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wobo82 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 25 research university per USNWR
Undergrad GPA: 3.33 (electrical engineering BS)
Type of Grad: Top 100-ish research university without an econ PhD program
Grad GPA: 3.87 (economics MA)
GRE: 790Q/670V/5.0A
Math Courses: Calc I through III, Diff Eq, Matrix/Linear Algebra, Math Stats, Stochastic Proc, Analysis
Econ Courses: Micro Theory, Applied Econometrics, bunch of field courses
Other Courses: Bunch of undergrad EE courses (lots of Matlab, some C++)
Letters of Recommendation: Three from econ profs at grad school. (They were not alumni of the schools I applied to so where they got their PhDs was of no consequence.)
Research Experience: Very insignficant.
Teaching Experience: None.
Research Interests: Development, broadly speaking.
SOP: I liked it.
Other: Male, international
RESULTS:
Acceptances: USC (fellowship), UMD AREC (RA), UMN APEC (fellowship), UVA (waitlisted for aid), GWU (waitlisted for aid), UW-Seattle (no aid)
No news as of Apr 3rd (not that I care anymore): UNC-CH, Pitt, Purdue
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Brown, Georgetown, Vanderbilt
What would you have done differently?
Nothing. (Well, perhaps tried the PowerPrep tests.) My personal circumstances were such that I couldn't have done things differently. I do feel that I had overestimated the difficulty of getting in (to the departments I chose) but underestimated the difficulty of getting funding. But hindsight is 20-20. The biggest holes in my profile going in were: unknown grad school, bad undergrad record, lack of research experience, complete absence of a macro course (taking my first one right now). I feared the lack of macro would shut me out from the straight econ depts. All in all I am happy with my acceptance tally.

Dannyb19 2007:
Sorry, I thought I already posted this, hope its helpful to someone!
Background: After undergrad I worked for18 months for a boutique investment consulting firm doing financial analysis, decided I was unfulfilled, spent 11 months beefing up my math, and applied for Fall 2007 admission.
GRE: 760Q, 510V, 6.0AWA (hurt me I’m sure).
GPA (undergrad): 3.72 (cum laude), 3.87(Econ), 3.92(Math)
GPA (grad): 3.90 (math & econ)
Undergrad Insitution: Lewis and Clark College (small liberal arts college in Pacific NW)
Graduate/Post-Bac Institution: Portland State University
Honors/Awards (all undergraduate): Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Mu Delta (equivalent to departmental honors in Business-Economics major), 2003 Northwest Conference Scholar Athlete Award.
Econ Courses (All at L&C): Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), International Econ (A), Money and Banking (A), Management and Organization (A-), Econ History (B+), Corporate Finance (A), Competitive Strategies (A), Radical Economic Systems (B), Micro Computer Applications in Business (A), Intro to Statistics (A-), Econometrics (A-), Financial Analysis (A), Managerial Analysis (A), Financial Decision Making (A).
Math Courses (All at PSU other than Calc I): Calc I (B+), Calc II-Calc IV (A/A/A-), Intro to Linear Algebra (A), Applied Linear Algebra (A), Applied Diff. Equations (A), Advanced Calculus (A), Mathematical Statistics (A-).
Graduate Level Courses (All at PSU): Real Analysis (A), Set Theory/Topology (A-), Public Economics (A).
Letters of Recommendation: Two from undergraduate econ professors (PhD’s from Michigan State and Chicago) and one from graduate level Real Analysis Professor (PhD Rutgers). All letters should be strong since I worked closely with each of them and performed well in their classes.
Research Experience: None. Did not write a senior thesis, did not work as a research assistant. Wrote a few term papers building on the work of my professors, but I doubt it would count as any significant field work.
Results
Admitted: Johns Hopkins ($), Virginia (no-$), U. Washington (no-$)
Rejected: Chicago, Yale, LSE, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Wisconsin, and Cornell
Waitlisted: N/A
What I would have done differently: I wish I had applied to more schools, namely: Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, Duke, and Rochester. I am certainly not assuming I would have been admitted to any of these, since all are very strong programs, but based on the randomness I’ve observed on TM alone, I think I may have had at least a shot at these schools. I also should have studied harder for my GRE’s, who knows how different my outcomes would have been had I scored 600V and 800Q or something like that. Anyway, hope this helps others!

mogelsworth 2008:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Well ranked US research university (public). Major in economics with a minor in math.
Undergrad GPA: 3.7
Type of Grad: None
GRE: 720Q/510V/5.0AW
Math Courses: Calculus I,II,III, Advanced Multivariable Calc, Differential Equations, Matrix Algebra, Linear Algebra, Mathematical Thinking (proof-based course), Real Analysis I
Econ Courses: Advanced Micro/Macro, lots of undergrad field courses, Intro Math Stats
Other Courses: Logic
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from well-known professors at my undergrad institution, 1 from non-academic consultant with an econ phd
Research Experience: 2 years a econ consulting firm
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: International, macro, development
SOP: Discussed background and research interests, very thoughtful.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UVA(no$), Univ. Washington-Seattle (no$), UBC MA (no$)
Waitlists: UT Austin
Rejections:
Pending: Cornell, Syracuse, BU (MA), Penn State
What would you have done differently? I wish I had taken my GRE earlier to allow time for a retake. I should have taken Real Analysis II, topology, and optimization.

kevinomic 2008:
Undergrad: Small private university (Loyola University New Orleans) majored in Accounting and Finance
GPA: 4.0
Grad: MA Economics University of Colorado Denver
GPA: 3.98
Math:Calc I-III (As), Linear Algebra (A), Diff Eq (A), Abstract Math (A), Real Analysis I (A)
GRE: 790Q/530V/5.5AW
Teaching experience: Principles of Macro Instructor, Stats Lab Instructor, TA for Econometrics (Grad), Research Methodology (Grad), Intermediate Macro / Micro, Principles of Macro/Micro
Research experience: Masters thesis, turned into co-authored paper w/ advisor, submitted for publication. Blogged about on Freakonomics! (College Football and Crime). RA job during MA program (2.5 years)
letter of recommendation: 3 from professors. I think they were really good.
Interests: labor, education, health, applied metrics
What I learned: I'm very pleased with my results
Accepted: UCSB ($$$), Cornell - PAM ($$), UC Irvine ($$), MSU ($), Washington ($), CUNY ($$), Oregon ($$), CU Boulder ($$), Michigan (no $), Wisconsin (no $), UT Austin (no $)
Rejected: Berkeley, Princeton, Maryland, Wharton (Applied Econ)
Attending: UC Santa Barbara, very excited. Not the best program I got into, but great faculty to work with, great location, great fellowship package. I know a lot of people (especially in this forum) stress going to the best ranked school you get into, but I'm a little older and location and fit were very important to me. I'm very happy about my decision.
Other: I don't have any of the pedigree (top undergrad, grad, etc.), but feel that I did very well. I got to know my professors in grad school very well and got lots of research and teaching experience. I think my LORs pushed me up a few notches and allowed me to get really good funding packages from lower ranked programs (30-70) and got in with no funding to some 10-20 ranked programs.
Although I didn't contribute, I found this forum very helpful and a little addicting. Good luck to all you future applicants.

