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Segan 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Large Canadian University, not very well known for economics
Undergrad GPA: 4.0
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800 Q/570 V/5.0 AW
Math Courses: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Probability/Stats for Economists, Mathematical Economics I and II (all A+)
Econ Courses: Econometrics I (grad); Intro to econometrics; Microeconomics I, II, and III; Macroeconomics I, II, and III; Environmental Economics, Economic Growth, Cost-Benefit Analysis (all A+).
Other Courses: 2 geomatics courses (1 in geostatistics), a minor in political science
Letters of Recommendation: 1 full professor, 1 assistant professor, and 1 associate professor. The full professor is a star in the department, but I doubt any will have major name recognition.
Research Experience: At the time of my application, this was a concern. I have 2 interesting research experiences in the private and public sectors related to policy, but had not worked on a strictly economics related project. Since applying, I have taken a directed research job with a professor at our department.
Teaching Experience: NA
Research Interests: Environmental economics, developmental economics
SOP: Elaborated on the contents of the mathematical economics courses I took, particularly because mathematical economics II covers the basics of real analysis and forces us to write some basic proofs.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Brown ($$), Maryland AREC ($$), UBC MA ($$), LSE MA, Cambridge MA
Waitlists: MIT
Rejections: Berkeley AREC, Columbia, Stanford
Pending: Queen's MA
What would you have done differently?
Definitely more math, and would have chosen my undergraduate institution more carefully. I am currently unsure about whether I should spend a year to upgrade math courses and take an MA in Canada, or to take what are good options at Brown/Maryland.

SubEffect 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 US liberal arts college.
Undergrad GPA: overall 3.89, with about the same in econ/math and a strong upwards trend since freshman year
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800 Q 720V 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Modeling (A), Math Stats I (A), Math Stats II (A), Differential Equations (A), Data Analysis (A), Real Analysis (B+), Topics in Analysis: Dynamical Systems (A+), Senior Research Project (A) [freshman year: Honors Linear Algebra (P), Honors Multivariable Calc (B)]
Econ Courses (PhD-level): NA
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (A), Advanced Micro (A/A-), Intermediate Econometrics (B+), Adv Econometrics (A), Polit Econ of Africa (A), Economic Development (A+/A), Public Policy Evaluation (A), Experimental Economics (A+), Behavioral Economics (A), Senior Research Project (A+), [freshman year: Int. Macro (A-), International Polit Econ. (A-)]
Other Courses: Nothing too useful, except for Comp Sci (A+).
Letters of Recommendation: 1) prof with MIT PhD, took two high level classes with and talked a lot about research ideas; 2) assistant prof with Berkeley PhD, did independent research and took three classes with; 3) prof at top policy school who I worked for. From my NSF feedback, it sounds like they were all good, though the ones from my undergrad profs were probably stronger.
Research Experience: JPAL field RA for a year; RA for a prof at a top 5 econ for a summer; did independent research project with a prof at my school; thesis for my math major, which won best paper award in department; separate thesis-like econ paper, which won best paper award in my department
Teaching Experience: TA for Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Econometrics
Research Interests: Development, Behavioral, Auctions, tons of different applied micro topics
Statement of purpose: Probably fine.
Other: Can't think of anything
RESULTS:
Attending: Yale
Acceptances: NSF, Yale ($$, off waitlist), Berkeley ($, off waitlist), Cornell ($), Brown ($)
Waitlists: MIT, Chicago Booth, Columbia
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, NYU
What would you have done differently? I spent a long time thinking about this, especially the painful stretch between the first wait list and getting the NSF. My school has had really good placement in the past, and my profs had been pretty excited about my chances at top 5 schools, so letting them down was a bit of a bummer. With another year at JPAL, especially at the Cambridge office, or taking real analysis 2 to get the A , maybe I could have been a contender at M/H? Still, I'm pretty eager to start working on my own research, so wouldn't have wanted to take more time off beforehand; this also lets me be near my girlfriend, which is a high priority. The one thing I would change is to apply to more business PhD programs, but Yale was my third choice behind the Cambridge schools, so I am very happy to be going there. Since they do a lot of behavioral/dev combined, it might even be a better fit for my interests than the others.
A couple of people have asked for advice on the NSF. It didn't end up helping me too much with admission (since Yale would have worked out anyway), so I feel kind of bad getting it when it might have helped someone else, but it did get me into Berkeley. Jeeves and others have a lot of good things to say, so I'll just focus on three things.
First, working at JPAL/doing a proposal on development topics is clearly a huge advantage. JPAL produced at least 200f the NSF's this year, which is just absurd. All three my reviewers mentioned it, and two included it in their comments on both intellectual merit and broader impacts. Second, don't be bashful about multiple applications. I put out feelers in a proposal last year, and the comments were extremely helpful in succeeding this time around. Even if you're rushing to finish it, you'll be able to get a sense of what they think of your idea. Third, just follow their criteria for broader impacts. In your personal statement, you can dedicate a paragraph to each one individually; make their lives easier in checking off excellent for each one. Non-econ related things, such as tutoring or mentoring other students is looked upon favorably, especially if you plan to continue doing so. Also, make sure to devote some substantial part of your research proposal to broader impacts, they look for that too: I had the final half page be just about ways that my proposal could be broadly applied. If you can tie in broader impacts in any way, do it.

