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rob59404 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: State University with unheard of econ department
Undergrad GPA: 3.99
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA:
GRE: 760 Q 640 V 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Cal I-III(A,A,A), Linear Algebra(A),Probabilty/stat(A), ODE(A), Probability theory(A), math stats, intro analysis/proofs
Econ Courses: Intro micro/macro, intermediate micro/macro, development, adv. development, trade, history of thought, econometrics, graduate econometrics, graduate micro and macro. All A's
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: thesis advisor, department chair, other econ professor
Research Experience: Senior thesis
Teaching Experience: Some math and econ tutoring
Research Interests: Growth, political economy, applied micro
SOP: Standard
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Missouri($$), kentucky($$), Oregon($$), Colorado(no $), UW(no $), Virginia, GMU, Notre Dame ($$$ Attending)
Waitlists:
Rejections: NYU, BC, UIUC, Rochester
Pending: OSU (implicit rejection at this point)
What would you have done differently?
1) More math earlier
2) Should have got a math professor to write letter of recommendation
3) Get an 800Q

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.

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

Mpianatra 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 econ program
Undergrad GPA: 3.56/4
Type of Grad: MS in same major/university
Grad GPA: none at time of application
GRE: 780/580/5.5
Math Courses: Calc I/II (A-), Real Analysis (in progress during app), Calc III (A+), Linear Algebra (A), Ord. Diff. Eq. (A) [last three courses taken as non-degree student at state school w/o econ phd]
Econ Courses: Intro Micro/Macro (A), Inter Micro (B+), Inter Macro (A), Labor Economics (B), Income Distribution (A), Developing Country Labor Markets (A-), Applied Econometrics (A-), Econ Dev't (A-), Public Finance (A-), Economic Data (B), Grad Micro Theory I (in progress), Grad Econ of Education (in progress)
Other Courses: Intro Stats (A-)
Letters of Recommendation: Thesis Adviser- known for a long time (pretty strong), Second Thesis Adviser-mostly knew from a course (positive but probably pretty generic), RA prof (also probably pretty generic)
Research Experience: Master's thesis but hadn't done much for it at time of application
Teaching Experience: Just short of teaching credential
Research Interests: Development, Political Economy, Labor
SOP: Nothing special. Run of the mill about why I like econ, why I was qualified, and why I liked the school.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: American ($?), BU (no $), CUNY (Fellowship), Fordham ($?), Colorado ($$$), UI-Chicago ($?), Washington (no $), Wisconsin ($$)
Waitlists: BC
Rejections: Columbia, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, George Washington, Minnesota, Michigan, NYU, Northwestern, UCLA, Maryland, UNC, Notre Dame, USC, Texas,
Attending: Wisconsin
What would you have done differently?
What I wouldn't have done differently was apply to so many schools. I had a lot of reach schools on my list and all it takes is one of them to accept you. Some rejections from very lowly-ranked schools with some acceptances from relatively high-ranked so it can be hard to predict. Obviously getting better grades would always help but I'm very satisfied with the overall results.

wajihc 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 National University
Undergrad GPA: Below 3.0 with double majors in ECON & PSCI
Type of Grad: Northeastern University
Grad GPA: 3.5
GRE: 770 Q, 520 V
Math Courses: Calc I, II (B+), III (B+); Math & Stats for Economists (A-), Differential Equations (audited)
Grad Econ Courses: Micro (B), Macro (A), IO (B-), Ph.D. level Econometrics (A-), US Economic History (A)
Ugrad Econ Courses: Intermediate Microeconomics (F then B), Intermediate Macroeconomics (B-), Intro to Stats (A), US Economic History Seminar (B), International Trade (C+)
Other Courses:
Letters: Ugrad Professor with Ph.D. from Iowa, Associate Professor in Ph.D.
econometrics with Ph.D. from Indiana, Grad Professor in econometrics with Ph.D.
from UC Berkeley
Research: Ph.D. econometrics course paper on sources of multifactor productivity
Teaching: None
Research Interests: Economic growth and development
SOP: Discussed my journey to get to economics, what I'm doing to augment
my math skills, and personal motivation from ethnic background
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NC State (no $), GWU (no $), American (no $), CUNY (no $)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Indiana, Iowa State, CO-Boulder, Syracuse, Notre Dame, FL Int'l, Brandeis
Pending:
What would you have done differently?
If I were to do ugrad all over, I would have minored in math and accounting, and gotten better grades in undergrad. Assuming my ugrad mistakes, in grad school, I would have taken Real Analysis.
Final call: I deferred NC State, GWU, American, and CUNY. I got tired of being a broker in NYC, and will start at American this coming January.

Policy_Enter 2010:
Institution: University of Rochester
Program: Ph.D. Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 3/1
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments: Well, zero application fee. The feeling is not good though!
Institution: Vanderbilt University
Program: Ph.D. Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 2/23
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF: No
Comments: No application fee. Thought I was going to make it.
Institution: Notre Dame
Program: Ph.D. Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 2/24
Notified through: I called the grad program director
Posted on GF: No
Comments: They pursued me to apply! The even offered me application fee waiver. Why did they have to do that?

DaveD 2010:
Institutions: Iowa State
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 26/02/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: Disappointed at a straight rejection.
Institutions: Notre Dame
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 11/03/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: Disappointed at a straight rejection.
Institutions: University of Virginia
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 03/03/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: Not to surprised.
Institutions: Wisconsin
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 09/03/2010
Notified through: E-mail
Comments: Fairly disappointed at a straight rejection.
All in all a kick in the balls.