Econtastic 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ/Math from U of Oregon
Undergrad GPA: 3.07/4
Type of Grad: M.A. Econ
Grad GPA: 3.8/4
GRE: 760Q, 610V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Multivariable Calc (x2), Linear Algebra (x2), Differential Eqns, Statistics (x3), Real Analysis
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro (A), Macro (B+), Econometrics (B+,B,A-) Game Theory(A), Time Series(B+), IO(Winter), Monetary (Winter)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Just about every one offered, mostly As
Other Courses: 2 finances classes
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors (MIT, Chicago, Wisconsin), should be pretty solid
Research Experience: None to speak of outside of term papers
Teaching Experience: None, though I did grade for math and econ
Research Interests: Financial/Monetary Econometrics, IO and Public Policy
SOP: Not too long, but fairly good I think
Concerns: Bad undergrad GPA, which is when I took all my math. Low Q on GRE. Lack of teaching/research may have hurt my chances of getting $
Other: This whole application process was fairly miserable, I'm glad I never have to do it again
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UW-Seattle ($0), UC Riverside ($$)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: UC Davis, U Arizona, Arizona St
Pending: None
What would you have done differently? Besides work much harder as an undergrad? Maybe take more math (topology and such), and definitely retake the GRE. Also, my little piece of advice, ask for LoRs with plenty of time before the deadline! Having to bug your recommenders every day to make sure they submit them on time is no fun, and a bit nerve-racking

baconos 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Econ/Math from good liberal arts college (~50)
Undergrad GPA: 3.71, 3.90 math, 3.80 econ
Type of Grad: -
Grad GPA: -
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-II (A-), Discrete(A), Probability and Statistics I-II (A,A), Lin Alg (A), Diff Eq (A), Abstract Algebra (A-), Real Analysis (A-), Real Functions and Measures(B), Complex Functions (A), Financial Mathematics (A), etc.
Econ Courses (PhD-level): -
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Macro (A), Micro (A-), Statistics, Econometrics(A), American Economic History (B+), Ind. Study on Criticisms of Economic Thought (A)
Other Courses: some philosophy, history and religion
Letters of Recommendation: 3 econ professors, all full professors - 2 from Chicago, 1 PSU - solid but nothing too spectacular
Research Experience: Best econometrics paper of the semester, some research on financial mathematics published in undergrad math journal
Teaching Experience: TA for Calculus I-II, Principles of Micro, Macro for a couple semesters
Research Interests: Anything and everything, Applied Micro, Development, International trade, and some political economy
SOP: it's an SOP, not looked into too much
Concerns: Lack of research, undergrad reputation/connections
Other:
RESULTS:
Attending: UColorado!!!
Acceptances: UWisc (no$ first year), UWashington (no$), UColorado ($$)
Waitlists:
Rejections: UMich, Cornell, OSU, PSU
Pending: None
What would you have done differently? Not really sure. I definitely did not make a huge effort to get to know professors (skipped classes a lot, no participation or visiting office hours too much) but I did well in their classes and they liked me, so that could've been better. Recommendations matter! I also applied when I was in a different country away from my home institution so I don't really recommend that - it's hard to get things done. Maybe applied a year earlier? hah.

crangeon8214 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, large top 25 American research university
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: none
Grad GPA: none
GRE: 760Q, 620V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III (A,A,B), Linear Algebra (C), Diff Eq's (C), Probability and Statistics (D,B (retaken... )), Real Analysis (C)
Econ Courses: Introductory Economics (A), Principles of Microeconomics (A), Principles of Macroeconomics (A), Intermediate Micro Theory (B), Intermediate Macro Theory (A), Game Theory (B), Econometrics I,II(B,A)
Other Courses: physics up to quantum mechanics
Letters of Recommendation: 3 full professors (2 very strong, 1 medium..strong?)
Research Experience: Honors economics thesis paper, not published (got one of very few scholarship awards at graduation), physics research fellowship
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Micro, behavioral, environmental
SOP: Primarily talking about my research experience
Other: Expert with SAS, worked at a notable consulting firm, not sure if that even helps
Concerns: Math grades suck. Econ grades are just ok. GRE nothing to write home about.
RESULTS:
Attending: UC Irvine($$)
Admitted, Declined: UVA, Boulder ($$), Washington, Oregon State ($)
Waitlists: none
Rejections: UMD-AREC, Davis-AREC, Penn State, GMU
Lost in space: JHU, UCSB
What would you have done differently?
As far as the application process goes - I wish I had exhaustively researched faculty interests before applying, I feel as though I might have let some potentially good schools (for me) like Iowa and Arizona slip through. On the whole, I am very pleased - my profile is all over the place, and Irvine matches me very, very well. As for undergrad, well, it is what it is.

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.

cjw10 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: liberal arts college Economics, BA (with honors) + English minor
Undergrad GPA: 3.65
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 760Q, 540V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: (3.73 average) Calc I-III, Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Stats, Differential Equations (Audit), Real Analysis (spring 09).
Econ Courses: (4.0 average) Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Public Finance, Environmental Econ, Market Experiments, International Econ, Money and Banking, Econometrics I, Senior Thesis
Other Courses: English minor, Env. Studies, Scuba Diving.
Letters of Recommendation: 4 Econ profs -- exceptional. 1 well known.
Research Experience: REU at top 50 econ Program. Research internship at consulting firm in London. Honors Thesis.
Teaching Experience: TA for Prin. Micro + Market Experiments; Academic Tutor (Micro + Macro)
Research Interests: Environmental/Resource, Experimental, Development, Applied Econometrics
SOP: Why I want a PhD + career goals + research experience + research interests matched with faculty. 2.25 pages, 1.5 spaced.
Other: 1 conference presentation + internship at investment bank
Post-doc goals: Academia.
RESULTS:
Acceptances:
NC State (RA 17k + 5k fellowship + tuition + health insurance)
UC Santa Barbara (TA 16.6k + 5k fellowship + tuition + health insurance)
Iowa State (TA 14.4k + 2.5k scholarship + in-state tuition + health insurance)
Oregon State AE (RA 12.6k + tuition + health insurance)
UC Davis ARE MS (readership)
Washington-Seattle (waitlisted for funding)
Colorado-Boulder (waitlisted for funding)
Oregon (no funding)
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Maryland AREc, Wisconsin AAE
Will be attending: North Carolina State University
What would you have done differently? Im satisfied.

Texcards 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Minor Economics and Math at very large state school (top 15 engineering, top 50 economics)
Undergrad GPA: 3.35/4.0 (3.65 Math, 4.0 Econ)
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 550V, 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III(A,B,A), Differential Equations (B), Linear Algebra (A), Mathematical Probability and Statistics (A), Fund Discrete Math (Spring 09)
Econ Courses: Principles of Micro and Macro (A, CR by exam), Intermediate Micro and Macro theory, Econometrics (A,A,A)
Other Courses: Lots of engineering
Letters of Recommendation: 2 not well known assistant econ professors (UT-Austin, Rice) but excelled in their classes, 1 associate engr professor (Berkeley) that I went on a study abroad trip with
Research Experience: none
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: International and Development
SOP: Paragraph about why I wanted to do econ even though I did engineering as an undergrad, another on my interests, and another on why I wanted to be an academic. Slightly altered my interests paragraph depending on the school, but for the most part the same for each one.
Other: Didnt start considering this until fall of last year.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UC Riverside (Fellowship), University of San Francisco MA in International and Development Economics (1/2 tuition remission + TA), UC Davis, University of Washington, UC Santa Cruz, Colorado, Oregon, UI-Chicago
Waitlists: Oregon fellowship, eventually notified of no funding
Rejections: Maryland, Boston University, Boston College, UT Austin, Michigan State, Georgetown, UBC MA
Pending: Toronto MA, Queens MA
What would you have done differently?
I wouldnt have applied to the Canadian MAs (1 year wouldnt have been enough to help me), Michigan State, UCSC, or UI-Chicago and maybe applied to a couple more reaches instead, but I really didn't think I would get into as many as I did. I dont know if it would have changed anything though, after really thinking about it I think an MA is a very good choice for me. Ive realized that my 3 economics courses hasnt given me enough of a background in general economics knowledge. Yes I could learn it in the course of a PhD but I think strengthening my economics background will allow me to have more focus on what field I want to go into and give me more ideas when I eventually start to write my dissertation. An MA will also allow me to improve 3 big weaknesses in my profile: (1) Do some research which will allow me to have (2) stronger letter of recommendations and (3) a more focused SOP.
I think I learned a lot in this application process and feel like I will be able to put together a much better application in 2 years after an MA.
Attending:
University of San Francisco MA in International and Development Economics

