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pdilly 2008:
Type of Undergrad: BA from a less prestigious liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.75
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 770M/590V
Math Courses: Cal I-III (A's), Linear Algebra (A), Applied Stats (A), Probability Theory (B). Taking Differential Equations this semester.
Econ Courses: A's in Macro I, Intermediate Macro, Intermediate Micro, Urban Econ, Labor Econ, American Econ History, Law and Economics, B's in Micro I and Regional Econ.
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Very strong, but not from well-known professors. My best came from my statistics prof, who is also the dean of natural sciences.
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Urban, applied Micro
SOP: Not especially strong. I have only a vague Idea of what I want to do at this point.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Syracuse ($$), UConn (MA only, at this point)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Texas, Boston College, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, UC Boulder
Pending:
What would you have done differently?
I probably shouldn't have aimed quite so high... I didn't have much of a shot at BC and Texas. I would have applied to more schools in the 40-60 range.
I'm actually putting off grad school for a little while. Syracuse agreed to hold my offer till next year, and I'm going to work on improving my resume. I'm taking advanced cal and complex analysis at my dinky liberal arts college in the fall, and I'm planning to transfer to UT-Austin in the spring to take real analysis and econometrics, among other things. Hopefully I'll be able to work some research experience in at some point too.

baj393 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics from UT Austin
Undergrad GPA: 4.00/4.00
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 740-Q 560-V 6.0-W
RESULTS:
Acceptances: PhD: New Mexico ($$$) Masters AREC: UConn ($$), Delaware ($$), Maine ($$) Other Masters: Duke Nicholas School MEM (Environmental Economics and Policy) ($)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Maryland AREC MS
Pending: None
Will be attending Duke in the Fall!
What would you have done differently? Applied to AREC Masters programs at Ohio State and Purdue. Applied to Yale's School of the Environment. Overall, very happy with the Duke program and the other options that I had. If you are interested in both environmental economics and the policy side of things, then the Duke Nicholas School is the place for you because you can take economics classes as well as environmental classes. However, it is not a good prep for a PhD in economics, but is a good prep for a PhD in Public Policy or Environmental Policy.

buckykatt 2009:
Institution: Caltech
Program: PhD Social Sciences
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/27/09
Notified through: Email
Comments: Not really a surprise. I wish I had done a better job on my application so I'd know it wouldn't have made a difference, though.

SpookyElectric 2009:
Institution: UCSD
Program: Economics, PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Like the others, no mention.
Notification date: 3/11
Notified through: Email

petecheese 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BA in Business Finance. Top Univ in middle east
Undergrad GPA: 82/100 (3.4/4.0)
Type of Grad: M.A. in Economics from same university
Grad GPA: 91/100 (4.0/4.0)
GRE: 780Q 470V 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc 1 (AP), Calc 2 (AP), Calc 3 (98/100), Linear Algebra (87/100), ODE (83/100), Econ Stats (80/100)
Econ Courses: Intermediate micro (87), Intermediate macro (99), Econometrics (80). Lots of grad courses (Micro, Macro, econometrics, monetary, etc...) Almost all 90+
Other Courses: A lot of finance courses (although lost interest in finance as field of study but had them from Ugrad)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from professor and chair, PHD York (Really good letter), 1 from assistant prof, PHD Princeton (Very enthusiastic), 1 from assistant professor PHD Toulouse (standard), 1 from visiting professor (Should be good)
Research Experience: RA for about a year. Recent conference presentation in Poland (awaiting scientific board for publication in conference proceedings)
Teaching Experience: GA/TA for 2 years (undergrad and grad econometrics)
Research Interests: Development, Applied micro (empirical mostly), and applied econometrics
Concerns: Low Ugrad GPA, No proof based math courses, semi unknown school
RESULTS:
Attending: Texas A&M (TAMU)
Acceptances: Iowa State, Virginia Tech, BGSE (UPF), Tinbergen, Uconn
Rejections: UIUC, PSU, Wisconsin-madison, Rice, Toronto (doctoral Stream), Tilburg, Arizona, BC, UNC (initially wait listed)
Comments:
Honestly, i was really happy with my results and quite surprised. I had a weak-average Undergrad performance to make up, and come from a relatively unknown Middle Eastern school.
I think what did it for me was LORS. I cannot emphasize how important LORs are, and how important it is to build good relations with professors (RA, TA, visit office hours and talk about research, etc...).
Also for some smaller programs (specifically Vtech if anyone is ever interested in that school ), i think what got me in was my SOP. Very tailored to their school. I think people underestimate the role of the SOP. Outside of the top 10, i think it can be a very useful tool and should be taken seriously (ofcourse this does not apply to all schools outside the top10, but for some of the smaller programs, "fit" is very important.
In the end, Thank GOD this whole process is done, and i am more than happy to attend TAMU , although the location i am not so ecstatic about :P.

