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Pburg 2012:
Type of Undergrad: US, top 30
Undergrad GPA: 3.8 (3.9 econ, 3.6 math)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q 167 V 161 AWA 5.5
Math Courses: Calc II and III (A-, B+), Lin Alg (B+), Intro to Proofs (B), Math Stats (A-), Applied Stats (A), Bayesian Stats (B+), Diff Eq (A-), Nonlinear ODE (A), Abstract Algebra (A), Analysis (A)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Principles of Micro, Macro (A-, A), Hon Intermediate Micro, Macro (A, A-), History (A), Intro & Intermediate Econometrics (A-, A), IO (A), Math for Econ (A), Information (A), Regulation/Antitrust (A)
Letters of Recommendation: good to great, from Stanford, Michigan, and UCLA econ PhDs
Research Experience: summer RA, kind of light
Teaching Experience: TA 4 semesters
Research Interests: applied micro
SOP: average
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Wisconsin ($), Vanderbilt ($$)
Waitlists: UVA (withdrawn)
Rejections: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, Yale, Northwestern, UCSD, Cornell, Duke, Penn State, UC Berkeley ARE
Attending: Wisconsin
What would you have done differently? Better math grades. If I had developed an interest in econ sooner, I might have avoided some mediocre grades and snagged a couple more research opportunities.

Anexpor 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: Economics, PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: First year fellowship followed by TAing
Notification date: 2/9/2012
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: Yay, cool to know that after all this time/effort I really will be going to grad school!

econtp 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: $21,200
Notification date: 02/10
Notified through: Email
Comment: My first admit with quite generous funding!
Institution: WUSTL
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Waitlisted
Funding: Waitlisted
Notification date: 02/16
Notified through: Email
Institution: UCSB
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 02/23
Notified through: Email to check website
Comment: Quite surprised..
Institution: Stanford GSB
Program: EAP PhD
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 02/23
Notified through: Email to check website
Institution: UT Austin
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: If I want, I have to contact them ASAP.
Notification date: 02/23
Notified through: Email
Comment: Hm.. I prefer Vandy to UT since my interest is Macro

7ien 2012:
Institution: Queen's
Program: MA Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: n/a
Notification date: 4/2/12
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Same thing with waitlist.

Sheldor 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in Economics at top 10 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.2
Type of Grad: M.A. in Economics at top 20 econ phd school
Grad GPA: 3.43
GRE: 166 Q 170 V 5.0 AW
Math Courses: Calc II (B) Calc III (A) Linear Algebra (A) Differential Equations (A+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro (B) Macro (B-) Econometrics (B+) Statistics (B+) Labor Economics (B+) Environmental Economics (A-) Public Economics (B+) Financial Economics (A-)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro (B) Macro (A-) Stats (B) Econometrics (B) International Econ (B) Money and Banking (A-) Current Issues in Money and Finance (B+) Public Finance (A-) Law and Economics (B) Investments and Valuation (B+)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: One from a very well known economist from M.A., one from an economist from B.A., one from economist at work
Research Experience: 3 years working as a research analyst for an economic research organization
Teaching Experience: 1 year TA
Research Interests: Applied micro econometrics- primarily labor and public economics
SOP: Talked mostly about my reasons for wanting to be an economist, why I thought I would succeed, some research interests, and tailored a bit to each school
Concerns: low undergrad GPA is a major concern. Also, I have done well in the math I have taken, but haven't had the opportunity to take a lot of it.
Other: Senior undergrad thesis on connection between strength of financial systems and economic growth
RESULTS:
Acceptances: ColoradoWaitlists: Washington
Rejections: Brown, Boston U, Boston College, Maryland, UCSB, UCSD, UCLA, USC, UT-Austin, Vanderbilt, Virginia
Pending: none
Attending: Colorado
What would you have done differently?
I guess there are two different periods of time where I could have changed things. Going back prior to the application process, it would have been nice to realize I wanted to do a PhD sooner as well as get much better grades. I think taking mathematical statistics and real analysis (and doing well) would also have shown my math skills better. Going into the process, I thought my Master's and verbal GRE scores would matter, even though they have been discounted on many forums and information pages. It's hard to know whether my recommendations and SOP could have been better without feedback from the departments, but I definitely think I aimed too high on my school selection. My weaknesses are pretty obvious (low undergrad GPA, decent if not stellar performance in my Master's). If I went through the application process again, I would have eliminated the top 20 programs and focused more on the 30-50 range. However, I am ecstatic to be going to Colorado and I may have picked it even if I had gotten into more schools.

