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big_o12 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Good but not great liberal arts college, Econ.
Undergrad GPA: 3.80
Type of Grad: MPP, Minnesota
Grad GPA: 3.98
GRE: 750, 580, 5.5
Math Courses: Calc I & II, LA, Math for Economists, Intro to Proofs, Stats, all A's
Econ Courses: Undergrad: intros, intermediates, open-economy macro, econometrics. Masters level: micro, labor, econometrics I & II
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: 2 great, one good, nobody famous. One was from a professor who had supervised my masters thesis and said it was the best he had seen, suggested that I send it to a field journal.
Research Experience: aforementioned master's thesis
Teaching Experience: semester each as TA for micro, macro, stats
Research Interests:
SOP:
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Riverside ($$), Oregon($), Minnesota Applied
(waitlisted for $-withdrew), UMass ($), U Washington (no $)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Berk ARE, Davis ARE
Pending: Never heard from UConn, I think i'll call and ask for my $80 back.
What would you have done differently? I have a strong heterodox streak, so UMass is really a nice admit for me. I feel like I just snuck in there given my low test scores, minimal math and unexceptional undergraduate institution, and i'm greatfull for that, so nothing different.

Arinamay 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.96
Type of Grad: MA in Economics
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 780Q, 610V, 5.0
Math Courses: Calculus I (A+), self taught other applicable math concepts
Econ Courses: Many, all A's.
Grad Econ Courses (MA level): Micro I (A+), Macro I (A), Micro II (A), Macro II (A), Advanced Statistics (A), Econometrics (A)
Other Courses: A wide variety of courses, including a semester abroad
Letters of Recommendation: One from a very well known professor, one from my MA thesis adviser, one from another strong professor. I asked my letter writers to emphasize that, while I don't have a lot of formal math I did quite well in the math-heavy MA program.
Research Experience: Undergrad thesis(presented at a regional conference), collaborative research project with undergrad adviser, MA thesis
Teaching Experience: TAed for an intro course
Research Interests: Economics of the family, feminist economics, labor economics
SOP: Very specific to my research interests
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Duke ($$, public policy concentration in economics), UMass Amherst ($, economics)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Harvard (public policy), Chicago (public policy)
Pending: Cornell (economics)
What would you have done differently? I had a family crisis that prevented me from taking any math courses during the second year of my MA program. However, Duke was my top choice so really there was nothing lost by not taking more math courses.

amber4e86 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Unranked small university in NY, but I am an Honors College student
Undergrad GPA: 3.8, 4.0 in Econ and Math
Type of Grad: BA, majors in Economics and International Studies. Minors in Spanish and Political Science
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 590/800/5.5
Math Courses: Calculus I and II, Linear Algebra, Intro to Statistics, Math Methods for Economists (Had not taken Linear and Calc II at the time of application)
Econ Courses: Micro I and II, Macro I and II, Environmental, Development, Systems of Political Economy, International Political Economy, Industrial Organization, Money and Banking
Other Courses: a lot of International Relations and Poli Sci, a lot of Spanish, Honors College liberal arts and social science seminars
Letters of Recommendation: three econ professors who teach at my school. Two of them know me very well so Im sure they wrote amazing recommendations. They are not well known and are all heterodox, so I got mostly into the schools that they graduated from + schools where people from my school and similar background got accepted last year
Research Experience: summer internship with an environmental research agency in Australia last summer
Teaching Experience: tutor in Econ for the past 3 years at my school, GRE math tutor, writing center tutor
Research Interests: development, international political economy, environmental
SOP: I wrote about development and why I think it is important to relate human rights to the eradication of poverty
Other: Im involved in my school's student government and Ive held exec board positions in 2 organizations, attending Model UN conferences in Mexico and in the US. I like to be very active and do things, rather than sit by myself and contemplate. I guess schools recognized that and sensed that I will be reluctant to do hardcore research because I am more interested in executive positions in government, rather than in a research university once I graduate.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: American ($$), UMass ($), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ($$), Fordham (2nd on waitlist for $$), George Washington (no $), Rutgers (no $)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: too many! NYU, BU, UCLA, UCSD, Cornell, CMU, UPenn, MIT and Columbia (for different programs, not econ)
Pending: Georgetown (that's a no, but I havent gotten the letter yet), CUNY (also probably a no or an unfunded offer)
Attending: I haven't been able to decide yet.
What would you have done differently?
If I had known earlier that I wanted to study Econ, I would have taken more math. I am taking the classes I should have had now and I know that I am really good at them, but there was no way for the adcoms to know that if they only saw my grade from Calc I. I also should have applied to International Political Economy PhD programs, rather than Economics PhDs, because I am much better prepared for those with numerous internships and publications at government organizations and NGOs. A reality check was very necessary, but unfortunately, I had nobody to turn to and had to figure it all out on my own. On the other hand, I got accepted to all of my safeties and to schools that match my research interests. If I didn't care about location and I had external funding, I would have been super-happy.