untitled 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Math, BA International Studies (mid ranked Midwest Flagship State School)
Undergrad GPA: 3.65
Type of Grad: M.S. Math (mid ranked but slightly better Midwest Flagship State School)
Grad GPA: 3.6
GRE: 800Q, 600V, 5.5AW (scored 800, 590, 6 before MS degree)
Math Courses (undergrad): Lots, some Bs, B+/A- average
Math (grad): Lots, still a couple Bs, A- average
Econ Courses (grad): Few
Econ Courses (undergrad): None
Other Courses: Physics Minor, once, lots of Poli Sci before I realized math + poli sci =~ econ
Letters of Recommendation: Two Math, One Poli Sci, One Econ. Econ was extremely strong
Research Experience: Math Thesis, RA at academic leaning econ consulting firm
Teaching Experience: Taught micro, macro, math econ, and econ stats principles courses during two year stint at local university while working as a consultant
Research Interests: Econometrics, Resource Economics, Decision Theory, Development
SOP: Focused on work/research experience - probably would have done it differently
Concerns: yes, mostly private.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: University of Washington - Seattle
Waitlists: none
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, Duke, Boston University, Davis, Pittsburgh, UCSD, UBC
What would you have done differently?
I can think of one or two classes where an A might have made a difference. Also, it might have been helpful to take at least some econ classes as an undergrad, but I'm glad I didn't, as I enjoyed my undergrad enough. Many private things.

irancontra 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Grad: BS in Economics Liberal Arts University
Grad GPA: Summa Cum Laude
GRE: 770Q, 630V, 5.0 AWA
Letters of Recommendation: 3 undergraduate econ professors (1 well known)
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: Undergraduate TA
Research Interests: development, resource economics, remittances.
SOP: pretty standard
Concerns: I have been out of academics for 5 years. Two spent working abroad in development, not the Peace Corps, and 3 in business.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCSB, UCSC
Rejections: ASU
Waiting: Stanford, U Washington, U Oregon, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Riverside (Masters), USC (Masters), UCSD, U Arizona

SF_Haole 2009:
I've been pretty nervous about my chances, and rightly so thus far: 1 admit, 1 waitlist, 3 official rejections and 4 schools that haven't rejected me but appear to have admitted everyone already.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Stanford
GPA: 3.7
Major: Physics (BS), International Relations (BA)
Type of Grad: Stanford
GPA: 3.9
Major: International Policy Studies (MA)
GRE: 800Q, 690V, 6.0 writing
Math Courses: Multivariate Calculus: Differential (A) & Integral (A), Linear Algebra: Basic (A) & Advanced (A), Honors Diff Eqns w/proofs (B). Also a ****-ton of physics classes.
Econ Courses (undergrad): Basic micro/macro (A) intermediate micro (B+,A-) intermediate macro(B+), economic history (A), env. econ(A), public policy analysis(A+), stats for econ(A-), metrics(B+).
Econ Courses (grad): None, but I took grad-level courses in international macro (A-), and development (A) through my masters program and the political science dept's Ph.D-level game theory class (A).
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from fairly famous econ professors. I do research for one of them and took a class from the other (and worked for his colleague). 1 from a very famous political scientist (has his own wikipedia article) who taught my game theory class. Kinda nervous about the polisci rec but my options were limited.
Research Experience: lots of physics research; worked as an RA for the RBI (Indian Central Bank) for 1 summer; currently work in applied econ & policy analysis for one of my recommenders (past 2 years).
Teaching Experience: 1 year as a TA for intro to economics.
Research Interests: econometrics, development
SOP: Decent, I might have explained my research more but I built off my NSF essay, which had a separate previous research essay.
Applying to: 21 schools, including the top 10 overall, top 10 econometrics, and top 10 in development. Also UW-Seattle

tommyg28 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top UK BA econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.85(ish) equivalent
Type of Grad: MA econ, same uni
Grad GPA: 3.9
GRE: 800Q, 720V, 5.5AW
Math Courses: The usual (real analysis I, II, Topology, functional analysis, linear algebra, ODE I, II, advanced statistics and probability theory, etc.) Mostly As, one A-
Econ Courses: Many: Micro I-IV; Macro I-IV; Econometrics I, II; Economic theory; IO, etc. All As, some A+
Other Courses: None, econ all the way
Letters of Recommendation: From people who knew me well, but alas, few people know them. Nice letters though.
Research Experience: Undergrad thesis and Grad dissertation - they were OK.
Teaching Experience: Coached various sports, but pretty sure this counts for squat
Research Interests: Everything. Probably IO, stock-flow macro dynamics and labour if I had to narrow it down.
SOP: Bland
Concerns: Interpretation of UK grades
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Duke ($$), U Washington-Seattle ($), Georgetown ($$)
Waitlists: UCLA
Rejections: A lot: MIT, Princeton, Stanford, NYU, Columbia, Michigan, Yale, Penn, etc.
What would you have done differently? it's been said many times before, but I didn't pay sufficient heed: LORs matter! Unless you have Slightlyconfused's profile you need to get well-known profs to write decent enough LORs. I'm a little disappointed with my outcome. My faculty is pretty weak at the mo, so I don't think I could've done much better. But I should've done my MA elsewhere to get access to better letter of recommendation writers. Shucks.

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.

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

takethemoneyandrun 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Mid-ranked liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 3.7/4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 770Q/700V/5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III (A/B/A-), Linear Algebra (A-), Probability Theory (B+), Mathematical Statistics (B+), ODEs (A-), PDEs (A), Advanced Calculus (A), Real Analysis (A), Topology (IP), Complex Analysis (IP)
Econ Courses : Intermediate Micro (B+), Intermediate Macro (A-), Intro to Econometrics (B), Labor Economics (A), Senior honors thesis (A)
Other courses: Nothing of value
Letters of Recommendation: Three econ professors (PhDs from top 30 programs) who advised me on research papers that turned out pretty well and one statistics professor with whom I did summer research. They are all very nice, helpful people and I get along well with them.
Research Experience: Two econ term papers and a senior honors thesis that I am proud of; one co-authored statistics publication based on summer research.
Teaching Experience: TA for 2 sections of introductory statistics and 2 sections of introductory economics.
Research Interests: Economics of labor, health, aging, and education.
Statement of purpose: I made it clear that I want to become an academic economist, discussing my math preparation and research interests.
Concerns: Low GRE Q and limited undergrad econ background with very shaky grades.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Virginia(wl-$), Texas(wl-$), Washington-Seattle($$), Indiana($$), UC-Davis($$), UC-Irvine($$), Rice($$), Colorado($0), Maryland AREC($$), Cornell AEM($0), Oregon($$)
Rejections: Brown, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, WUSTL
What would you have done differently? I would have applied to more schools in the 15-30 range. I didn't expect to be accepted to at least half of the programs that admitted me and was biased towards lower-ranked schools. I have heard this over and over, but it's worth repeating: The MC of sending out an additional application is extremely low; apply to any and every school that you think matches your research interests!