thewhiterabbit 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: MIT, SB Economics, SB Political Science, LSE study abroad (General Course)
Undergrad GPA: 4.8/5.0 overall and across both majors (converts directly to 3.8/4.0). All 1st class marks on exams at LSE (4.0/4.0).
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 790Q 660V ?AWA
Math Courses: Statistics (AP), Single Variable Calculus (AP BC), Multivariable Calculus (P under P/no record - mandatory for first term), Principles of Econometrics (LSE advanced intro course, known in UK to be very hard, 1st/A), Differential Equations (credit by advanced standing, B), Linear Algebra (audited), Introduction to Analysis (pending, ~60hance A, 40hance B)
Econ Courses (grad-level): International Economics I (A), Politics and Economics (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (grad Varian, A), Game Theory (A), Intermediate Macro (B), Econ Research (A), Public Economics (LSE: 1st/A), Development (A), Principles of Micro (B), Principles of Macro (A)
Other Courses: Political Science degree, French concentration
Letters of Recommendation: 3 very recognizable names in my field. They all mentor the very top students regularly (since I'm at MIT) so it is somewhat hard for me to gauge strength of two of them. (I feel a little like a medium sized fish in a big pond)
Research Experience: Oodles: part time RA all through undergrad, full time RA since 2007. ~2 years field work. Speak Indonesian fluently. No journal publications. AAA+ Stata programmer. Best thesis award for political science thesis.
Teaching Experience: After school teacher for middle schoolers, test prep.
Research Interests: Development, behavioral, health
SOP: Have a lot of material to work with, will condense three NSF essays
Concerns: The obvious, math preparation. That I haven't had the chance to coauthor (just hasn't been an option) but some other people in RA jobs do. That I've been out of school longer than most people similar to me.
Other: I've done some cool work in technology innovation that is somewhat relevant to economics and which I wrote about for NSF. I'm really happy with my NSF app (and have been told by profs who are historically very honest with me that it was good).
Applying to:
Funding: NSF
Econ: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, NYU, Chicago, LSE, Columbia, Brown, UCLA, Caltech, UCSD, Oxford, BU, UMD, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UCL, Georgetown, BC
Other: Berkeley (ARE), Stanford (GSB), Chicago (GSB), Harvard (Public Policy), HSPH Economics

dontneedamodel 2011:
Institution: Brown
Program: Economics PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: 20.5k stipend +3.5k summer stipend + tuition waiver, health insurance, etc.
Notification date: 3/18/11
Notified through: Email to check Website, letter posted
Posted on GC: No
Comments: First fully funded offer!! I can't believe it!!!!!

JRav 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Math, Economics; MA Math (haven't graduated yet) Top 15 US, Top 25 Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.91/4.0
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: 4.0/4.0
GRE: 800 Q, 620 V, 6 AW
Math Courses: Honors Multivariable Calculus (A+), Honors Linear Algebra (A-), Differential Equations (A), Complex Analysis (A), Honors Analysis I (A), Honors Analysis II (A-), Number Theory (A+), Topology (A), Abstract Algebra I (A+), Abstract Algebra II (A-), Differential Geometry (A-), Graduate Real Variables (A), Graduate Microlocal Analysis (A), Graduate Abstract Algebra (A), Graduate Partial Differential Equations (A), Graduate Algebraic Topology (A+), Graduate Complex Variables (in progress), Probability & Statistics (A+)
Econ Courses: Elements of Macro (A), Elements of Micro (A), Monetary Analysis (A+), Macro Theory (A), Financial Markets and Institutions (A), Econometrics (A+), Graduate Macro I (A), Graduate Micro Theory I (A+), Graduate Macro Theory II (in progress), Graduate Micro Theory II (in progress), Corporate Finance (in progress), Economic Forecasting (in progress), Senior Thesis (in progress)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: Thesis adviser whom I had for two classes (Ph.D. from MIT, among top 1% most cited economists), Professor I had for graduate macro (Ph.D. from Northwestern, among top 7% most cited), Fairly well-known math professor I had for three grad math courses (Ph.D. from Princeton)
Research Experience: Senior Thesis (in progress)
Teaching Experience: Teaching Assistant for Calculus I and II
Research Interests: Macro, Monetary Economics, Finance (?)
SOP: Talked about my senior thesis, my coursework, and department macro seminars I attended. Threw in a paragraph for each school. Solid.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Princeton ($$$), Stanford ($$$)
Waitlists: MIT, Chicago (in with funding any other year they say), Michigan (same as Chicago)
Rejections: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, Brown
Pending:
What would you have done differently? I didn't take an economics course until I was a sophomore so I guess I would have started sooner, which would have allowed me to take more grad econ courses. I might have also pushed harder for a research opportunity. But I'm not complaining about Princeton vs. Stanford...

burkaru 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Computer Science
Undergrad GPA: 3.33
Type of Grad: Economics
Grad GPA: 3.4 (when applied, now 3.6)
GRE: Q 800, V 340, AW 3.0
Math Courses:
undergrad: Calculus (C), Linear Algebra (C), Probability Theory (C), Discrete Math (C), Methods of Optimization (C), Advanced probability (A), Advanced statistics (A), Stochastic processes (A), Applied probability theory (A), Advanced discrete math (A), Differential eq's (B), Eq's of math physics (B), Introductory calculus of approximations (C), Advanced calculus of approximations (B), Game theory (A), Econometrics (A), Methods of univariate statistical analysis (A)
grad: probability (B), statistics (A-), econometrics (1 B, 2 B-, 3 B+, 4 B-), math for economists (1 B, 2 B+), game theory (A)
Econ Courses:
undergrad: Economics (A), Macromodels (1 A, 2 A)
grad: Macroeconomics (1 A-, 2 B, 3 A-, 4 B+, 5 A-, 6 A-), Microeconomics (1 B-, 2 A-, 3 A, 4 A, 5 A), Financial markets (B+), Derivatives (A-), World Economic History (A+)
Other Courses: a lot of computer science stuff (grades A and B), sociology (A), history (A), philosophy (B)
Letters of Recommendation: from 2 scientific advisors (good?), strong from economic history professor, one from professor in microeconomics (probably weak?)
Research Experience: no
Teaching Experience: no when applied (yes right now)
Research Interests: macro, political science
SOP: why I love economics, my strong side, research interests, current research
Other: TOEFL 91, IELTS 7.5
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UCLA, BU, Wisconsin-Madison
Rejections: UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Brown, Cornell
What would you have done differently? instead of professor in microeconomics asked about recommendation well-known professor in political science