claphands 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A Area Studies, minor Spanish, urban state university
Undergrad GPA: 3.65/4
Type of Grad: M.A. Area Studies, top 25 econ program, big public school
Grad GPA: 3.8/4
GRE: 770q/710v/5.5a
Math Courses: (All taken at the big public, over three semesters at the end of my M.A.) GPA: 4.0 - Calc 1&2 (includes multivariate); Intro to Discrete, Intro to Real Analysis, Probability 1, Linear Algebra
Econ Courses: Excluding misc topic courses I took as an undergrad, I took a bunch of calc-based undergrad econ courses at the top 25 program at the end of my M.A. GPA: 4.0 - Intermediate Micro/Macro, Economic Stats, Intro to Econometrics, Development Economics, Computational Economics
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: All from full professors with reputable PhDs I had for a single econ course each. One may have been strong, others were probably good but not personal.
Research Experience: None in econ except for course work, M.A. thesis involved reading an obscene amount of academic economics articles to analyze economic thought in the region I was studying
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Open-economy macro, development, trade, inequality, poverty, agent-based computational
SOP: Pretty good I think, tied together why a student with such a background was going to study economics. On one of my flyouts, grad director asked me questions about things I'd mentioned in my SOP which made me think having said those things helped me.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Cornell (-), Washington (-), Colorado ($$), Oregon ($$), UMass ($), UC-Santa Cruz (partial$)
Waitlists: NA
Rejections: UC-San Diego, Georgetown
Attending: Colorado
What would you have done differently? Based on my results, I would have applied to several more programs ranked, say 20-40. But money and letter writer goodwill were very much on my mind and I think I did alright in that respect. I actually wouldn't really have changed my academic trajectory, I think most, if not all of the courses I took to get my M.A. and B.A. were interesting and useful for making me the type of thinker and writer I am now. If you are curious where I started from (before I had taken a single math class or basic econ prereq), check this thread: http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-econo...hd-advice.html (Interdisciplinary grad student, weak on math. Needs econ phd advice.)