roadvirusss 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 10 Liberal Arts College.
Majors: BA Math, BA Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.93/4 (3.93 math, 3.97 econ)
GRE: 800 Q, 610 V, 6 AW
Mathematical Courses: Linear Algebra (A-), Vector Calculus (A), Cryptography (A-), Combinatorics (A), Intro to Analysis (A), Differential Equations (A), Real Analysis I (A-), Real Analysis II (A), Probability Theory (A), Statistical Theory (A), Complex Analysis (A), Abstract Algebra I (A), Deterministic Ops Research (Spring), Topology (Spring)
Econ Courses: Intro Macro (A-), Intro Micro (A), Empirical Methods (A), Econ Stats (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A), International Econ (A), Energy Economics (A), Econometrics (A), Game Theory (A), Advanced Micro (Spring)
Other Courses: Took five semesters of Chinese (didn't have time for the minor), though I doubt this will help.
Letters of Recommendation: One econ prof (did research with, took three classes with), chair of math department (took several classes with, academic advisor), math professor who was director at summer REU (worked with for two months). None are particularly reputable, but all three I know fairly well and will write solid recs.
Research Experience: Summer grant for econ research, math REU in graph theory (I'm continuing both projects for senior theses right now)
Teaching Experience: None aside from grading
Research Interests: Micro Theory
Concerns: No graduate level courses offered at my school, lack of big-name recs.
Work Experience: "Head Statistician" for the school's football and basketball teams, tutoring calculus, four semesters of grading (calc, multivariable, prob theory, real analysis), and those two research positions.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: BU($$), UW($), Cornell(no$)
Rejections: Yale, Kellogg, Berkeley, Princeton, NYU-Stern, Stanford, Harvard, Penn, Caltech, UCSD
Waitlists: UCLA (rejected)
Attending: None. A tough decision, but for a number of reason's I'm going to take a year off. Has just as much to do with wanting to make certain of what I want to do with my life, as with increasing the number of options.
Done differently?: Perhaps I could have spent more time researching schools and individualizing my essays. Going way back, I should have been more active finding research opportunities, or maybe chosen to attend a more prestigious school

ilikefreefood 2010:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Econ major from a top 5-10 Midwestern liberal arts college.
Undergrad GPA: 3.73/4, magna cum laude, distinction in major for senior thesis research.
Type of Grad: first semester of PhD microeconomics at Maryland
Grad GPA: 3.00/4.00 (B+)
GRE: 800Q 640V 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc II-III (A,B+), Linear Algebra (Pass), Statistics (A), Mathematical Structures (A-), Real Analysis (B, taken as a non-degree student at a local school Fall 2008), Probability (A, taken as a non-degree student at a local school Summer 2009)
Econ Courses: Principles Micro/Macro (A-,A), Intermediate Micro (A) Intermediate Macro (B), Econometrics (B+), PhD Micro Theory I (B+), pre-thesis seminar (A-), Ag. & Food Econ. (A), Development Econ. (B+), Econ. of Inequality (A), Econ. of Water Policy (B+), British Econ. history (B+)
Other Courses: A pass/fail seminar on game theory, a Poli. Sci. course on agent-based computer modeling (A)
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ. professors (liberal arts college profs but with Chicago/Stanford PhDs), including my thesis adviser who has previously stated that my thesis was one of the best he's ever advised. 1 Partner at my Econ. consulting firm with whom I've worked extensively on econometric analyses (PhD Cornell).
Where possible, a third Econ. professor (PhD Chicago).
Research Experience: ~3.5 years as an RA in a major Econ. consulting firm; I specialize in statistical and econometric analysis within my office.
Awards: Thesis award from state Economics association, thesis presentation award from state science association, college fellowship
for (non-research) work in development related to microfinance.
Research Interests: Development, environmental/resource economics, urban economics, general applied micro.
Statement of Purpose: Well-written but fairly standard; mentioned specifically my interest in development and applied micro fields.
Other: This is my second time applying, and I am reapplying to several schools with the additional Probability and PhD micro courses and a new letter of recommendation. I am deferred at Minnesota ARE from last year.
Applying to: Maryland, Maryland AREC, Duke, UC Berkeley ARE, Washington, Wharton Applied Economics, Michigan, Penn, Yale, Chicago, Michigan State, Northwestern, WUSTL, Georgetown, Texas, Boston University, UCSD, Cornell, Brown, UC Davis ARE, Illinois, Penn State, Virginia
RESULTS:
Attending: Boston University
Acceptances: Boston University (no $), U. of Washington ($), Michigan State ($ waitlist), Illinois ($), UC Davis ARE ($), Maryland AREC ($).
Rejections: Maryland Econ., Duke, UC Berkeley ARE, Wharton Applied Economics, Michigan, Penn, Yale, Chicago, Northwestern, Washington U. in St. Louis, Texas, UCSD, Cornell, Brown, Penn State, Virginia
No Response: Georgetown
What would you have done differently?
I would have taken more care to keep my grades in key courses consistently high in college to avoid a few potential red flags. I would have started my math education earlier and taken more classes as an undergrad. I would have worked only 2 years as an economic consultant and timed the business cycle to avoid applying in 2009 and 2010. I would have applied last year to a few schools that just missed my 2009 list (BU, Washington, and Illinois were all nearly on it), and potentially avoided the annoyance of waiting another year. I would have done more research to discount the advice of my advisors who said I would definitely get into schools on my 2009 list. All those things said, i feel that BU is really a fabulous program for my interests, and I am very, very excited to be headed there.

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.

Saksalainen 2010:
Institution: Uppsala
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Notification date: Mar 9
Notified through: postal
Funding: ^^
Comments: "highly qualified applicants... budgetary reasons... sorry"

torres 2010:
Institution: U Washington
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Unfunded
Notification date: 3/19/2010
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Need money

tcttc 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: University in China ranked between 3-5. Econ department is not so famous.
Undergrad GPA: 3.79 overall, 3.92 last 2 years
Type of Grad: Master of economics in US university with top 20 econ department
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: V640+Q800+AW3.5
Math Courses (undergrad-level): calculus, linear algebra, ODE, probability, statistics, complex analysis, functions of real variables, stochastic process, intro to topology, abstract algebra, measure theory, numeric analysis, dynamic programming
Math Courses (grad-level): measure and probability, linear models, Functional analysis
Econ Courses (PhD-level): RA for economists , Micro 1 & 2, metrics 1,2, Metrics 3.a & b
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): primary + intermediate micro, macro and metrics sequence, several math econ courses
Other Courses: Finance 1 in B-school
Letters of Recommendation: 1 young Associate professor from UCSD (know me quite well, took class with him),
1 new hired assistant professor from Northwestern (took class with him and get an A+),
1 young associate professor from Univ of Florida (took class with him and get an A),
1 senior full professor from Harvard (my director, know me well, work with him).
None of my references are famous economists. But they are all very kind persons. Two of them think I am strong. I didn't talk with the other two too much.
Research Experience:1. undergraduate thesis (excellent thesis award),
2. 2 course projects in my first year in US.
3. worked with my director on a conference project. And finally he converted it to a working paper and put my name on it. not published and not theoretical. I feel very grateful for him to put my name on it but I didn't talk it too much in my sop.
4. Now RAing for a professor in Law school. mainly coding in R and run all kinds of regressions.
Teaching Experience:none in english, undergraduate metrics in Chinese
Research Interests: metrics theory
SOP: Pretty good I guess. Although my AW is low, I ask for help from my friend who is good at writing proposals and my directors.
Concerns: Low AW, funding
Others: TOEFL 110
Applying to: (all econ PhD) USC, U Washington, UC Davis, UT Austin, BU, Duke, NYU, Berkeley, Stanford, Northwestern, UCSD, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT
Results:
Acceptances: Duke($$), BU(waitlisted for 1st year/$$ from 2nd year), UT Austin($$), USC($$$),UC Davis(?), U Washington Seatle(asked about my other offers, then withdrew),
Rejections: NYU, Berkeley, Stanford, Northwestern, UCSD, Princeton, Yale, Harvard, MIT.