packerdevil 2012:
I guess this profile shows some good things with some "what-ifs" on my mind. A few regrets, but nonetheless I'm in to a few PhD programs, so my goals are being met.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS Econ/Math, ASU
Undergrad GPA: 3.43
GRE: 155/161/4.5 (Equiv: 530/770/4.5; V/Q/W)
Math Courses: Calc I (HS), Calc II (B+), Honors Calc III (B), Lin Alg (B), Diff Eq (A), Real Analysis (B), Adv. Lin. Alg (C), Lin. Opt. (C), Chaos Theory (B+), Probability (B+), Stochastic Processes (currently taking)
Econ Courses: Beg/Int/Adv Macro (A+/A-/A+), Honors Micro (B+), International Econ/Trade (B+), Health Care Econ (B), Honors Behavioral Econ (A), Game Theory (A), Econometrics (C), Law & Econ (currently taking)
Letters of Recommendation: One Nobel Laureate Economist, Behavioral Econ/Law & Econ professor/Thesis Director, Diff Eq/Chaos Theory Professor/Thesis Second Reader
Research Experience: My undergraduate thesis, which focused on the behavior of people in BitTorrent and the economic efficiency of such behavior. I also did a research project on stochastic modeling of the Black-Scholes Financial Model, a project on networking in basketball to predict outcomes of games, and helped with a project on people's behavior on incentives and cheating.
Teaching Experience: Tutoring math and economics courses
Research Interests: Microeconomics, maybe Econometrics. Really into how individuals in certain markets behave efficiently (comparison/contrast of different types of markets)
SOP: How I always wanted to seize any (research) opportunity that came my way, or really any opportunity that gives me more knowledge and gets me a push forward to reach my goals
Concerns: Obviously my overall GPA. If I could do undergraduate studies again, I would have worked harder in school, and put a lot more effort into making those B's into A's. Also, I would have chosen some different professors and classes. Adv. Lin. Alg. and Lin. Opt. were simply no fun because the professors did a bad job teaching, plus Adv. Lin. Alg. was just way too difficult for me. As far as Econometrics, I should have waited until this semester to take it with a professor who was really good at teaching it, instead of who I had who just used powerpoint slides and told us what formulas to use. He did not explain what he expected us to take from this course at all except "money tree." I'm working hard right now and on pace of getting straight A's. Also my GRE scores are to be somewhat desired.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Colorado, Oregon (funding "unlikely"), George Washington (no funding)
Waitlists: Colorado (funding)
Rejections: Vanderbilt, UVA
Pending: ASU, V Tech (has anyone heard from any of these two schools?)
Attending: As of now Colorado, unless some funding offer comes from left field.
What would you have done differently?
Stated with Concerns.

econsd 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc in Economics with a Business Minor
Undergrad GPA: 3.731
Type of Grad: MSc in Economics from same school
Grad GPA: 4.00
GRE: First try: 740Q,410V,4.5AWA Second try: 158Q,152V,4.0AWA
Math Courses: Intro to Prob and Stats (Calc Based) (A), Cal 1-3 (B,B,A), Differential Equations (B), Elementary Logic and Sets (Intro to Proofs) (A), Matrix Algebra (A), Linear Algebra (B), Real Analysis (A), Statistics 2 (A)
Grad Econ Courses: Marketing Research (A), International Econ (A), Industrial Organization (A), History of Econ Thought (A), Labor Econ (A), Advanced Micro (A), Research Methods (A), Time Series Econometrics(A), Advanced Macro (A), Econometrics (A)
Econ Courses: Principles of Micro (A), Principles of Macro (A), Marketing (A), Money and Banking (B), Inter Micro (A), Inter Macro (A), Public Finance (A), Math Econ (A), Stats II (Econ Department) (B)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Grad advisor and 2 from Grad professors. All are from top 50 schools or very close but are not well known in researching or publications. I believe all were very strong.
Research Experience: Graduate Thesis, Co-Author with a professor ( Published ), class: Research Methodology in Applied Econ, Conference Presentation w/ thesis advisor
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: Health Economics/Applied Micro
SOP: I spent a lot of time on this because of setbacks in my profile and modified it for each school
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UK($), UGA($), FL St. ($), CO(-), NCSU(?), OR(?), Kansas($), WA St($), IUPUI($), OR St.(?), MO(-)
Waitlists:
Rejections: WI-Madison, Duke, VA, Vandy, MSU, AZ, UNC Chapel Hill, Purdue
Pending: 1
Attending: Emory ($)
What would you have done differently? The weaknesses, in my opinion, in my application were my GRE score and my undergraduate/MSc university. I wouldn't have transferred based on friends, relationships, and a co-authorship. The only thing I would have done differently is study more for the GRE instead of taking its impact so lightly. If you would have told me I had a choice between 12 acceptances at the beginning of the cycle I wouldn't have believed it. I'm thrilled with my results and very excited to attend Emory. Thanks for everyone who was there to talk it out in tiny chat for the past few months and good luck with your programs.

