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EastCoastGuy 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Canadian research university with a low-ranked econ dept, BSc Economics & Math
Undergrad GPA: ~3.86
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 760Q, 530V, 6.0 AWA (did not submit, only applied to MAs in Canada)
Math Courses: Calc I-IV (A, A, A-, B), Linear I-II, (A, B+), Intro to Analysis (A-), Real Analysis I-II (taking now, grades weren't available for schools), Graph Theory (ditto)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A-), Public Economics (A), Economics I (A+), Econometrics II (A), Math for Economists (A+), Advanced Micro (B+), Advanced Macro (taking now, grades weren't available for schools), lots of field courses (mostly A+)
Other Courses: Wrote on an honours thesis, did well; lots of stats course, did okay.
Letters of Recommendation: Honours advisor who is well-known is his field in Canada, and my metrics prof who has been around for a while
Research Experience: none, aside from my honours thesis
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: labour, macro
SOP: n/a except for one school. I mostly talked about why economics was attractive to me as a discipline.
Other: Recommended for the SSHRC by my school. That probably did not have affect admissions, but it may have helped schools increase my funding after I was admitted.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Queen's MA ($$$), UofT Doctoral Stream ($$$), UBC ($)
Waitlists: UofT Doctoral Stream initially
Rejections: none
Pending: none
What would you have done differently?
I would have prepared more for the GRE last year so I could have done better (I did not really prepare and that was a poor choice), and I probably would have applied to more schools (like LSE). That said, I got into my first choice with their top funding offer, and I wasn't looking at applying to Phd programs, anyway, so I have no complaints or regrets.

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.

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!

ifUT 2011:
Institution: University of British Columbia
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 4 years funding guaranteed, including first year
Notification date: 3/15/11
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GradCafe: not yet
Comments: Cannot be happier!!!

Potica 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA econ and psych from top 10 liberal arts college. Post-BA math classes in continuing studies program at top 20 University
Undergrad GPA: 3.5 (overall), 3.4 (BA institution), 3.8 (post-BA), 3.6 (econ classes), 3.6 (final two years of UG at liberal arts college)
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q780, V650, AWA 5.0
Math Courses: Calc I-III (C, A, A), Linear Algebra (A), Differential Equations (A-), Game Theory (A-), Probability I-III (A, A, A-), Real Analysis I-III (B+, A, A-), Math Stats I (B-). All but Calc I taken post BA.
Econ Courses: Intro Micro (B+), Intro Macro (B+), Intermediate Micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A), Econometrics (B+), IO (A), Decision Making (A-), IO Seminar (A), Trade (B+), Managerial Econ (A-), Law and Econ (P)
Other Courses: lots of psychology courses, a few history classes.
Letters of Recommendation: Two young (well known) economists at top 10 econ PhD program for whom I had a 1.5 year RA job. One economist who previously had a senior position at the FTC who supervised me at a consulting firm for 5 years. Letters were clearly strong.
Research Experience: Undergrad thesis (both econ and psych), work at econ consulting firm (5 years), full time RA job at top 10 university (1.5 years), co-authored working paper with supervisors at RA job, and a little bit of very preliminary work on a couple of my own ideas
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 quarters of intro micro and 2 quarters of intro macro
Research Interests: Applied micro (changed the fields a bit from school to school)
SOP: Probably strong. Good argument for why I want to study econ and why I am prepared. Wrote extensively about two research ideas. Customization varied from school to school.
Concerns: Relatively old, weak undergraduate grades, no grad classes.
Other: Presented co-authored paper as a poster at a conference in late March (a mention that the paper was accepted for the conference made it onto about half of my apps)
RESULTS
Acceptances: UW Madison ($), Cornell ($), UT Austin ($), UVA ($), OSU (unclear), Vanderbilt ($), UC Davis ($), UC Irvine ($), Notre Dame ($)
Waitlists: U Chicago Booth econ (accepted), U Michigan Ross econ (accepted), Brown (accepted), U Maryland (accepted, no $), U Michigan (withdrawn, prob could have gotten in at last minute), UNC (withdrawn), U Minnesota (rejected)
Rejections: Yale, Harvard PEG, Berkeley ARE, Stanford, Princeton, UPenn, Wharton Applied Econ, U Chicago, Northwestern, Columbia, NYU, CMU, Duke, JHU, Rochester, University of British Columbia, UCSD, Wash U
Attending: U Chicago Booth econ
What would you have done differently?
Not much. Would have changed my mix of schools slightly and not applied to UBC (with its $150 application fee). Obviously I could have done better as an undergrad, but at the time I had no interest in graduate school. I think the RA job was hugely beneficial (for a number of reason). My results would have been much worse without it. The last five months have been very busy and stressful, so I'm happy it's done even, especially given how well it turned out.

EnvEcon 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics and Business in a top economics university in Europe
Undergrad GPA: We have a different grading system, I would say "good" but not "excellent"
Type of Grad: Economics in the same university
Grad GPA: Again, comparison is difficult; I went way better than my undergrad (especially for math and stat classes) but still not at the top.
GRE: 770Q, 630V, 3.5AW
Math Courses: Basic math&stat + dynamic optimization and inferential statistics
Econ Courses: Basic undergrad courses + lot of grad courses, mainly applied econ (labour, development, energy, international econ, applied macro, behavioural economics) and solid econometric background
Other Courses: Some history and law classes, especially during undergrad
Research Experience: About one year RA in a well known European energy research center within an economics faculty.
Letters of Recommendation: All during my RA period: one from my supervisor, one from the head of the research group (very well known in the energy field), one from a Phd now in the US. As far as I know, all of them are very good and detailed.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Applied micro in general, environmental, development, behavioural
SOP: I put a lot of weight on my RA job and my graduate studies. I specified my research interests and career goals but I didn't mentioned any professor in particular with which I wanted to work.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Maryland Econ (waitlist for $), Maryland AgEcon ($), Purdue AgEcon ($), Wyoming Econ ($), Madrid Carlos III ($)
Waitlists:
Rejections: UCB AgEcon, UCSB, UBC, Tinbergen, Cornell AEM
Pending: Stockholm School of Economics
Attending: Maryland AgEcon
What would you have done differently?
1) I feel that I have been ruled out from some programs due to my GRE quant score, just a bit below 90%.
2) Applied to more places, perhaps some more Econ programs.
3) Did an undergraduate in economics. It would have been way more painful, but I would have been much more prepared for the graduate program (and got better grades).
4) For the econ programs only, doing some more theoretical macro/micro stuff could help, but who knows.
5) Prepare applications carefully from the beginning! Actually, for me it was a learning-by-doing process: for UCSB application (the first I sent), for instance, I didn't include syllabus of econ and math classes.
Other considerations
1) I feel that here people overestimate GRE and grades and underestimate the weight AdComs give to how much overall a candidate fit into the program. Maryland AgEcon was an excellent fit for me (given my interests and research experience) and that put me above other candidates with better grades/GRE.
2) LORs are incredibly useful, one of the few things of an application which can show what is your research potential. Being a RA opened many doors, too.
3) Networking with faculty researchers is fundamental, especially if you are lucky enough to be a RA; in the application process, many people see Professors only as LORs writers, but first of all they are experienced people from which you can learn how to properly do research even after your admission. Starting a Phd with a network of young and senior researchers is a tremendous advantage.

fexical 2011:
Institution: USC
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 1 year fellowship, 4 year graduate assistanship
Notification date: 3/2/2011
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Yay