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.)

nat_resource 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS environmental science with chemistry minor from a public master's granting university
Undergrad GPA: 3.55
Type of Grad: master's in an environmental field from a well recognized program
Grad GPA: 3.8
GRE: 780Q 590V 4.0W
Math Courses: Calculus I & II, Vector Calculus I, Linear Algebra and Differential Equations I (B+ average)
Econ Courses (undergrad): intermediate micro (A)
Econ Courses (master's level): Micro I & II (B+, A), Intro Econometrics (A), Econometrics (A-), Environmental Economics (A-), Natural Resources Economics (A)
Other Courses: a lot of chemistry and environmental science, some biology
Letters of Recommendation: Two very strong letters from economists, one from an ecologist. All three are well known in their fields.
Research Experience: EPA graduate research fellowship, master's thesis
Research Interests: Natural resources and environmental, interdisciplinary environmental economics.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UC Davis ARE ($$$), Maryland AREc ($$), Wisconsin AAE ($$), UCSB (none), U Washington (none), NCSU (none)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Yale School of Forestry, Cornell AEM, UCB ARE
What would you have done differently? Not applied to NCSU. Should have thrown an application to UCSD and Michigan as reaches. Overall I did okay for someone with a limited economics background.

Refused 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 undergrad, top 10 econ - Physics and Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.4
Type of Grad: Top 10 math, non-degree
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 800q 680v 5.0aw
Math Courses: Real analysis, ODE, PDE, stats, probability (grad)
Econ Courses (grad-level):
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Advanced micro, econometrics, &c.
Other Courses: physics
Letters of Recommendation: 2 top 10 profs and one 1 top 5 PhD now in industry
Research Experience: RA one summer, economics research group at investment bank since college, 1 working paper
Teaching Experience: no
Research Interests: Macro
SOP: yes
Concerns: B- in real analysis
Other:
Applying to: NYU, NYU Stern, Wisconsin, UCLA, UCSD, Boston University, Duke, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Washington University in St. Louis, Johns Hopkins, UC Davis, Georgetown, Boston College, Penn State, UC Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, University of Washington, Virginia, Duke MA, UBC MA, Oxford MSc in Economics for Development

Econ1012011 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 U.S. Liberal Arts College. Well-respected Econ Dept but some difficulty placing people into PhDs in recent years, perhaps b/c of lack of grad classes to take and failure to keep pace with big U.S. universities and foreign universities in their emphasis on math in undergrad econ curriculum.
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
Type of Grad: M.Sc., top ten European program. 1 year of coursework, no thesis, didn't do as much of the PhD core theory sequence as I should have.
Grad GPA: 8.4/10.
GRE: 800 Q / 800 V / 6.0 W (native English speaker)
Math Courses: Calc I and II (AP credit from high school), Calc III mini course (A, at my undergrad institution), Calc III (A-, taken after my B.A. at so-so university #1, not known for econ or math, approx. rank 50), Linear Algebra I (A, taken after my B.A. at so-so university #2, not known for math, approx. rank 80), Math for Econ (A-, post-B.A., masters-level but taken at so-so university #2), Intro to Sets and Proofs and Stuff (A, taken post-M.Sc. at so-so university #1), Ordinary Differential Equations (A-, post-M.Sc., so-so university #1), Real Analysis I (A-, post-M.Sc., so-so university #1; taken fall 2010, some schools didn't allow submission of fall grades), Mathematical Statistics (B+, post-M.Sc., graduate level, so-so university #1, ditto on fall grades.) In progress: Real Analysis II, Mathematical Statistics II.
Econ Courses (grad-level): Did masters in econ. Didn't do PhD-level micro (the Mas-Colell textbook), did mostly masters-level stuff. Did PhD macro, applied micro, applied econometrics, and six standard electives (e.g. labor, public).
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Full major, 3.9/4.0. Did the most advanced international econ, development econ, and econometrics. Didn't do the most advanced micro and macro theory. Econometrics grades somewhat erratic (Intro: A+. Intermediate: B. Advanced: A-.)
Other Courses: Basic Latex, Matlab, and Maple class during Spring 2011 so no grade on transcript.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from masters who knows I wasn't the best student in the class (Princeton PhD), 1 from undergrad who adores me but didn't teach me any advanced stuff (MIT PhD), 1 former boss who is a PhD economist but not an academic (Columbia PhD).
Research Experience: One summer RA in college doing non-quant stuff, 2 years at a relatively well respected think tank (but it's not academia for sure), 3 years in research department at international organization (very applied, far from academia).
Teaching Experience: TA'ed intermediate micro and macro early in undergrad career, nothing since then.
Research Interests: international, macro labor, environment (not the most coherent storyline).
SOP: Pretty decent (this is a skill of U.S.-trained applicants, I think), but I may have expressed interest in too many different things. Was careful to mention that I know who is doing what in areas I was interested in within each department to show I was paying attention.
Concerns: Most are mentioned throughout up above. Main ones: 1. My math might look like an afterthought, and my grades are in the A- average range, not As. 2. I'm old. Too many years away from school hurts you. 3. I don't come across as focused on a coherent set of topics / tools. 4. I wasn't a rock star at my masters. Solid, but not a rock star, as I hadn't done the needed math yet when I entered that program.
Other: My list of schools is a bit odd, because I have geographic constraints (the result of being older). Also applied to a few law schools as back up, and got offer of full funding at a top school, so I have options if I don't get funding at an econ program.
Applying to: Already Rejected Yale. Still waiting (in geographic order) Harvard, MIT, Columbia, NYU, Princeton, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland, Georgetown, Duke, University of Michigan, University of Washington.