HeyNomad 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small but highly regarded liberal arts college. Degree: BA, Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.91 in major, 3.89 overall
Type of Grad: Large state school (highly ranked within the field). Degree: MA, Education
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 720Q/800V/5.0W
Math Courses: Embarrassingly little. Just one semester of calculus, stats (A in both)
Econ Courses: The usual macro & micro (the latter was very math intensive), urban political economy, international trade, history of economic though, Marxism, various seminars (all A's, with a B+ in intermediate micro))
Other Courses: Some math-intensive physics and environmental science courses
Letters of Recommendation: Very strong and personal recommendations from three profs who know me very well, including one who was a graduate of UMass and pretty well known, as far as heterodox people go
Research Experience: All in econ: independent study, grant-funded student/faculty collaborative research project, honors thesis (presented at an undergraduate conference/paper competition where it won 1st place in macroeconomics category)
Teaching Experience: TA and/or tutor for several intro/intermediate micro/macro courses, taught high school econ (for whatever that’s worth—probably not much)
Research Interests: History, philosophy, & methodology of economics, political economy, public economics, comparative economic systems
SOP: Emphasized my strengths while acknowledging my shortcomings; talked about how I’ve worked to overcome them (a great deal of self-directed study in math). Emphasized research and teaching experience, originality of thesis. Made a case for my research interests as unique and worthwhile, and successfully (I assume) presented myself as a potential asset for the department.
Other: College honors, department honors, Phi Beta Kappa, award in economics presented annually by the college
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UMKC ($$), Denver U (M.A.) ($), New School (meh), UUtah ($$), UMass Amherst ($$ + fellowship)
Application withdrawn: LSE philosophy and economics (I always knew LSE was both a long shot and impractical for other personal reasons; once I got an offer from UMass in mid-February, I decided to bail on LSE)
Waitlists: NA
Rejections: UC-Riverside
Attending: UMass Amherst
What would you have done differently? UMass was by far my top choice, not just within the set of departments I applied to. I received a TA/Instructorship, plus a University Fellowship for at least the first year, which grants a larger stipend and frees me from teaching obligations, so I’m pretty pleased overall. Nonetheless, I do wish I had taken more math as an undergrad (at the time, I didn’t expect to be going on in economics). I had been very sick for several days when I took the GRE, which is what I'm blaming my low quant score on. I guess I was risk-averse and chose not to retake. I’m still not sure that was a good decision, but it didn’t hurt me, so oh well. If I'd gotten my act together, I would have applied to more UK/Continental schools.

latinoamericano 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Latinoamerican public university (not well known internationally).
Undergrad GPA: 10/12. First 10f class.
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 780 Q / 490 V / 3.0 W
Math Courses: Calc I, II & III (all A's), Linear Algebra (A), Math for Econ (A), Probability, Statistics (A).
Econ Courses (grad-level): n/a
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro & Macro. Political Econ. Development Economics. International Econ. Public. Labor. Econometrics I & II.
Other Courses: Sociology. Political Science. Law.
Letters of Recommendation: three from professors I have worked with as an RA at Univesity. I hope very good letters but profs are not internationally well known.
Research Experience: Three years as RA at University in Applied Labor & Development group. Some working papers and many presentations in national & regional conferences.
Teaching Experience: TA'ed lots of undergrad intro micro and macro for five years.
Research Interests: development, political economy, public economics, heterodox economics.
SOP: It was my first time writing SOP as it is not common in my country. Hightlighted research assitant and undergraduate thesis experience.
Concerns: letter of recommendation's writers not very well known/don't have PhD from top 50 Universities. No graduate level education.
Other: Fulbright scholarship.
Applying to: Berkeley, MIT, Yale (rejected), University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin, Brown U, American U (accepted), UMass Amherst (accepted).

alexy 2011:
Institution: UMASS Amherst
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Admitted from waiting list
Funding: Yes
Notification date: 04/08/11
Notified through: e-mail
Comments: I just accepted the offer from AU which has a better replacement than UMASS.

manfromthemoon 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA (Honors) in Philosophy
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: MA in Economics
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: Q800; V 760
Math Courses: Math for Econ (A); Statistical Analysis (A). Both were graduate courses.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I (A); Micro II (Research based) (A); Macro I (A); Macro II (A); Econometrics I (A); Econometrics II (A). Econ Courses (undergrad-level): None.
Other Courses: Wrote a thesis for the masters degree.
Letters of Recommendation: All very strong, but none of the recommenders are high-profile.
Research Experience: Did an independent research project on the classical Post-Ricardian theories of value and distribution..
Teaching Experience: Graduate Assistant for three semesters
Research Interests: Macroeconomics; International Political Economy
SOP: Focused on my research interests and career plans beyond the PhD
Other: There hardly is a proper math course on my transcript.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UMKC, Oregon, Utah, UMass Amherst
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Princeton, Claremont
Pending: None
Attending: UMKC for Interdisciplinary PhD in Econ and PolSci
What would you have done differently?
It was quite difficult to do well in the masters program, considering that my undergrad background was in Philosophy. So in that sense there was a lot of "catching up" to do with economics and I'm happy that I got out of it alive. I really wanted to get into UMKC because there really is no other school in the US with so many faculty with whom I share my research interests. I ended up applying to fewer schools than I intitally planned to. But that's okay, I guess, and I am quite excited about going to UMKC.