mar412 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 15 US ( Top 10 Econ)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9
Type of Grad: MA from Top 20 Econ
Grad GPA: 3.9
GRE: 790 Q, 800 V, 4.5 AWA
Math Courses: Calc 3 (A), Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (A), Probability (A), Analysis (A)
Econ Courses: Lots of Undergrad Econ with A/A-s, MA Level: Micro (A-), Macro (B+), Econometrics (A), Advanced Micro (A), Computer Modeling for Policy Analysis (A); Phd Level: Real Analysis for Econ (A), Micro I (A), Econometrics I (B+)
Other Courses:Phd Stats Intro Course (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from unknown undergrad prof who knew me really well, 1 from unknown MA prof who knew me really well, 1 "institutional letter" from phd profs.
Research Experience: Worked about 2 years as RA estimating tax revenues for a state agency...if that counts
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Wasn't sure..., claimed labor topics in micro and macro
SOP: Pretty standard, I'm sure. I didn't have much time to work on it due to an illness in the family.
Other: Didn't know what I wanted to do as an undergrad and after getting some work experience, I decided to pursue my Phd. Most of my math and Phd courses were taken in my MA program
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Minnesota ($), UCSD ($), Penn (w/l but got $), UNC(?)
Waitlists:UVA, Michigan
Rejections:Princeton, MIT, Yale, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Duke, Northwestern
Pending:None
What would you have done differently?
I think in terms of my research experience and grades I did as well as I could given my circumstances. To me, being there for my family during a time of stress was the most important thing, and I still feel proud of the choices I made. In an ideal world, I would've realized that I wanted to get my Phd as an undergrad and taken as many math classes as possible then. But, it didn't happen that way. Overall I am happy with what I achieved and am excited to start my studies next fall.
Attending: Penn

applicant12 2012:
Type of undergrad: BS Economics, Finance, Math minor from a mid-sized state university (not flagship), has a well-regarded international business program, econ dept is in the college of art & sciences and has sent some people to some top 20 schools and several people to programs ranked below 20
Undergrad GPA: 3.96/4.00; ranked 1st in both Econ and Finance (my advisers told me this), but rank is not published on transcript
Type of Grad: MA Econ, same school, started Spring 2012
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 770Q 330V 4.0AWA
Math courses: Cal 1-3, Discrete math, Math stats I, II, Linear Algebra (all A's); Real Analysis (A-); ODE (Spring 2012)
Econ courses (all undergrad): Intro micro-macro, Intermediate Micro-Macro, Intro to Econometrics, Money Banking, Game theory, International Economics (all A's); Applied Econometrics (A-)
Other courses: a bunch of business courses for the Finance major
LORs: should all be good to strong
1) Econometrics prof (PhD Illinois) - I did an independent research with her and presented it at the school's undergrad research symposium; working as an RA for her right now
2) Applied econometrics professor (PhD Arizona)
3) International econ prof (PhD Iowa State). Took a class with him and he likes me.
Research exp: presented a research at the school's Undergrad Research Symposium, 1 semester of RA by the time of application, a few papers in classes
Teaching exp: taught short courses on many topics related to computers (MS Office, Web-page building, Photoshop, etc.) at the place where I work
Research Interest: Macro, Monetary, public finance, international finance
SOP: standard. Didn't mention professors' names or anything too particular
Concerns: from a not-so-well-known school, no grad courses yet, low GRE, no ODE
Other: won some university-wide and departmental scholarships; can't attend any school without funding
Applying to: Michigan, Cornell, Maryland, BU, BC, WUSTL, Vanderbilt, Toronto DSMA