ssoRBttaM 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Large Public University (Not Flagship).
Undergrad GPA: 3.2 (3.4 for Econ)
Undergrad Major/Minor: Economics Major
Type of Graduate: Regional Economic Development
Graduate GPA: 4.0 (Expected Near 4.0)
GRE:730 Q 590 V 5 AW
Math Courses:
UnderGrad: Calculus I, II, Stats I,II, and Linear Algebra
Graduate: Econometrics, Quantitative Research Methods
Econ Courses: Letters of Recommendation: Rec. from two well known/ highly published heterodox graduate professor, Rec. from the director of the research center I am employed in.
Teaching Experience: T/A one course.
Research Interests: Political Economy, Labor Economics, Regional Development.
Research: 1 report published, 1 article under review w/ peer edited journal, and 1 in process.
Other Resume Stuff: Lots of volunteer work and multiple conferences presentations
Applied: University of Utah, American University, CSU, UMass, UKCM, University of Manitoba, UNH, and UCONN.

Icametoconquer 2011:
Institution: Rutgers
Program: Econ PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: None
Notification date: 2/23/2011
Notified through: Online
Posted on GF: Yes
Comments: No funding=No PhD

unfixie 2012:
Type of Undergrad: Private US university, top 100 U.S. News and top 100 Ph.D.-granting econ program. Double-majored in economics and international relations. All math except for Intro Stats and Calc II taken post-bac at a flagship state school known for econ and math.
Undergrad GPA: 3.8
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q 166 V 170 AWA 4.5
Math Courses: Intro Stats (A), Calc II and III (B+, A), Lin Alg (A), Intro to Proofs (A), Probability (B-), Real Analysis (B)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Labor Econ (B+), Math Econ (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A), Intermediate Micro and Macro (A-, B+), Intro Econometrics (A), Econ of Africa (A), U.S. Econ History (A), Micro of Econ Development (A), Senior Thesis (B)
Letters of Recommendation: Moderately strong. One from my development econ professor with degree from Berkeley AREC. One from supervisor of senior thesis with degree from UIUC. One from supervisor at work, with MA in econ from Cambridge U.
Research Experience: Senior thesis that included some fieldwork. 2 years working for public policy nonprofit as a researcher.
Teaching Experience: TA 1 semester for intro macro
Research Interests: Applied development
SOP: Tried to demonstrate my long-term commitment to development economics. Explained that B in senior thesis and withdraw from first Calc II course was due to illness. Mentioned specific professors at each department in all SOPs.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Wisconsin AAE ($$), Michigan State AFRE ($$), U Connecticut ARE ($$), Ohio State AEDE ($$$), UC Davis ARE Master's ($)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Cornell AEM
Attending: Wisconsin AAE
What would you have done differently? I should have aimed a little higher in my application strategy. I underestimated my competitiveness and ended up getting into almost all of the programs I applied to. I should have applied to Berkeley AREC and the PhD program of Davis ARE, and perhaps Maryland AREC. I'm not sure I would have been accepted, but at least I would have the peace of mind that I went as far as I could. I also would have done the Peace Corps instead of working at a nonprofit after college. The research I was doing at the nonprofit wasn't particularly rigorous, and the Peace Corps experience probably would have generated a lot of research ideas and intuition.

MNGoon 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics and Political Science with a Math Minor from large state University top 25ish in general, top 20 in Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.07/4.0
Type of Grad: Master of Regional Planning
Grad GPA: 3.8/4
GRE: 780Q, 710V, 800A
Math Courses: Calculus (multi variate), Linear Algebra, Differential Equations
Econ Courses (PhD-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Public, Input-Output, IO, Urban, Housing, Game Theory, Micro and Macro Theory
Other Courses: A whole pile of Economic Development and GIS courses for Masters
Letters of Recommendation: 3 economic develoment professors (1 UC-Berkely PhD, 1 Cornell PhD, 1 Rutgers PhD), all extremely solid.
Research Experience: RA for Econ Development Prof, thesis, and cited extension work
Teaching Experience TA for Masters level Urban and Spatial Econ
Research Interests: Public Finance, Urban Econ, Spatial Modeling, Community Economic Development, Extension
SOP: Critiqued by Econ Profs
Other: Been out of school for a while, Former Peace Corps Volunteer, Currently working for a non-profit loan fund
RESULTS:
Attending: UW-Madison (Agricultural and Applied Economics)
Acceptances: Applied/Ag Econ Programs: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia State, Clemson
Waitlists:
Rejections: Econ Programs: Brown, BU, UMass-Amherst, UConn Applied: Cornell, Wharton, UNC
What would you have done differently? Maybe not have waited until I turned 30 to accept an offer. In all seriousness, as far as the application process goes, I would not have done anything differently. I spent last summer talking to former professors and asked them to introduce me to the people they know in departments that they thought would be a good fit for me. I also talked to them extensively about my interests and the work I had done with them in the past so that they would have more information to draw upon when writing the LORs. As a result, I got into more, and better programs than my profile may have suggested. I am though going to get my *** handed to me at Madison.