heconomics 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics, from a little known university in South Asia
Undergrad GPA: Couldn't convert it into GPA. Overall score was 73 per cent
Type of Grad: MA Development Studies from a premier social sciences institute of my country
Grad GPA: Couldn't convert it into GPA. Overall score was 70 per cent
GRE: 157 Q (Yes, I know), 161 V, 4.0 AW
Math Courses: Mathematical Economics, Quantitative Techniques (These courses had very heavy loads and covered most of the relevant topics)
Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate/Advanced Micro, Intermediate/Advanced Macro, Development Economics, Monetary Economics, International Economics, History of Economic Thought, Econometrics
Other Courses: Advanced Quantitative Research
Letters of Recommendation: All of them should be decent. One from Harvard PhD, well known, especially in heterodox circles. Another one from my MA thesis advisor. Final one from well known economist from my country.
Research Experience: 1 year RA work - climate change economics
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Philosophy of Economics, Heterodox (Left-wing) Economics
SOP: Wrote about my exposure to a various schools of economic thought, discussed the research skills I gained while doing RA work, mentioned my self-study of advanced mathematics
Concerns: Abysmally low GRE quant score. It was a bad day. But too late for a retake. Limited formal training in mathematics. Virtually unknown undergrad institute
Applying to: UMass and UMass (Resource Economics), University of Utah, American Univ, New School of Social Research, University of Wyoming, Simon Fraser Univ (MA), University of Oxford (MSc Economics for Development)

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.

AREStudentHopeful 2009:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ from medium public university in Southeast US
Undergrad GPA: 3.4/4 and 3.7 in Econ
GRE: 740Q, 510V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I & II, Intro Stats, before I graduate I'm taking Axiomatic Systems, Linear Algebra and Multivariate Calc (but it won't be on my transcript yet)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Micro and Macro, Intermediate Micro and Macro, Advanced Macro, Managerial, Natural Resource, Environmental, Comparative Economic Systems, Econometrics, Developmental, Money and Capital Markets
Other Courses: many env sci courses
Letters of Recommendation: 5 econ professors (1 Berkeley PhD, 1 Wake Forest PhD, 1 U of Chicago PhD, 2 NC State PhD) all should be very positive and all have connections at the universities I'm applying to
Research Experience: thesis paper for econometrics in gas pricing
Teaching Experience: tutoring for Capital Market econ and micro
Research Interests: environmental and natural resource econ
Concerns: My math background is not complete as I am still taking some important courses and my scores are not as high as they could be (every available GRE date seems to coincide with 3 other undergrad exams)
SOP: Done with all the basics covered
Other: ODE Honor Society Member
Applying to: Berkeley ARE, Maryland ARE, UC Davis ARE, UMass RE, UofC Boulder Econ-environmental concentration

