL
What would you have done differently? Take more math. Get letter of recommendation from economists. Get a mentor to guide me through the process.

acoustickel 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Business Administration & Public Accounting (tiny liberal arts college in South Dakota)
Undergrad GPA: 3.92
Type of Grad: MS Economics from private Texas school
Grad GPA: 3.96
GRE: Q 750 / V 590 / AW 4.5
Math Courses: Er...Cal I-III, Prob & Stats, Linear Algebra (currently taking)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics, Micro, Health Econ, Development, Intl Policy, Econ of Information, Macro Analysis, Urban, Thesis
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro, Econ of Religion, Intl Trade
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: None well known. Two are pretty enthusiastic about helping me get in somewhere and the other is supportive but probably didn't write a glowing letter.
Research Experience: RA for 3 semesters, Master's thesis
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 semesters and tutored for 2 semesters
Research Interests: IO, education, labor, maybe behavioral
SOP: I tried to make myself sound interesting even if I may not be all that qualified
Concerns: Obviously math...and my GRE score...
Other: I think I win the least math award
Applying to: Minnesota (Applied), Oregon, Nebraska, Kansas State, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan State, Colorado, U of Illinois - Chicago, Vanderbilt, Purdue
In: Minnesota (Applied), Oregon, Nebraska, Kansas State ($), Missouri

johndoe12 2011:
Institution: University of Minnesota
Program: Applied Economics PhD
Decision: admitted
Funding: no information
Notification date: 2/10/2011
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF: no
Comments: apparently funding decision to be made in a few weeks
Institution: Cornell University
Program: Applied Economics and Management AEM PhD
Decision: wait list
Funding:
Notification date: 2/23/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: apparently high on the list, not sure if this is meaningful

goose88 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 15 undergrad, Top 30 Econ PhD
Undergrad GPA: 3.5/3.76 for econ
Type of Grad:n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800Q, 620V, 4AW
Math Courses: Calc(I-III: B+,B-,B-), Linear Algebra(B+), Intro to proofs(A-), Real Analysis(A), Lebesgue Integration (In progress with an A so far)
Econ Courses (grad-level):
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro and Macro, IO, Property Rights, Intro and Applied Econometrics, Game Theory etc. (all A-/A's except for one B)
Other Courses: MATLAB(in progress)
Letters of Recommendation: All econ PhDs...2 well Known professors (one Stanford and another from Rochester), and one ok recommendation (Stanford)
Research Experience: Award winning Honors thesis, summer fellowship
Teaching Experience: Teaching Assistant for a intro level macro class
Research Interests: Development econ, Applied Micro/IO
SOP: Good but didn't bother to customize it for each school...highlighted my diverse background
Concerns: Weak GPA and Math grades...I was not the best student for the first two years of my college career and my grades suffered...hopefully they can also see the radical change in my grades from B's to A's
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Northwestern($$), WUSTL($$), ASU($$), UWO-PhD stream MA($$)
Rejections: Brown, Duke, Georgetown, Michigan, NYU, Queens, Rochester, Stanford, U Minnesota, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, U Wisconsin, Yale
Withdrawn: Columbia, Purdue
Attending: Northwestern
What would you have done differently? So, so many things. I think I was ridiculously lucky given how marginal my profile looks (but I promise, I am not as bad as I look on paper)
i) I would have started out as an Econ major instead of waiting till junior year to switch out of the Business school (no offense to business majors but that place drained my soul and made me super lazy)
ii) I would have taken my Calculus classes seriously or at the very least attended them for more than the first week
iii) I would have taken some more stats classes than the basic courses such as Stochastic Processes or Probability Theory
iv) I would have done more research/get to know more professors but then again, this is tied to (i)

econm 2011:
PROFILE: econm
Type of Undergrad: Double major math (top 20) economics (top 30)
Undergrad GPA: 3
GRE: 800, 590, 4.5
Math Courses: all of them
Econ Courses: intermediates + urban, international, game theory, policy, development
Other Courses: year of bio & chem, 2 CS courses (matlab, java, C++, some unix), Thermal Physics & Statistical Mechanics
Letters of Recommendation: 1 semi-famous, 1 young rising star, 1 visiting, 1 emeritus
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Varied
SOP: Bad, just really not good
Other: Rejected by Oregon, accepted by MSU for a difference in ranking of about 30
RESULTS:
Acceptances: MSU ($$), Illinois (MS)
Waitlists: OSU (rejected on 14th after emailing), Purdue (withdrew)
Rejections: Virginia, Washington, Penn St, Oregon, BC, Cornell AEM, Iowa St
Attending: Michigan State University
What would you have done differently?
1) Taken less math
2) Taken math in the right order
3) Drank more milk
4) Not applied to Iowa St, Cornell AEM, Penn State, BC
5) Applied to UC Davis, UBC, Toronto, Texas, UNC