SASsy 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small Public U (~12K UG & G) comparable to liberal arts college; top 5 party school
Undergrad GPA: 3.38 overall, 3.81 econ, 3.76 Spanish, 3.35 intl studies
Type of Grad: same as UG
Grad GPA: 3.50
GRE: 800Q/760V/4.5W (12/2010)...but 700Q/700V/3.5W (11/2010 - obviously I had to study harder)
Math Courses: Cal I (B), Cal II-IV (As), Foundations (B), Linear Algebra I (B), Intro to Stat Methods (B), Differential Equations I (A), Intro to Math Stats (A), Advanced Cal I-II (As)
Econ Courses: Honors Principles Micro (A), Honors Principles Macro (A), Int Micro (A), Int Macro (B), Honors Global Econ (A), International Trade (A), Game Theory (A), Managerial (A), Econ for Engineers (B), Econ Stats II (A)
Grad Econ Courses: all taken with PhD students, Micro I (A), Macro I (B), Econometrics I (A), Price Theory (A), Managerial (A), IO (A), Math Econ (A), Econ History (A), Math Methods for Econ (B), Stat Methods for Econ and Business (B), three Econ seminars, and a course that I failed 5 years ago due to very odd circumstances...hence the low grad GPA.
Other Courses: 6 senior history courses, 2 senior sociology courses, 1 law school course, several heterodox courses (polisci/history/sociology/philosophy/law) for intl studies; lots of language courses, including graduate level spanish (but other languages as well)
Letters of Recommendation: I used a mix of 5 professors, to reduce the burden on them. 1 prof recommended me to all schools with what I assume was a very strong letter of recommendation. I asked all of my grad-level theory professors (micro, macro, metrics) plus the two professors I had written research papers for (and who had taught many electives to me). None were extraordinarily well-known (to my knowledge) but knew me very well and knew my understanding of applications of econ.
Research Experience: My Formal experience was very limited; At time of application I had just accepted RA job at a university, in an unfamiliar field. Otherwise, had collected my own data for papers and had done all research independently.
Teaching Experience: TA for campus-wide service during MA, more like a math tutor; tutored for 8 years
Research Interests: micro/labor/health, IO, public finance, behavioral, development...isn't it all related on some level?
SOP: It was ever-evolving. The "best" SOP (the one that yielded my Chicago acceptance) was very professional, very direct, and discussed all research papers I had written previously. The others talked more about my one big idea. I also took a more "persuasive" tone in them. All mentioned that I want to teach.
Other: I have won several scholarships and fellowships in the past, for which I think I provided a pretty good ROR on the investment. I also worked 40 hours/week for the last 3 years while bringing my grades up significantly. During this time I made sure to be one of the top, if not the top, students in each class. (Except macro. Damn.) Also my Chicago writing sample was a paper in which I disproved my undergraduate thesis.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Chicago with level one fellowship
Waitlists: Rice
Rejections: Harvard, NYU, Princeton, Northwestern, UT-Austin, Rochester, Georgetown, Duke, Maryland, Cornell, Brown, UVA and LSE
Incomplete: Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Melon, American, George Mason
What would you have done differently?
This is a difficult topic. Obviously I did something right. I also did many things wrong. Points (1) and (2) are changes that would've made me an entirely different person. These are more like life lessons, that required trial and error with my own life to discover. On the other hand, I like to think that if I had only enacted (3) and (4) from below, I would have had a much better application season in spite of my past.
(1) I would have taken my academic destiny into my own hands years ago. I let my course load and academic interests be chosen by well-meaning advisers instead of determining what I actually wanted to learn. Thus I was disinterested in many of my courses, and I underperformed. I also let exogenous factors affect my grades too much. I would have been more mature about accepting life's hardships rather than taking a few semesters to mope about it. I would not have partied so much.
(2) I would have been proactive about research with professors. This problem started with my undergrad thesis. I continually chose "interesting" rather than "executable" topics. My adviser at the time encouraged me to be intellectually curious. I should have asked to continue research under his specialty so the paper would have been easier. Instead, I spent the past 6 years chasing down data about a seemingly irrelevant topic. It makes me unique to have this expertise, but it also makes me OLD.
(3) I would not have experimented with my SOP. Really, what the hell was I thinking? I could've been shut out entirely this year. Clearly I am a strong candidate, but I really shot myself in the foot with the changes I made to my SOP at the end of December. While the SOP may not help an applicant, it surely can hurt him/her; I am a good example. I should've been professional, straightforward, and commanding in all of the SOPs.
(4) I would have planned to rock the GRE by mid fall. I cut it really close by taking the GRE in November and then again in mid December. If I had given myself a little more study time between the two exams, I think I could've aced the verbal and significantly improved my AWA. I took the exam late because I didn't expect to do so well, preventing myself from the possibility of applying to many excellent schools. I applied to Harvard at the last minute, and it was the only Dec. 15 deadline I met. I like to think that if I had taken more time to prepare that application, I'd be going to Cambridge in the fall.
Note: I would not have changed my initial course of study or UG institution. I believe that my background gives me a true appreciation for economics, and without it, I'd be a physicist (true story). I tried out the other social sciences first, as I chased down my interests in foreign cultures and varying governance systems. Writing research papers for other social science courses left me utterly frustrated because I could never prove what I said. My senior thesis left me utterly dissatisfied. Enter economics. It was a natural fit for my data and research. I am proud to say that I am passionate about economics.