INTJ 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: State school with no PhD program - Econ/Finance
Undergrad GPA: 3.82
Type of Grad: MS. Economics at same school as Undergrad; MS Math at a top 50 Math dept.
Grad GPA: 3.79/ 3.62
GRE: 780 Q 590 V 4.5 W
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), DiffEq (B+), Analysis I, II (A,A) Number Theory (A), Abstract Algebra (A), Probability (B), Statistical Theory (B), Applied Stats II (A), Game Theory (B), Grad Analysis (fall 2011), Grad Probability (fall 2011), Grad Linear Inference (fall 2011)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Master's level: Micro I, II (A-, A), Macro (B+), Econometrics I, II (A, A), Math for Economics (A-)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): pretty much all of them
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: one from Thesis adviser, one from econometrics professor, one from a math professor. All should be solid.
Research Experience: Master's Thesis
Teaching Experience: TA for Econ and Math
Research Interests: economic theory, behavioral, the theory side of IO
SOP: Short and straightforward. Talk about my research interests and ideas.
Concerns: Unknown school, B's in Stat courses. Hopefully, I can remedy those with A's in grad courses.
Other:
Applying to: some in top 20, some in top 50, a couple outside the US.

econ2007 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: medium (roughly 30,000 students) public university
Undergrad GPA: 3.55 overall, 3.83 economics GPA
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q / 580V/ 6.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I (A), Calc II (B+), Calc III (C+), Applied Linear Algebra (C+), Numbers and Polynomials (D+), Elementary Differential Equations (C), proof-based Linear Algebra (B)
Econ Courses: Honors Principles of Microeconomics (A), Honors Principles of Macroeconomics (A), Banking Financial Markets and Monetary Theory (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Games and Decisions (B), International Trade (A), Economics of State and Local Govt (A-), Intro to Econometrics (A)
Other Courses: audited PhD Macro I
Letters of Recommendation: undergraduate advisor and professor in two classes (PhD from UNC-CH), econ prof for intermediate micro and macro (PhD from Carnegie Mellon), econ prof for econometrics (PhD from Carnegie Mellon), math prof for proof-based LA (PhD from NYU)
Research Experience: started a senior thesis, but not completed.
Teaching Experience: tutored all four years of undergrad
Research Interests: micro theory, applied micro, labor, environmental, bioeconomics
SOP: started with a template, and tailored each SOP to each schools interests and strengths (as long as there was some intersection in interests). THEY DO READ YOUR SOP.
Other: out of school for 2 years
RESULTS:
Acceptances: FSU, UGA, Colorado at Boulder, UC Irvine
Waitlists: UNC (rejected later), Illinois (rejected later),Boston College, Pitt
Rejections: UWashington, UTexas
What would you have done differently?
Let me preface by saying that my original plan was to go to law school. I didn't seriously start thinking about economics PhD until late junior year. Take as much math as possible, with good grades.

cooper 2007:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small state school, no PhD program in Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.2
Type of Grad Mid-size public uni, no PhD program in Econ
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 770 Q, 370 V, 4.5 AWA
Math Courses: Calc 1-3, Diff Eqs, Linear Alg, Operations Research (Linear programming, Integer Programming, & Dynamic Porogramming), Math Stats 1, Adv Calc 1. (All A's) Taking final semester: Adv Calc 2, Topology, Stoch Calc.
Econ Courses: Micro and Macro up to masters level, Math Econ up to masters level, Econometrics up to masters level (including regular Econometrics, Time Series, and Financial Econometrics), and Game Theory. (Two B+'s in undergrad courses and rest A's)
Other Courses: Some programming courses.
Letters of Recommendation: Strong letters from not well known Profs (two econ and one math). One more letter from a well-connected econ Prof, not sure how strong it was.
Research Experience: Research asistant for Prof for two years in masters program. Research Assistant for another Prof for one year. Completed Research paper at AEA summer program. Completed a masters research paper. Did some Matlab programming with another professor for independent study on oil and monetary poicly.
Teaching Experience: Tutor for calc 1&2 in undergrad. Tutor for Principles of Micro in undergrad.
Research Interests: Macro: RBC theory, monetary policy, oil and empirical macro
SOP: Talked about my interests and experience, and a little about the particular school.
Other: AEA summer program
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Iowa (full $$), Vandy (full $$), Indiana (full $$), Virginia ($$-?), Rutgers (no $$)
Waitlists: I guess Pitt since I emailed them and never got a decision
Rejections: Princeton, Duke, WUSTL, U Wash, Illinois, JHU
What would you have done differently? I think I found my range, but I probably should have tried some more top 30's and mayber one or two top 20's just in case.

nnweconphd 2010:
Type of Undergrad: BS in Mathematics and Economics, Top 80ish public university
Undergrad GPA: 3.5-3.6
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q, 350V, 4.0AWA
Math Courses: Calculus Sequence(A/A+), Linear Algebra(A), Discrete Math(A), Abstract Algebra(B), Geometry(A), Real Analysis(A), Graph Theory(A), Intro to Statistics(A-), Probability Theory(B), Differential Equations(In progress), Optimization(In progress)
Econ Courses (Undergraduate): Intro Micro(A-), Intro Macro(B), Intermediate Micro(A-), Intermediate Macro(A), Econometrics(A-), some others, grades vary, two A+, one B+, and one C+(sigh), three in progress
Econ Courses (Graduate): None
Letters of Recommendation: I don't think any of them is really well known and I actually have no idea how the letters are.
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: Tutor math and hold review sessions
Research Interests: Micro theory, econometrics, international
Concern:
1.Bad GRE Verbal and writing grade. I am international and graduating in three years with double major so I didn't have time preparing for the test. I might have been better off taking a TOFEL test at least to show that I don't have trouble with English.
2.Bad Econ grades. My econ gpa should be around 3.5, very bad. I even got a C+ in one course. I was too aggressive and took too many courses each semester which resulted in bad grade.
3.LORs. I had a hard time finding professors that can write me good letters. I rarely talked with econ professors but spent more time in the math department. So I don't think the letters were good.
4.No research experience, not even senior thesis
RESULTS:
Acceptances:None
Rejections: Cornell, Brown, UW-Madison, UPitt, BU,UW-Seattle, UCI(they said my GRE Verbal was too low and it's not likely that I be accepted)
Pending: Purdue
What would you have done differently?
Except for the listings above under Concern, I would have done some more research before choosing schools, say, at least wouldn't have put UCI on the list since they are strict with students' verbal and TOFEL grades. I would also have applied to a larger number of schools and put some more safeties.
It's a very disappointing result but I am not despair. I am not waiting for Purdue and I've decided to stay at school for one more year to take some graduate level econ courses to convince adcoms that I can do well in economics. Hopefully with the grades of current semester and next fall, my GPA can go up a little bit. And my summer might mostly be contributed to GRE Verbal and AWA.

EconForeThought 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. in Managerial Economics and an Ag/Bio subject from a UC school
Undergrad GPA: 3.35, 3.65 in econ
Type of Grad: M.S. Agricultural and Resource Economics from a UC School
Grad GPA: 3.8
GRE: 780Q, 560V, 4.5AWA
Math Courses: Calculus I-III, Linear Algebra, Adv Calc (RA I), RAII, 3 Stats courses
Econ Courses (PhD-level): Probability Theory, Metrics I (IP at application)
Econ Courses (masters-level): Micro Theory I, Micro II (IP at application)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to Micro/Macro, Inter Macro/Micro, Marketing, Metrics, Optimization, Production Management, Real Estate Econ, Econ Sustainability, Finance I,II, Accounting I,II
Other Courses: Many agricultural, biosci, chem, etc. classes
Letters of Recommendation: 1UC Davis ARE, 1 U Minn, 1 NCSU
Research Experience: Geology research, Wine sensory RA, ARE GSR for two qtrs now
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Ag econ, Resource/energy Econ, Sustainability, IO, Micro ...
SOP: Rewriting from last year
Concerns: Not as much math as many, low overall UG GPA, applying with only a quarter's of M.S. grades in
Other: Applied to and got into 3 PhD programs and 1 M.S. program last cycle. One year M.S. and reapplying this cycle.
RESULTS:
Attending: UC Berkeley ARE
Acceptances: UC Berkeley ARE, U Colorado Econ, U Minn Applied Econ
Rejections: U Wash Econ, U Maryland AREc, Cornell AEM, UCSD (implied)
Withdrawn: UC Davis ARE
What would you have done differently? Not be pre-med starting college and know I wanted to do econ from the beginning, but hindsight is 20/20. I got into my dream school (this year with funding) so that regret isn't really a big deal for me in terms of acceptances, more in terms of that I wish I had more math and statistics in my core curriculum. I believe getting my masters really helped me this cycle in terms of securing funding and getting a better math foundation.