Chevrox 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: State flagship
Undergrad GPA: 3.68
Type of Grad: Non-degree (part time classes while working)
Grad GPA: 3.66
GRE: V650Q800W4.0
Math Courses: Very limited; took AP Calc I&II in high school; intro statistics (A-) and into econometrics (A) only in college; and Calc III (A+), Math methods in Econ (B+), and linear algebra (right now) after college
Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro, math methods
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): 2 micro, 2 macro, 2 environmental, 1 natural resources, 3 public finance, 1 developmental, among others
Other Courses: Second major was French and Spanish; took 1 accounting class
Letters of Recommendation: 2 professors from undergrad econ department and 1 from a former manager from a well-known financial services company
Research Experience: was a volunteer at a medical lab
Teaching Experience: taught classes at the company where I'm working
Research Interests: local environmental regarding habitat destruction due to land/resource use, alternative energy, environmental legislation, open to secondary concentration in public finance and developmental economics
SOP: Got a really bad review from one of the letter of recommendation writers which prompted a semi-rewrite. Realized what they are but couldn't part with some cheesy cliches that are too dear to me. One paragraph dedicated to justifying wanting to attend each school. Identified general learning and research goals. Identified unique situation (working while taking more math classes)
Concerns: have 1 non-academic letter of recommendation; not enough math; so-so undergrad grades; typos in SOP sent to 2 schools; generally didn't research enough prior to applying
Other: TOEFL ibt R30/L30/S30/W29 (only a couple schools required it despite undergrad in US); having been working FT for almost 3 years since undergrad; native of China
Applying to: UTAustin, UPitt, Purdue, CUBoulder, UOregon
RESULTS:
Acceptances: CUBoulder (no$), Uoregon ($?)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: UTAustin, UPitt, Purdue
Pending: none
What would you have done differently?
1. Should have applied to more schools. I picked 5 public schools on a ranking gradient from the Association of American Universities and thought it would have sufficed. I wasn't wrong, but I probably would have had a much better chance at funding if I applied to at least 10.
2. More math! I took Calc I & II in high school and didn't take Calc 3 until 2 years after graduating college. The only math class I took during my undergrad was statistics, and at the time I was applying I didn't even have a grade for either Calc III or Linear Algebra, which are requisites for almost all schools.
3. Should have done a lot more research before applying. I pretty much just winged it; had I known about this forum when I was applying I think I would have done better as well.

valelee 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, minor history and arts from Peking University, No.1 in China
Undergrad GPA: 86%
Type of Grad: M.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics from a flagship state university
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 780Q, 530V, 3.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus and intro statistics were taught in high school; in college, adv mathematical analysis 1 2, topo, linear algebra, prob theory, adv stats, dynamic programming, things like that (a total of about 30 hours); in grad school, adv stat, topo, real analysis
Econ Courses: In college: pretty much standard as in U.S. schools, and mostly taught by profs with U.S. PhDs (econ 101/102 was taught by a UC Berkeley prof when he was on sabbatical). In grad school: adv micro, two adv metrics, adv environmental field classes
Other Courses: My history and western arts minor classes. Some environmental science classes in grad school.
Letters of Recommendation: four very solid letters
Research Experience: A lot. Undergrad RA since sophomore year, post-undergrad full time RA (10 months), RA in grad school, etc. Have several papers published/accepted in U.S. and in China.
Teaching Experience: In undergrad, TA for intro environmental econ and micro. In grad, econ 101 sort of things for one semester.
Research Interests: Environmental economics and policies, but had also been involved in health, energy and public policies.
SOP: Nothing special, but emphasized my consistent interests and experiences in environmental economics and policies.
Concerns: GRE not so great. Not really solid GPA.
Other: It's my second application cycle. Oh, and I am sort of a writer while in China (I published about 50 articles, prose, short novels, etc., and was editor in chief of a student publication for three years )
RESULTS:
Attending: North Carolina State University
Acceptances: UC Davis ARE (waitlist $), UNC Econ (waitlist $), NCSU Econ ($$$), Wisconsin AAE ($$), Purdue ARE ($$), UMN Applied Econ ($$, declined), Oregon State Applied Econ ($$, declined), Texas A&M AgEcon ($$, declined), VT ARE ($$, declined), Iowa State Econ (waitlist $, declined), Oklahoma State AgEcon ($$$, declined), Washington State Econ ($$, declined)
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Cornell AEM, UCSD Econ, UCSB Econ
Withdrawn: MSU ARE, Ohio State ARE
No news so far: UFL Econ