LAecon 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: International Student, Joint Econ and Math + Computer Science double major at a top US Econ PhD granting school. (Transferred in Junior Year from no name east coast business school)
Undergrad GPA: 3.9
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA:N/A
GRE: 790 Q, 590 V, 3.5 AWA / 740 Q, 610 V, 3.0 AWA
Math Courses: At business school: Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Calc I-III, Intro to Prob and Statistics (All A's). At PhD school: Analysis I (A), Probability and Statistics (B), Topology (A), Scientific Computing (A), Analysis II (Current Semester)
Econ Courses: At business school: Intro Micro/Macro, Intermediate Micro/Macro, Money and Banking (All A's). At PhD School: Intro to Econometrics (A-), Public Econ (A), Africa in the world Economy (A), International Econ (A), Advanced Macroeconomics and Finance (A).
Other Courses: Whole Computer Science Major (As(, Plus Honors Thesis (A and Current Semester)
Letters of Recommendation: Great (I expect) one from a really well known economist who I've taken classes and worked for. Great one from political scientist I've worked for and are currently trying to get a paper published with. I have no idea one from the chair of my department who didn't know me that well.
Research Experience: Worked the whole summer for my main letter writter, a really well known economist, also for my number two letter, will end up coauthoring a paper with him. Writing my own honors thesis.
Teaching Experience: Nothing.
Research Interests: Macro, DSGE, Finance, Development and International.
SOP: Pretty bland, just changed Universities and sometimes faculty I'm interested in. One page and a half. Actually sent a couple in with a small grammatical mistake. Talked about my research experiences, a little bit about my interests, and about my thesis.
Other:
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UPenn ($$$), Minn ($$$), UCLA ($$), Duke ($$$).
Waitlists: Carnegie Mellon
Rejections: Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Northwestern, Chicago, Booth, Stanford GSB, Brown, NYU, Princeton, Stern and Yale.
Pending:
What would you have done differently?
The only thing in my opinion that could have gotten me into higher ranked places in my opinion would have been to get a better third letter of recommendation, which is something that I could have done in my department in retrospect; or a master's abroad. This last one IMO, is not worth my time, as I got into great schools.
I will make a post in the Getting into PhD's from low ranked schools thread, but I hope my example here shows that if you care about the two years you will invest in a masters and will not get funding, if you have the grades try to transfer to a department with a good PhD. From my previous department I wouldn't have been able to enter a top 50 place. My money / time was better invested in an undergrad where access to great economists is commonplace.

Integral 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Math & Econ, top-30 US undergrad
Undergrad GPA: 3.7 overall; 3.5 in math; 4.0 in econ, or near enough
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 790Q 640V 5.5AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-II-III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Probability, Advanced Calculus, Real Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Topology
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, lots of field courses, PhD Micro I
Other Courses: nothing special; a few programming classes
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from thesis advisor; 1 from honors director & RA supervisor; 1 from a course instructor. All quite good, I think. Two of the three are reasonably well-known.
Research Experience: Honors thesis (money/macro), RA for one summer (trade), RA for a private research firm for one summer
Teaching Experience: Six semesters of teaching Intro Micro, Intro Macro, and Intro Stats.
Research Interests: Social Choice Theory, Mechanism Design, Monetary Economics, Macroeconometrics, Nonparametric Econometrics (it's a weird combo, I admit)
SOP: Nothing special.
Other: Some schools got my grades for Micro I, Algebra, and Topology; others didn't. I took those three in the fall.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Iowa State ($$), UC-Davis, Boston College ($$)
Waitlists: Wisconsin-Madison
Rejections: Columbia, NYU, NWU, Penn, Brown, Duke, WUSTL, Penn State, Carnegie-Mellon
Attending: Boston College
What would you have done differently?
Two things stand out:
1) Gotten better grades in math. I had B's in several key math courses which I'm sure torpedoed my chances at more than one school. On the other hand, I am fortunate enough to have a control: a friend of mine, at the same institution, who had a far better math record than me, was rejected across the board at the top 10. So who knows?
2) Taken the GRE earlier and gotten an 800Q. I doubt it would have made much of a difference, but I think the GRE cutoff is near 800, if not exactly 800, at the very top. At the very least, getting an 800Q would have put off one dimension of uncertainty.
In terms of undergrad institution and letters, I did about as well as I possibly could have. I started teaching very early; while that didn't affect admissions one iota, teaching was one of the things that opened doors for me in the department and got me the letters of rec I needed. I did all the research I could within the constraints that I had.
It's been a wild ride; I have no true regrets about any of it. I'm incredibly excited to join BC in the fall.

urbanecon2011 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Economics and Math Major from a non-Ivy research university in New England
Undergrad GPA: 3.56/4
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE:800 math/720 verbal/5.5 writing
Math Courses: A bunch but my grades were all over the place. Linear Algebra, Multivariate, Proofs, Stochastic Calculus, Probability Theory, Statistics, Groups, Introduction to Mathematical Research, Real Analysis I, Differential Equations
Econ Courses (grad-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): 7 Courses with A/A-, three B+s
Other Courses: Odds and ends. Spent a semester abroad
Letters of Recommendation: Mostly unknown, but one is from a math prof for whom I did an inspired bit of research on Catalan numbers.
Research Experience: Wrote one paper where I was a single author, still being reviewed for publication. Research assistant on a paper that was published in a peer review journal on law and economics.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Urban economics and all related fields. Passing interest in several other areas, such as econometrics and labor economics.
SOP: Nothing extraordinary, I don't think, although as a native speaker of English with a few writing awards under my belt, I suspect mine would read a bit better than most.
Concerns: Where to start. I was often distracted and unfocused as an undergrad, so I didn't do extraordinarily well in either major compared to most who are applying for economics Ph.D. programs. None of my recommenders are particularly famous. My post-college life has been pretty productive, however, and my GRE scores are where they should be, so I think that should help me.
Other:
Applying to: UCSD, Brown, BC, UIUC, Pitt, Irvine, and Syracuse Ph.D., and Cornell's city and regional planning MA as a backup.
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UC Irvine, Cornell City & Regional Planning Masters
Waitlists: Boston College, Syracuse (sort of, anyway)
Rejections: UCSD, Brown, UIUC, Pitt
Attending:: UC Irvine
What would you have done differently?
Two things stand out:
1) Gotten much better grades in math and econ. For both majors, I really did a terrible job of spacing out of my course load appropriately, so I was both unfocused and overwhelmed during a few critical semesters.
2) Gotten to know the department better and sooner. I never had many professors I was incredibly close with until my senior year of college. If I had to do it over again, I would have started forming relationships sooner and maybe gotten even stronger LORs.
Like the poster above me, it's been a wild ride; I have no true regrets about any of it, even through the often frustrating process of realizing I needed two years off to burnish my resume, taking two different jobs (one of which involved a couple of 80+ hour weeks), and writing my own academic paper down to the wire. I am very happy to be going to UC Irvine, and I look forward to moving to California come August.