econometrix 2011:
Institution: University of Washington
Program: PhD, Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: n/a
Notification date: 03/11
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: Kinda thought I had a shot here
Institution: Northwestern University
Program: PhD, Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: n/a
Notification date: 03/04
Notified through: Application status page
Posted on GF: no
Comments: Expected to be rejected but worth a shot
Institution: Brown
Program: PhD, Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: n/a
Notification date: 03/11
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: Expected to be rejected but worth a shot

Gouverneur 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics, minor in Mathematics (Rutgers: >50 econ department)
Undergrad GPA: 2.9 (cumulative of four colleges); 3.7 (school I will graduate from)
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 161Q, 159V, 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Intro Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Intro to Proofs, Probability Theory, (Abstract) Linear Algebra, Intro Real Analysis
Econ Courses: Intro/Intermediate Micro/Macro, Econometrics, Industrial Organization, Financial Economics, Market Discipline, Development, Game Theory
Other Courses: intro stats
Letters of Recommendation: All 3 from econ professors who I took 1-2 classes with
Research Experience: none
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: game theory, io, labor, development
SOP: brief
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Warwick, Oregon, Western Ontario ($), Cornell ($$)
Waitlists: Washington
Rejections: Tilburg, Queen's, Cemfi
Attending: Cornell
What would you have done differently?
For undergrad studies, not failing out of college twice would've been better. Also, it would've been nice to have taken more than two econ classes before the spring semester of my junior year. For the application process, I should've applied to more schools. But I am very pleased with the school I will be attending.

wantchi 2012:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5, Top 5 Econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.58
Type of Grad: A few courses at a top 5 program while working
Grad GPA: 3.33
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 4.0W
Math Courses: Real Analysis (B+,A,A-), Abstract Algebra (A,B), Complex Analysis (B+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics (B,B) Microeconometrics (A), Game Theory (B-)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (B,A-), Intermediate Macro (B,B+), Game Theory (A)
Other Courses: Stat Methods and Applications (A), Stat Theory and Methods (A-, A-), Mathematical Probability (A-), Applied Linear Statistical Methods (Grad Course, B+), Categorical Data (A), Probability Models (Grad Course, A)
Letters of Recommendation: Best from Professor in Top 20f IDEAS rankings, 2 very strong letters from well published economists at a regional Fed (each program received only one of these), 1 decent letter ("He got an A in my class which was a tough class") from a Very Famous economist ("just" top 50n IDEAS but a big name)
Research Experience: Lots. Undergrad Honors Thesis Paper, 2 Years as an undergrad, 2+ years at a regional Fed. Coauthored paper accepted at a good journal and several other coauthored projects in the works.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Inequality, Labor, Econometrics, Public
SOP: Individualized to each school. Mentioned a few professors whose research I'm interested in.
Concerns: Grades (obviously!).
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NWU (Fellowship starting 2nd year), Wisconsin ($$), Harris School of Public Policy ($$), UCL MSc
Waitlists: Penn (Rejected), UCLA (Withdrew), Maryland (Withdrew), Washington (Withdrew)
Rejections: Chicago, Booth, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, NYU, Berkeley, Michigan, UCSD
Attending: Harris School of Public Policy
What would you have done differently?
I'm actually quite happy with how things worked out. The Harris School is a perfect fit for my research interests. I am really excited about every aspect of the program. It is more flexible than most econ programs, so they are letting me take whichever Econ department courses I want, but I can skip the one's I'm not interested in (i.e. Macro). Now, I just need to prove that you can get a job coming out of a policy school!
I probably would have done better for myself by taking 2nd year courses while working instead of the core econometrics courses. The grading would have been less brutal (decently high above median = B) and I would have been able to talk to the professors more and maybe gotten a better letter.

anibalem 2012:
Institution: University of Rochester
Program: PhD Finance
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification 2/23/12
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GC: No

3ohto4oh 2009:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, large top 25 U.S. Public research university
Undergrad GPA: 3.0 (rounding up LOL)
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics, terminal degree within department
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 790Q, 570V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II (AP credits), Math Stats (A), Discrete Math (A), Math for econ (undergrad and grad, A, A)
Econ Courses: Tons. Sloppy undergrad grades, All A's in MA.
Other Courses: Random stuff like Japanese
Letters of Recommendation: 3 professors of econ
Research Experience: MA thesis, submitted for publication (fingers crossed!)
Teaching Experience: Tutoring
Research Interests: Macro, applied macro, forecasting.
SOP: Suggested a couple of potential research topics.
Concerns: No serious math courses hurt me in applications, could make things more difficult in my studies.
RESULTS:
Attending: City University of New York, Graduate Center. $18k "Enhanced Chancellor's Fellowship," guaranteed for 5 years.
Admitted, Declined: American U ($-WL), Northeastern U ($$), Suffolk U ($), and the New School ()
Waitlists: Boston C, U Washington, U North Carolina, Georgetown U
Rejections: Johns Hopkins U, U Maryland, Boston U, George Washington U, Michigan U
What would you have done differently?
Very happy with this outcome. I spread my applications far and wide, so I am sure that I got into the best program that I could have - and then I fell in love with CUNY on a campus visit. As for advice to others, I have a huge hole in my transcript where there should have been upper-level math courses, and I should have corrected that.

irancontra 2009:
PROFILE:
Type of Grad: BS in Economics Liberal Arts University
Grad GPA: Summa Cum Laude
GRE: 770Q, 630V, 5.0 AWA
Letters of Recommendation: 3 undergraduate econ professors (1 well known)
Research Experience: None
Teaching Experience: Undergraduate TA
Research Interests: development, resource economics, remittances.
SOP: pretty standard
Concerns: I have been out of academics for 5 years. Two spent working abroad in development, not the Peace Corps, and 3 in business.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCSB, UCSC
Rejections: ASU
Waiting: Stanford, U Washington, U Oregon, UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Riverside (Masters), USC (Masters), UCSD, U Arizona

wheretogo1 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Big 10 School - top 50 undergrad
Undergrad GPA: 3.9/4.0
GRE: 800Q/550V/4.5Writing
Math Courses: multivariable calculus, linear algebra, probability theory, real analysis (2 semesters), abstract algebra, topology
Econ Courses: intermediate micro, intermediate macro, econometrics, game theory, labor, international
Other Courses: java programming
Letters of Recommendation: 2 from institution (one advised me during research paper), 1 from current boss (who is a professor at a top 5 program)
Research Experience: junior year research project, 3 years at a public policy thinktank
Teaching Experience: tutored calculus at college.... does that count?
Research Interests: applied micro, labor, public econ, but open to anything really
SOP: Not great, not terrible
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Maryland, Virginia, Texas
Rejections: Berkeley, Yale, nwestern, columbia, mich, wisconsin, cornell, carnegie mellon, penn state, illinois, duke, UCSD
Wait lists: BU, Uwashington, Upenn, Minnesota
What would you have done differently?
Build closer relations with economics faculty at my undergrad institution. My rec letters were not as strong as others.