eigenman 2010:
Type of Undergrad: BS Economics/Biochemistry from US R1 school, Top 10 economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.59
Type of Grad: Non-degree math/stats coursework
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 800V/800Q/5.0W
Math Courses: Undergrad-level: calc 1-2; multivariable calc; linear algebra; "applied" linear algebra; differential equations; series, sequences, and foundations (proofs intro). Grad level: stat theory I-II, applied linear regression, analysis II, time series analysis I, advanced linear algebra. Even mix of As and Bs.
Econ Courses: Intermediate macro/micro, econometrics, Latin American economics, + honors in: macro policy, quantitative macro, international trade, game theory, urban economics, money and banking. As and Bs.
Other Courses: lots of biochemistry and cellular/molecular biology, intro physics, physical chemistry, organic chemistry. As and Bs throughout.
Letters of Recommendation: Varied. Two from regional Fed economists, one from Analysis professor were generally used. For more behavioral places had letter from coauthor; for programs requiring a letter from an undergraduate instructor, tapped my quantitative macro graduate instructor. I'm sure they had nice things to say about me but perhaps they were not so influential.
Research Experience: First author on an experimental animal behavior paper published in medium-tier journal. Unpublished undergraduate thesis in behavioral neuroscience. 1.5 years (as of now) RAing at a regional Fed, one publication (another pending) in our in-house journal. Two semeters in a biochemistry lab.
Teaching Experience: Nil
Research Interests: At the time I submitted my applications, behavioral economics and evolutionary game theory, but I'm leaning toward econometrics and computational economics lately
SOP: Mostly addressed my background and suitability for graduate study
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UT-Austin (wl-$), OSU(wl-$), UW-Seattle(wl-$), Duke (MA), NYU (MA)
Waitlists: UMN, UW-Madison (bad waitlists in both cases)
Rejections: UCSD, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern, UPenn, U-Michigan, Caltech, PSU, LSE(MRes/PhD Track 1), CMU-Tepper
Pending: LSE(MSc-Research)
What would you have done differently? I probably should have bothered another Fed economist rather than asking my math prof, but I was worried about my mediocre math GPA. I also ought've interacted more with professors as an undergraduate, but nearly all of my economics courses were taught by graduates, and I made a decision to go to econ school fairly close to graduation. All of this considered I'm perfectly satisficed and looking forward to relaxing over the summer before putting my shoulder to the wheel in September.

narinka11 2010:
Institution: ASU
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: No word yet
Notification date: 2-26-2010
Notified through: Email
Posted on grad cafe: Yes
Comments: Excited though still worried about the funding. Without funding I won't be able to make it!

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

AREStudentHopeful 2009:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ from medium public university in Southeast US
Undergrad GPA: 3.4/4 and 3.7 in Econ
GRE: 740Q, 510V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I & II, Intro Stats, before I graduate I'm taking Axiomatic Systems, Linear Algebra and Multivariate Calc (but it won't be on my transcript yet)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Micro and Macro, Intermediate Micro and Macro, Advanced Macro, Managerial, Natural Resource, Environmental, Comparative Economic Systems, Econometrics, Developmental, Money and Capital Markets
Other Courses: many env sci courses
Letters of Recommendation: 5 econ professors (1 Berkeley PhD, 1 Wake Forest PhD, 1 U of Chicago PhD, 2 NC State PhD) all should be very positive and all have connections at the universities I'm applying to
Research Experience: thesis paper for econometrics in gas pricing
Teaching Experience: tutoring for Capital Market econ and micro
Research Interests: environmental and natural resource econ
Concerns: My math background is not complete as I am still taking some important courses and my scores are not as high as they could be (every available GRE date seems to coincide with 3 other undergrad exams)
SOP: Done with all the basics covered
Other: ODE Honor Society Member
Applying to: Berkeley ARE, Maryland ARE, UC Davis ARE, UMass RE, UofC Boulder Econ-environmental concentration