goose88 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 15 undergrad, Top 30 Econ PhD
Undergrad GPA: 3.5/3.76 for econ
Type of Grad:n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 800Q, 620V, 4AW
Math Courses: Calc(I-III: B+,B-,B-), Linear Algebra(B+), Intro to proofs(A-), Real Analysis(A), Lebesgue Integration (In progress with an A so far)
Econ Courses (grad-level):
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro and Macro, IO, Property Rights, Intro and Applied Econometrics, Game Theory etc. (all A-/A's except for one B)
Other Courses: MATLAB(in progress)
Letters of Recommendation: All econ PhDs...2 well Known professors (one Stanford and another from Rochester), and one ok recommendation (Stanford)
Research Experience: Award winning Honors thesis, summer fellowship
Teaching Experience: Teaching Assistant for a intro level macro class
Research Interests: Development econ, Applied Micro/IO
SOP: Good but didn't bother to customize it for each school...highlighted my diverse background
Concerns: Weak GPA and Math grades...I was not the best student for the first two years of my college career and my grades suffered...hopefully they can also see the radical change in my grades from B's to A's
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Northwestern($$), WUSTL($$), ASU($$), UWO-PhD stream MA($$)
Rejections: Brown, Duke, Georgetown, Michigan, NYU, Queens, Rochester, Stanford, U Minnesota, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, U Wisconsin, Yale
Withdrawn: Columbia, Purdue
Attending: Northwestern
What would you have done differently? So, so many things. I think I was ridiculously lucky given how marginal my profile looks (but I promise, I am not as bad as I look on paper)
i) I would have started out as an Econ major instead of waiting till junior year to switch out of the Business school (no offense to business majors but that place drained my soul and made me super lazy)
ii) I would have taken my Calculus classes seriously or at the very least attended them for more than the first week
iii) I would have taken some more stats classes than the basic courses such as Stochastic Processes or Probability Theory
iv) I would have done more research/get to know more professors but then again, this is tied to (i)

FromTheHip 2011:
Well, time to throw out my profile, which I suspect will make my results a source of hope for many with mediocre undergraduate GPAs.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS in a science field at a highly-ranked U.S. university
Undergrad GPA: 3.34/4
Type of Grad: Part time classes at a top-5 econ program
Grad GPA: 4.0/4
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 4.5AW
Math Courses: Linear Algebra (A), Multivariable Calculus (A), Vector Analysis (B), Differential Equations (A-), Real Analysis (B+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Two semesters of core micro (A/A), both grades near the top of the class
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro (A-), Intro Macro (A-), Intermediate micro (A-), Intermediate Macro (A-), Two term theoretical econometrics course (B/B+)
Other Courses: A lot of very quantitative science courses.
Letters of Recommendation: All three were economists with tenure at a top-5 econ program and PhDs from top programs. One was a professor from my core micro who talked about my coursework, while another was my long-time boss (see below). The third worked as my advisor on an independent project.
Research Experience: Two years as an RA and an independent research project (still ongoing).
Research Interests: Resource/environmental, development, game theory, IO. Statement focused on resource, game theory, and development.
SOP: Fairly long. I’ve spent some time outside of undergrad and was not an econ major, so I spent a bit of time explaining how I’d come to be interested in economics and putting my non-economics accomplishments into context.
Other experience: Several years work experience before starting my economics career
Concerns: Non-economics background, low undergraduate grades
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Cornell (no $), Georgetown ($), Iowa State ($),LSE ($), Penn State ($), Rochester ($), UC-Davis ($), UC-San Diego ($), UC-Santa Barbara (no $), University of British Columbia ($), University of Colorado ($), UPenn (initially wl for $, then $), University of Wisconsin ($), Yale ($).
Rejections: Berkeley ARE, Brown, Caltech, Chicago, Chicago Booth, Duke, Harvard, Minnesota, NYU, Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford, University of Maryland, University of Michigan
Waitlists: BU (withdrew), Columbia (withdrew), MIT (eventually rejected)
Withdrawn: University of Wyoming
Attending: Yale
What would you have done differently? Gotten better undergraduate grades and started as an economist sooner.
Other Comments: Given where I was coming in, I’m pretty ecstatic about my results. There was a lot of variance in my admits, and I’m grateful to all the programs which were willing to take a chance on me.