mikekohyw 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad:BS in Business at private top-25 school
Undergrad GPA:3.62, 4.0 in econ courses
Type of Grad:MA in econ at Public Master's univ.
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 800Q/630V/4.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc 1-3, Intro linear alg and diff equations (all A's), math probability, linear algebra, proofs (all A's; completed in Fall 2010), real analysis, math stats (in progress, will complete by Spring 2011)
Econ Courses (grad level): MA Macro, Micro, econometrics (all A's), time series (B+, Fall 2010), research methods (A, Fall 2010)
Econ Courses (undergrad level): Basic and intermediate macro/micro, econometrics, math econ, macroecon and growth (all A's)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: 4 econ professors from master's program
Research Experience: Master's thesis (Still in progress), 1 year as graduate assistant
Teaching Experience: 1 year as econ tutor
Research Interests: Not sure yet...leaning towards applied micro/development
SOP: Probably not well-written as indicated by the results...
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Houston ($$$), UC Santa Cruz ($$), Hawaii (waitlist $)
Waitlists: Rice, Washington
Rejections: Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UT-Austin, Vanderbilt, USC
Pending: Texas A&M
Attending: Houston
What would you have done differently? Taking more math courses in undergrad. I've spent 2 years in grad school trying to catch up the math courses, as I have no math courses under my belt in college. Apparently, I still fell short of the top-50 programs after 2 years of preparation. Since I spent most of the time playing catch-up, I could not start to do some research of my own as I was too occupied with course works. That probably hurts my profile as well. Overall, I would say if I could choose again, I will definitely not do the garbage degree called business administration in my undergrad years.

LameDuck 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS Mathematics, Physics Minor @ state university
Undergrad GPA: 3.24/4.00 (3.8ish Math)
Type of Grad: First year of Mathematics MS @ same university
Grad GPA: 4.0/4.0
GRE: 800Q 700V 3.5AW
Math Courses: Around 20 -- Topology, Grad Analysis Sequence, Grad Algebra Sequence, a few Linear Algebra courses, DiffEQ, Stat Theory, Programming/Applied courses, etc.; mostly A's
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro (A+), Intermediate Macro (A+); both taken as a non-degree student after my BS
Other Courses: Programming (Java), Physics courses (Mechanics, Circuit Design, Math Modeling, etc.)
Letters of Recommendation: Good(great?) letters from 3 math professors who are somewhat known in the math world -- I really had no access to econ letters
Research Experience: Math research (Approximation Theory)
Teaching Experience: One year as a TA for Calc. III, and one year as an Algebra instructor while I was in the MS program
Research Interests: International Macro, Development, Game Theory -- admittedly, I'm not entirely certain which route I'll go.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Iowa($$), Boston U.(MA), Pitt(unfunded) <-- deferred from 2010
Waitlists: U. Washington - Seattle
Rejections: Columbia, Minnesota, UPenn, Boston U. (PhD), Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Maryland, UWO, Wisconsin
What would you have done differently?
This year was my full-court shot at some high ranked programs; I already held a deferred offer from Pitt. In retrospect, I might not have applied to some of the places that weren't really a good fit for me -- live and learn.
If I had it all to do over again? Well, I'd be a less capricious youngster, perform better in the first years of my undergrad, and I'd realize an interest in economics earlier than a few years ago. That being said, I'm happy where I am, but I wouldn't recommend my circuitous route to anyone; the hope is that experience matters, no?
Given my lack of access to econ reference writers and my nontraditional background, I think I did alright for myself. The fact that I missed out on funding at Pitt this year gave me a scare, but I got into another program that I heavily targeted.

centralbanker 2011:
Institution: Rochester
Program: Economics (PhD)
Decision: rejected
Notification date: 2/22/2011
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: I should be disappointed or feeling dejected, but all I keep thinking is thank goodness I've finally heard something!

Gouverneur 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics, minor in Mathematics (Rutgers: >50 econ department)
Undergrad GPA: 2.9 (cumulative of four colleges); 3.7 (school I will graduate from)
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 161Q, 159V, 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Intro Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Intro to Proofs, Probability Theory, (Abstract) Linear Algebra, Intro Real Analysis
Econ Courses: Intro/Intermediate Micro/Macro, Econometrics, Industrial Organization, Financial Economics, Market Discipline, Development, Game Theory
Other Courses: intro stats
Letters of Recommendation: All 3 from econ professors who I took 1-2 classes with
Research Experience: none
Teaching Experience: none
Research Interests: game theory, io, labor, development
SOP: brief
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Warwick, Oregon, Western Ontario ($), Cornell ($$)
Waitlists: Washington
Rejections: Tilburg, Queen's, Cemfi
Attending: Cornell
What would you have done differently?
For undergrad studies, not failing out of college twice would've been better. Also, it would've been nice to have taken more than two econ classes before the spring semester of my junior year. For the application process, I should've applied to more schools. But I am very pleased with the school I will be attending.

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.

ptf 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics (Minor: Mathematics) from an unknown SE Asian university (Top 2 in my unknown country)
Undergrad GPA: 3.83 (Econ: 3.76, Math: 3.81)
Type of Grad: MSc Economics from a Top 3 UK university
Grad GPA: Pass (Average: 58.5%)
GRE: 800Q/320V/3.5AW, 800Q/500V/3.0AW
Math Courses (Undergrad): Calculus 1-3 (A, B+, A), Logic and Set Theory (A), Abstract Algebra (B+), Linear Algebra (A), Ordinary Differential Equation (A), Partial Differential Equation (A), Mathematical Analysis (B+), Vector Analysis (A), Statistics 1-2 (A, B+)
Econ Courses (Undergrad): Principles of Microeconomics (A), Principles of Macroeconomics (A), Microeconomic Theory (A), Macroeconomic Theory (B+), Mathematical Economics 1-2 (B, A), Econometrics 1-2 (B, B+), Public Economics 1-2 (A, B+), Seminar in Public Economics (A), International Economics 1-2 (B+, A), Seminar in International Economics (A), Monetary Economics 1-2 (A, A), Industrial Organization (A), Agricultural Marketing (B+)
Econ Courses (Grad): Microeconomics (Merit), Macroeconomics (Merit), Econometrics (Pass), Public Economics (Pass)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from senior lecturer at my grad program (PhD Harvard) + 1 from assistant professor at my undergrad program (PhD ANU) + 1 from lecturer at my undergrad program (PhD Indiana)
Research Experience: 2 years of part-time RA in public economics and international economics during my undergrad
Teaching Experience: 2 semesters of TA in microeconomics during my undergrad
Research Interests: public finance, education, inequality, macroeconomics
SOP: Standard statement talking about my preparations, explaining bad grades in my master's degree, and describing my research interests with some (minor) modifications for each school (Not so specific in terms of research topics and hardly mentioned any particular names)
Other: (1) Participated in a summer internship at the central bank (2) Got funding for my graduate studies from the government scholarship (3) Had a second bachelors in political science and is currently doing a second masters in political theory
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Chicago
Waitlists: Pennsylvania, UC-Davis, Washington
Rejections: UC-Berkeley, Northwestern, Columbia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, UCLA, UCSD, Duke, CMU, Marryland, Rochester, UT-Austin, Oxford, UCL
Pending: UIUC
Attending: Chicago
What would you have done differently?
Well, I've always thought that my life would be much easier if I did my undergrad in the US. Anyway, I'm more than happy -- and very surprised -- with this bizarre result.
Some advices from my experience!
If you're from an unknown country, a master's degree from a well-known program does help a lot! Coming from a university outside the US, you'll get more chance if there've been some students from that university in a program to which you are apllying. Also, things get easier if you've got external funding. Another important thing is to note that all this process is extremely subjective; therefore, you should apply to quite a wide range of schools. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, pray hard... I think it helps!