tm_guru 2010:
Type of Undergrad: University College Dublin, Ireland, BSc in Economics & Finance (Final Year Concentration - Mathematical Analysis) Undergrad GPA: First Class Honours - converts to a 3.74 GPA according to WES conversion, higher grades in Math and Econ, boring but required Finance/Tax/Accounting classes dragged me down
Type of Grad: National University of Ireland, Galway MSc in Economic Science (Concentratiion - Planning and Policy Evaluation), essentially it was an MPP/MPA degree but we don't really have that in Ireland
Grad GPA: 4.0 (1st out of cohort of ~50 students across 3 concentrations with a lot of common classes)
GRE: 780Q, 630V, 5.0AWA
Math/Stat Courses: 3 semesters of Linear and Matrix Algebra, 2 semesters of calculus (although very little if any multivariate calculus), courses called 'Analysis and Calculus', 'Complex Analysis', various Math for Econ/Finance classes, 3 semesters of Math Stats/Probability... I honestly have no idea if I am prepared for core classes adequately... all A's except one B and one awful grade which I explained in my SOP.
Econ Courses: 3 semesters of Macro (1 MS-level), 4 semesters of Micro (1 MS-level), 4 semesters of Econometrics (1 MS-level) 2 semesters of International Econ, 2 semesters of Public Econ, 3 semesters of Game Theory, Economics of Innovation, Economics of Education... tons really... I hope this will help me get started with research
Other Courses: Tax/Accounting/Finance/Management, nothing useful
Letters of Recommendation: All were strong but mainly graduated in the 1960's or 1970's, 1 has a UCI PhD, 1 LSE, 1 UMD CP (Math), and one had a PhD from Edinburgh but who has an impressive CV and was a visiting professor at Berkeley last year... I used different combinations of three for different schools. I will speak more about this below.
Research Experience: Central Bank internship, MS Thesis (my adviser awarded me the highest grade he has given to a student in 30 years at that University)
Teaching Experience: lots, 3 semesters as a TA, 6 years giving private tutorials to groups of 1-10 students amounting to probably over 200 students in over a dozen different subjects from math to stats to econ
Research Interests: Applied Micro - health, education, labor, public policy, etc.
Statement of purpose: I had too much to explain for it to stand out, I spent the entire 1000 words explaining the holes in my profile (more on this below)
Concerns: Everything...
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Rutgers (no funding), PSU (generous TA funding), UPitt (top fellowship),
Waitlists: BC, UMass-Amherst
Rejections: CMU, Rochester, Syracuse, Cornell, Wharton, Georgetown, UVA, Duke
What would you have done differently?
As many know, this is my second time around, the mistakes I made in last year's applications are embarrassing when I think about them so I will only say this about it - I was blissfully ignorant of the entire process, how many schools to apply to, what a US PhD program entailed, what to say in a SOP, how I would compare to other students... you name it, I messed it up! Seriously, I applied to schools that suited me geographically, no other criteria, I had no idea what I was doing or about the research strengths of different schools... then I found this forum! I am also fortunate to have a fiancee who eventually helped me understand the US education system.
I have ended up at this point in my life not because of careful planning or organization, but through sheer luck and good fortune. I picked my UG degree ten years ago on a whim, and I am lucky that it covered the required analysis, calculus, and algebra courses... We have denominated degrees in Ireland, so you have to decide which one to pursue at age 17 before graduating from 'secondary' school and then apply through a centralized application system. I was going to do Electrical Engineering, but the dot.com crash in 2000/2001 made me change my mind literally an hour before the deadline... only for that decision I would be in a very different place in my life.
I also pursued a Master's degree in Ireland with the intent of 'lecturing' at a community college-type institution but as soon as I returned to the classroom something just changed, I suddenly found myself devouring journal literature, participating in class, loving my TA duties, and acing all my exams... I can only think that the change in my attitude towards classes and college was maturity. As an undergrad I was rarely even in class, never mind an active participant.
Other mistakes - I hurriedly took the GRE as I had no idea how important it was (I took one - paper - practice exam). I decided not to retake as I was worried about not getting an 800 and the signal that might send. I probably could have gotten an 800 with one day of genuine preparation...
In terms of LORs, the three schools I got accepted to, and one of the waitlists were a particular combination of letters, I used that combination for Duke too, but not anywhere else. I know it is a small sample size, but of 5 schools with that specific combination of letters I got 3 acceptances, and 1 waitlist. I got 1 waitlist and 7 rejections when I didn't use that combination of letters. Interesting, very interesting.
However, I can say with all honesty that I am delighted with how things have worked out for me, I am sure I will be very successful and more than intellectually satisfied at UPitt.
Lastly, I am a prime example of the noise associated with applicants coming from unknown schools/countries. I received the top fellowship from 400 applicants to UPitt this year, received full funding at PSU, but was rejected by Syracuse. It is bizarre!
If any forum members, and especially applicants coming from unknown universities, have any questions please feel free to PM me!

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.