HealthEconGirl 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Econ from top-30 U.S. university
Undergrad GPA: 3.76 / 4.0, magna cum laude
Type of Grad: None
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: Q800, V720, AW5.5
Math Courses: Calc I&II (AP), Multivariable Calc (A), Diff Equ (A), Intro to Proofs (A), Upper-level Probability Theory (A), Lin Alg (A), Intro to Analysis (A-)
Econ Courses (grad-level): None
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Regular econ major courses (mostly A's, one B+ and one B), IO (B+), African Development (A-), Econ Reforms and Corruption (A-), Pol Econ of Growth, Redistribution and Poverty (A-), Intermediate Econometrics (A), Senior thesis seminar (A)
Letters of Recommendation: Senior thesis advisor (Columbia Ph.D.), one Assoc Prof (Foreign Ph.D.), one Epidemiologist (Berkeley Ph.D.), one former supervisor
Research Experience: Senior thesis, RA for epidemiologist since August 2010, Paid Internship where I basically do standard RA work (data cleaning, analysis) since June 2010
Teaching Experience: none really, but LORs talked about my potential for teaching
Research Interests: economics of global health, specifically HIV and sexual behavior in developing countries
SOP: Highlighted my senior thesis, significant time working in a developing country, and well defined research interests; customized to each school
Concerns: While I have extensive work experience that is relevant, it's not the standard econ RA work; no graduate econ classes despite being in a research univ.
RESULTS:
Attending: UCSD
Acceptances: UCSD ($), UBC ($$$)
Waitlists: U Mich (Withdrawn), UCLA (Withdrawn)
Withdrawn: BU, U Toronto
Rejections: UC Berkeley, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Harvard, MIT, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Duke, UPenn, UMD College Park, NSF (Honorable Mention)
Comments:
Overall, I am very pleased with this result. Even though I had a lot of rejections (and that was hard), you only need one good admit, and I am extremely excited about UCSD. I applied to all of the top ten on the advice of my undergrad advisor, but I knew that cracking the top ten was a long shot.
The best thing I did was apply for the NSF GRFP. The application process, and particularly the process of developing a research proposal, really helped me crystallize my objectives and research interests, and I believe the experience made my SOPs that much stronger.
Taking my choice of undergrad institution, GPA, GRE, and work experience as given, there isn't much I would have done differently. However, writing the SOPs took me much, much longer than I expected. If I could do it again, I would start drafting SOPs over the summer.
A note about my LORs: a lot of people say that LORs from non-economists are useless. But I decided to go with an letter of recommendation from an epidemiologist who is extremely well know both within and outside her field, knows me really well, has a good sense for my research ability, and wrote me a glowing recommendation. I believe that if they are relevant to your research interests, LORs from disciplines that are close to econ, such as math, poli sci, or epidemiology, can be acceptable, and may even be preferable to letters from econ profs who barely know you.
I'm so glad the waiting is over!

Economics Dude 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S.B.A. Economics from Top 15 public, Top 50 Econ (considered public Ivy for whatever that's worth)
Undergrad GPA: 3.94/4 (Summa cum laude - Won Outstanding Scholar Award, sort of equivalent to Valedictorian)
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA:
GRE: 800Q/630V/4.5AWA (Not a native speaker of English)
Math Courses: Calc sequence, Sets and Logic (Intro to proofs), Diff Eq, Linear Algebra, Intro to Prob, Intro to Stats Theory, Regression Analysis, Advanced Calc, Modern Analysis (All A's, no A+ at my school, except for 1 B+ on the easiest class, Diff Eq.)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro Theory
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Usual stuff plus Empirical Research seminar (All A's)
Other Courses: AEA Summer Training Program: Econometrics, Micro Theory, Applied Micro, Research - 5 A's 2 A+'s and 1 A- (Only 3 professors gave A+'s - I missed one)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 director of AEASTP (Ph.D. Chicago), 1 professor (Ph.D. Chicago), 1 professor and current boss (Ph.D. Yale), 1 professor and current boss (Ph.D. Florida). Should all be strong. My office is on the same hallway as virtually all econ professors. I run into them every day and chat with them often (usually about random things besides econ, though).
Research Experience: RA'ed as an undergrad. Won a grant to conduct research as undergrad. Presented replication and extension of a paper at the AEASTP. Currently work as a Associate Research Economist at a research center in the university where I got my degree from.
Teaching Experience: TA'ed for almost 2 years for 1 introductory and 1 intermediate econ course.
Research Interests: Labor, Econometrics, Public Econ/Choice.
SOP: Long (about 2 pages).
RESULTS:
NSF Honorable Mention
Acceptances: Duke MA(some $),BU (no 1yr$), BC($$), UT-Austin ($$), Rochester($$$), UCSD($)
Waitlists: None
Rejections: Berkeley, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, and Michigan.
Attending: UCSD
What would you have done differently?
I guess I could have moved to the US for high school and gone to a better undergrad institution, but I was having too much fun in Brazil at the time. I guess I could also have had more math (isn't that almost always the case?) In any case, I will be attending one of my top choices, which also happens to be right by the ocean.. I couldn't ask for much more.

urray 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA, Major Economics, Minor Mathematics one of the top schools in Middle East
Undergrad GPA: 3.7/4
Type of Grad: MA Economics, same university
Grad GPA: 3.85 /4
GRE: 790Q, 600V, 4.5AW
TOEFL:116/120
Math Courses: UG Level: Calculus Sequence, Linear Algebra, Probability, Statistics, Discrete Mathematics
Grad Level: Real Analysis, Measure Theory, Stochastic Calculus, Abstract Algebra
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro I-II (Taken at senior year in UG), Matching and Auction Theory (Taken at senior year in UG), Macro I-II, Metrics I-II, Advanced Topics in Macro Theory, Advanced Topics in Game Theory
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Way too many to list.
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Minnesota PhD, 1 Rochester PhD, 1 BU PhD, all should be very good,
Research Experience: Co-authoring a paper with one of the letter of recommendation writers, which had incredibly good feedback from a few conferences, going to submit it pretty soon.
Teaching Experience: 8 semester of TA for a variety of classes, (intro to Micro, intro to Game Theory, etc.) Instructed the math camp for incoming graduate students at our university.
Research Interests: Game Theory
SOP: Pretty standard, I actually forgot to change the phrase "university X" to the name of the university in a few cases
Concerns: My GPA in the first two-years in undergrad where I took the majority of the ug level math courses was lowish (around 3.4) Got a C+ plus from linear algebra as I had to skip an exam due to a medical condition(did not mention the reason in my sop), 790Q in GRE
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NYU, Kellogg Mecs, Minnesota, Michigan, Caltech, CMU, Boston U, Rochester, JHU, WL from WUSTL
Rejections: Yale, Brown, Columbia GSB
COMMENTS:
I decided to do a PhD only around my junior year or so, I wasn't even actually planning to study economics when I entered university. I did pretty stupid things in my first two years, I think my overall attendance was around %10 or so of the classes, entered some exams after night-outs without sleeping etc. On the other hand I took quite a bit of grad courses in my last two years as an undergraduate, as a result I had a chance focus on research on my masters. I actually came up with my own idea for the current paper we are writing pretty early in my masters. Then again due to a death in the family I couldn't get it published before the admission season started, hence didn't bother to apply to top 5. In retrospect, I think I should have given it a shot. And if I had the opportunity I would slap my younger self for my behavior in my first two-years.