SpontDisorder 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: MA Economics Single Honours from top Scottish University (MA technically but pretty much recognized as a bachelor's)
Undergrad GPA: On a weird 20-point scale, but essentially translates to 3.65-ish
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 162Q (87%), 157V (77%), 4.0 AWA
Math Courses: MV Calc, Advanced Statistics, Econometrics, Advanced Econometrics
Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Macro, Intro to Micro, Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Advanced Micro, Advanced Macro, Economics of Social Life, Labour Economics, Economics of Innovation, Economic Analysis (advanced course combining game theory and macro growth theory), Contemporary Issues, Law and Economics, Dissertation in Economics
Other Courses: Some, but only economics classes taken junior and senior year
Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors, two of which I built close relationships with and the other was my assigned advisor.
Research Experience: 12,000 word dissertation on inter-industry wage differentials, competitive internship at education reform think tank, other research internship at policy think tank
Teaching Experience: Currently a middle school math tutor
Research Interests: Labour economics, economic history
SOP: Pretty good, talked about my demonstrated love of the subject and how I did a "single-honours" degree in undergraduate to take the maximum number of economics courses possible and to be able to write a substantial dissertation.
Concerns: GRE quant score could be better, grades could always be better and I'm not sure how they'll interpret my university's weird grading scale. Recommendations were from professors who knew me well but aren't too well-published. I took all the possible econ courses I could, but was it enough math?Applying to: PhD: Vanderbilt (rejected), UC-Davis, UCSD, U Texas, Minnesota, NYU, Michigan

CorcoranCadet 2012:
Institution: Barcelona GSE
Program: Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date:1/13/2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: no
Comments: A bit surprised at this one. I knew my profile was pretty bad with some low grades in key courses and most of my upper math being taken this semester. Still expected to at least get accepted...

araujo1987 2012:
Institution: BGSE
Program: MSc in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Partial Tuition Waiver (6000 euros)
Notification date: 02/03/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: NO
Comments: This was my first response. Very happy about it. Just worried about the Spanish economy, since my wife is coming with me.

baca 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N.A.
Notification Date: 2/10/2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: I thought it will have pretty good shot, but ......

lessgiraffe 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N.A.
Notification Date: 2/10/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: -

econphdhopeful2 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: na
Notification date: 2/10/2012
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: no
Comments: Expected but still a bummer, plenty more to go I suppose

TripleAxel 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N.A.
Notification Date: 2/10/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: First rejection, not surprised but still sad

sunkiny 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N.A.
Notification Date: 2/10/2012
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: so sad

Arienette 2012:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Econ
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification Date: 2/10/12
Notified Through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: oh well
Institution: Pittsburgh
Program: PhD Econ
Decision: Accepted
Funding: They're still deciding, but they expect they'll be able to offer me funding
Notification Date: 2/29/12
Notified Through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Yay!

DGSE 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Public, unranked PhD program
Undergrad GPA: 3.9
Grad: same
GRE: 650V, 800Q, 6.0
Math Courses(undergrad-level): CalcII,III, IV (B+, A+, A), Intro to Proofs (A), Linear Algebra(A+), ODE(A), Probability (B+), Intro to RA (A), Stats (A), Prob. II (A), Stat II (A), RA I (A)
Econ Courses(undergrad-level): Intro Micro,Macro(A,A), Intermediate Micro,Macro(A+,A), intro stats (A+), enviro econ (A+), Labor (A), Math econ (A), Trade I (A+), Trade II (A+), Directed Research (A, A)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro TheoryI,II (A-,A), Math Econ (A-), Metrics(A), Metrics II (A)
Letters of Recommendation: One was my advisor for my thesis, another was my Micro I prof, and the last I RAed with and took graduate classes from
Research Experience: RAed a summer and a semester with one professor. Did a thesis. Not sure if it helped, but I interned under a govt. economist
Research Interests: Development, risk, political economy, labor (my main interest is in development)
SOP: nothing special just communicated my research interests
Results:
Accepted: UPenn (very high waitlist for funding--declined), Berkeley ARE ($, off waitlist), Cornell ($$$), Vanderbilt ($$$$), Maryland ARE ($$$$), Georgetown ($$), USC ($$)
Waitlisted: UVA (declined)
Rejected: MIT, Princeton, JHU, PSU, Maryland Econ, Michigan, Wisconsin
Attending: UC Berkeley ARE
What I would have done differently?
I had way too many safeties (USC, Georgetown, Maryland ARE). I kind of wish I'd applied to Duke, Columbia and NYU. I have the usual, "I wish I knew when I was a freshman", but my results are nothing to complain about, and if I'd really wanted to shoot for the top 10 I could've been more patient and done a European/Canadian masters.
Comments:
My interests also changed even during the short time while I was applying (I lost interest in growth and grew interested in political economy). I was surprised I got into UPenn, but not even a waitlist from places like PSU or Wisconsin, which should be easier than its ranking indicates since it has such a large class size. UPenn apparently with its large class size and tough comps doesn't mind taking chances on people from nowhere like me.