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.

fj217 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BBA Applied Economics/Applied Mathematics (minor) from a mid-sized university in Hong Kong
Undergrad GPA: 3.76/4.00 (#1 in the program)
Type of Grad: -
Grad GPA: -
GRE: Q800 V530 AW4.0
Math Courses: Calculus & Linear Algebra (A); Mathematical Analysis I (A); Mathematical Analysis II (B+); Linear Algebra (A); Statistical Methods & Theory I (A-); Differential Equations (A-); Real Analysis (B); Numerical Methods I (A-); Mathematical & Statistical Modeling (A)
Econ Courses: Principles of Microeconomics (A); Principles of Macroeconomics (A); Intermediate Microeconomics (B+); Intermediate Macroeconomics (A); Mathematical Economics I (B+); Applied Econometrics (A); Money & Banking (A-); International Economics (A); Industrial Organization (A); Aisa-Pacific Economies (A-); Public Finance (A); Money & Finance in China (A)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: One professor from another local university (Stanford PhD); one regionally well-known professor (UW Madison PhD); one statistics professor with a PhD from Germany. At least the latter two letters are very strong.
Research Experience: Summer research at another local university; honors degree project
Teaching Experience:
Research Interests: Macroeconomics, International Economics
SOP: I put much effort into writing it; mainly explaining my interest in economics and my past learning experience
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: IUB PhD ($$, attending), Albany PhD ($$), Simon Fraser MA ($$)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Cornell PhD, PSU PhD, UPitt PhD, USC PhD, Notre Dame PhD, etc.
Pending: CUHK MPhil
What would you have done differently?
I think Id have done better had I picked Mathematics as my major and Economics as minor. That way not only could I have taken more math courses, but I also could have taken them systematically. Now I often had to taken advanced math courses early on without the basic courses. If I could have taken them systematically I would have better math grades.

buno 2011:
Type of Undergrad: medium size Business College, (No Phd program though) BBA in Eco and Fin
Undergrad GPA: 3.81 (4.0 Econ) (3.97 Finance)
Type of Grad: Currently ongoing MSc. Econ in Germany wont finish though
Grad GPA: 3.1 (First semester grades only)
GRE: 730Q 490V 4.5AW; 720Q 430V 4.5AW (first)
Math Courses: 12 credit hours Math transfer from High School Transcript equivalent to Calc I-II, Linear Algebra and Probability all with grade B+,Intensive College Algebra A, Elementary Statistics A, Business/Econ Statistics A,
Econ Courses (grad): Time Series Econometrics B, Estimation of reduced forms Econometrics B,
Econ Courses (u/g): Transfer credit from High School for Micro and Macro B, Intermediate Macro A, Intermediate Micro A, Econometrics A, International Trade A, Advanced Econometrics, Public Finance A, Behavioral Finance A,
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Texas, 1 UIUC, 1 UW should be all solid
Research Experience: 3 years RA for Prof, doing research on local economic Issues. Including housing bubble, Commodity prices, VAR analysis on Unemployment and Retail Sales. Was able to do research based on my interests.
Teaching Experience: taught a German class for a while
Research Interests: Public, Labor, Macro, Environmental
Concerns: Not enough Math, low GRE Q, low Graduate GPA (even though high considering my University)
Applying to: OSU, TAMU, NCSU, UF, GSU, UNC, Rutgers, Purdue, Notre Dame, UIC, UNM, CEMFI, Tilburg, Clemson, Delaware,

tvp5q 2010: Profile:
- Status: I am international student from Vietnam.
- Undergraduate Institution: The University of Virginia's College at Wise (unknown school, a branch of UVA)
- Majors: Computer Science & Mathematics
- GPA: 3.84 overall, 3.8 for CS and 3.9 for Maths
- GRE: 600V, 780Q, 3.0AWA. (1st time)
-Mathematics Background: Cal I II III, Multivariable Cal, Advance Cal, Abstract Algebra, Ordinary Differential Equation, Prob and Stat, Numerical Method, Linear Algebra (mostly A, A-, one B+)
- Economics Background: Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Intermediate Micro, Money and Banking. ( three A, one B)
- Computer Science: Having couple programming classes (C++, Java, C#), Algorithm, Database, ...
- Research Experience: presented 1 paper (involving some math and computer model) at school research symposium and regional liberal art public schools conference.
- LORS: All three from my undergraduate institution: 1 Econ Assistant Pro (Wyoming phd), 1 Maths Assistant Pro (Virginia Tech phd), 1 CS Assistant Pro (Virginia Tech Phd)
- Applying: Carnegie Mellon, UVA, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Purdue, Hawaii-Manoa, Iowa, Notre Dame, SUNY-Binghamton, Syracuse, West Virginia U, Wyoming.
- Comments: Don't have many Econs classes. From a relatively unknown school. GRE writing score is low. Statement of Purpose is too long (1000 words) and wrote in a hurry to meet the deadline.
What is my chance to these schools? Thanks.

MarineEconGuy 2012:
Institution: UC-Denver, UIUC, American University
Program: Masters in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: TAship
Notification: 2/6/12 (first 2), 2/22/12 (last one)
Notified through: E-mail from a professor
Posted on GC: NO
Comments: Definitely a sigh of relief knowing I have some choices after I get out of the Marine Corps.
Still waiting on Masters results from: UIC, Duke and Tufts (both a stretch, I have a weak profile, you can see in link below), Ohio University, George Washington, SDSU
Still waiting on PhD results from: Northwestern (dream school but totally unrealistic), UVA, Indiana, Notre Dame, Georgetown
Profile: (read first post) http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-econo...economics.html (Marine transitioning to Masters Program to pursue a Phd in Economics)