philecon 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS Business Economics, relatively unknown university in Southeast Asia
Undergrad GPA: no idea how to convert it, but I graduated magna cum laude (Rank: 7/150)
GRE: 800Q, 590V, 5.0AW
TOEFL:112/120
Math Courses: Calc I-III, Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis and Math Stats
Econ Courses: the standard Econ courses, nothing special
Letters of Recommendation: 1 Northwestern PhD, 1 Ohio State PhD, 1 PhD from my uni
Research Experience: undergrad thesis (won an award, forthcoming in local journal), RA for six months
Research Interests: Health Economics, Industrial Organization
SOP: Pretty standard
Concerns: I shifted from Accounting to Economics, and I took a leave for a year to take a break; first to apply as an undergrad from my school (never been done ever)
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Georgetown, LSE EME, BGSE MS Economics, CEMFI MSc Economics and Finance, PSU (from waitlist)
Waitlists: PSU (eventually admitted, but without funding), Michigan (rejected off the WL though)
Rejections: Northwestern, Columbia, Brown, Penn, Virginia, Stanford, Duke, Singapore Management
COMMENTS:
I wasn't an economics major when I entered college, and I left school for a year after sophomore year (since something happened to me) to evaluate myself, and the direction I was going. I accidentally stumbled upon economics, and I found out that I loved it. Like the previous poster, however, I decided to do a PhD only around my junior year, so I had to cram a lot of math during my last two years, plus take the economics classes. I knew it was a huge risk, applying with only an undergrad degree, as most students from my university had at least a year of graduate coursework before applying to even European masters. I am very pleased with my results, though, and I look forward to attending the program that I chose. The only things that I probably would've done differently are: (1) I would've probably majored in math when I first thought about it (since my Math average is significantly higher than my Business average), or that I would've done my undergrad in the US when I had the chance and (2) I would've probably applied to mainly masters programs.
I guess I'll be back again for Fall 2013 PhD admissions.

huxleyms 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Economics + Applied Math, top15 econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.77/4.00
GRE: 800Q 620V 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc(B+,A-,A+), Vector Calc (A+), Linear Algebra(A), Applied Linear Algebra(B), ODE(B+), PDE(B), Complex Analysis(B), Probability(B), Math Reasoning(A), Real Analysis(B+,A-), Numerical Analysis(A,A,A)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Microeconomics(A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Environmental Economics(A, different uni), Intro Microeconomics (A+), Intro Macroeconomics(A), Intermediate Microeconomics (A,A-,B+), Intermediate Macroeconomics(A,A-), Enterprise Finance(A), Financial Markets(A), Econometrics(A,A), Economic Growth(A), Decisions Under Uncertainty(A+)
Other Courses: C/C++(A), Java(A-), honors sections(all A's)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 MIT PhD (took small classes, honors section), 1 Yale PhD (comp. econometrics project), 1 UCLA math PhD (ODE/LA tutor, took classes w/projects )
Research Experience: nothing formal, just independent work in honors sections
Teaching Experience: matlab tutor, mock trial captain?
Research Interests: everything
SOP: long
Concerns: Lots of B's in math, wondering how many an A in grad micro can outweigh, low AWA score. Lack of research experience.
Other: Expect high variance
Results:
Rejected: Chicago, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, Caltech, Brown, Cornell, Johns Hopkins
Accepted: UCSD, Carnegie Mellon, UTexas, UVA
Would do differently: I would have taken fewer math classes and tried to do more economic research. Also, I should have gotten better grades. Overall, I am very happy with my outcome.

LUDuckling 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 30 liberal arts college
Undergrad GPA: 4.0 Economics/Maths/International Relations
GRE: Q 800 V 730 AW 4.0
Math Courses: Calculus, Linear Algebra, ODE, Probability, Math Stat, Real Analysis
Econ Courses (grad-level): Micro
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro, Macro, Econometrics, IO, Economic Thought, Development, Money Banking
Letters of Recommendation:professor of grad micro class; econ prof; math thesis advisor - all mentioned my originality & ability to abstract from real world happenings. One talked about I am "one of the most impressive students during his 40+ years of teaching at Harvard & xx university."
Research Experience: RIPS student industrial math research@IPAM; RA; math thesis in game theory
Teaching Experience: TA math & econ for 2 years
Research Interests: micro, behavioral, not really set
Other Experience: Co-founded a company and initiated an int'l summer school; various volunteering experiences, mainly has to do with (re)building houses for poor people(write about in diversity statement)
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Yale, Columbia, NYU, UCB, Chicago, etc.
Waitlists: MIT, UCLA, CMU
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Brown, Caltech, etc.
What would you have done differently?
Applying straight from a non-top liberal arts college and with no significant grad course work/ research job, I am very content with my result. I think I really put everything I could reach together. I have no regrets.

liamc 2011:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics (Quant. Track), Top 30 liberal arts college, minors in Math & CogSci
Undergrad GPA: 3.77
GRE: 800Q 730V 4.0AWA
Math Courses: Honors Calc I-II (A+), Honors Calc III (A-), Honors Lin Alg (A), Probability (A), Real Analysis I (A), Real Analysis II (A-), Mathematical Neuroscience (A), Grad Analysis (B+), Statistics (IP)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro Theory I (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Inter. Micro Theory (A+), Quant. Inter Micro Theory (A-), Statistics (B), Quant. Econometrics (A-), Quant. Game Theory (A), Behavioral Economics Seminar (A), Senior Honors Thesis (IP)
Other Courses: Newton's Principia (A)
Letters of Recommendation: All (supposedly) strong from thesis advisor and econ professor, both somewhat famous, and well-known math professor
Research Experience: Worked in a psych lab 2+ years, presented posters at conferences. Did a theory paper independently and presented it at a conference this year.
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: Game Theory, Neuroeconomics
SOP: Bold statement of an ambitious research project, and general ode to the economics profession
Concerns: Not looking forward to moving
Other:
Applying to: Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley, Northwestern U, Brown, CalTech, Cornell, Duke, Wash U St Louis, BU, BC

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

s1391470 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.Sc. Comp Sci, B.Sc. Mathematics (Average Canadian Uni)
Undergrad GPA: 8.9/10 (Comp Sci), 8.7/10 (Math)
Type of Grad: MBA - Top Canadian Program, M.A. Econ (Average Canadian Uni)
Grad GPA: 3.8/4 (MBA), 4.25/4.33 (Econ).
Other Education: CFA
GRE: 800 Q / 720 V / 6.0 W (native English speaker)
Math Courses: Calc I, II, III (A), Real Analysis (A), ODE (A-), Probability (A), Stats (A), Complex Analysis (B+), Linear Algebra (A)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Macro, Micro, Econometrics, Finance, International Trade, Environment, Public Policy, Labour Economics,
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Micro, Macro
Other Courses: During MBA, Game Theory and Micro/Macro
Letters of Recommendation: 4 from M.A. econ. 2 Minnesota Grads, 1 Queens Grad, 1 Toronto Grad
Research Experience: Patent, Masters Thesis, R.A. in Econ and Comp. Sci
Teaching Experience: TA'ed bunch of courses
Work Experience: Nearly 10 years in a variety of roles in technology and finance
Research Interests: international trade and development
SOP: Pretty strong, I think.
Concerns: I have some pretty poor grades in upper level math courses (not listed) including several Cs. However, in my SoP I mentioned how I was working full time while completing this degree, and how my patent is directly related to my math degree (it is related to obfuscation/encryption and group theory).
Other: I'll be 35 when I start my PhD, so I'm a bit older than the average grad student.
Applying to: Columbia, NYU, U Penn, Minnesota, University of Michigan, Brown, Cornell, Wisconsin (Missed funding date), Cornell, Queen's, Toronto, Carnegie Mellon

dobrin 2011:
Institution:Carlos 3 de Madrid
Program: Economic Analysis MSc
Funding:YES
Notification date:Feb 17
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Well, not bad

Exodus 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: yeah, right..
Notification date: Feb 16
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: nope
Comments: Nothing surprising... I never had a date with a supermodel either..
11 more to go!!

lostworld21 2011:
Institution: Yale
Program: Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: Obviously not
Notification date: Feb 17
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: nope
Comments: 8 more .. chances seem to have dwindled greatly!

Regularity 2011:
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: Economics (PhD)
Decision: accepted
Funding: yes (1st year fellowship + tuition + insurance)
Notification date: 2/23/2011
Notified through: email with formal acceptance from DGS
Posted on GF: to be posted
Comments: !!!So Happy! First Offer!

growth 2011:
Institution: UPenn
Program: Phd in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/24/2011
Notified through: Website
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Expected result. I still don't know why I applied there in the first place.
Institution: LSE
Program: MSc Economics (research)
Decision: Accepted (conditional offer)
Funding: No
Notification date: 02/24/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Happy but I can't fulfill all the conditions. Have to negotiate with the admittion committee.

onetime 2011:
Institution: UPenn
Program: Phd in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/24/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: No
Institution: Yale
Program: Phd in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/16/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: No

coffeefanatic 2011:
Throwing my results so far into the mix...
Institution: Wharton
Program: PhD in Applied Economics
Decision: Interview
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/15/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Who knows how many they interviewed...
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/16/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Unsurprising.
Institution: Stanford GSB
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/18/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Super long-shot/terrible match for my research interests, anyway.
Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: university-wide fellowship
Notification date: 02/21/2011
Notified through: Email from department
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Nice.
Institution: Duke
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: graduate school fellowship
Notification date: 02/22/2011
Notified through: Email to check website, follow-up email from department
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Very nice.
Institution: Penn
Program: PhD in Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: N/A
Notification date: 02/24/2011
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GC: Yes
Comment: Ouch.

Milo2010 2011:
Rejections:
Institution: Yale
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 2/16/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments:
Institution: UPenn
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 2/24/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: A bit shaken, as this is the second reject.
Institution: UC Berkeley
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/2/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: As expected. Been told that we tend not to take our own undergrads.
Institution: Northwestern
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/4/11
Notified through: Checked the website.
Posted on GF:
Comments:
Institution: Stanford
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/6/11
Notified through: Mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: The most painful reject thus far. I was hoping not to leave the Bay Area.
Institution: MIT
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/7/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: Very much expected. It was a long shot anyways.
Admits:
Institution: UCLA
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Acceptance
Funding: No first year funding.
Notification date: 3/2/11
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF:
Comments: Really not thrilled with the "no first-year funding" part.

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

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.

SubEffect 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 5 US liberal arts college.
Undergrad GPA: overall 3.89, with about the same in econ/math and a strong upwards trend since freshman year
Type of Grad: NA
Grad GPA: NA
GRE: 800 Q 720V 5.5 AWA
Math Courses: Modeling (A), Math Stats I (A), Math Stats II (A), Differential Equations (A), Data Analysis (A), Real Analysis (B+), Topics in Analysis: Dynamical Systems (A+), Senior Research Project (A) [freshman year: Honors Linear Algebra (P), Honors Multivariable Calc (B)]
Econ Courses (PhD-level): NA
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate Micro (A), Advanced Micro (A/A-), Intermediate Econometrics (B+), Adv Econometrics (A), Polit Econ of Africa (A), Economic Development (A+/A), Public Policy Evaluation (A), Experimental Economics (A+), Behavioral Economics (A), Senior Research Project (A+), [freshman year: Int. Macro (A-), International Polit Econ. (A-)]
Other Courses: Nothing too useful, except for Comp Sci (A+).
Letters of Recommendation: 1) prof with MIT PhD, took two high level classes with and talked a lot about research ideas; 2) assistant prof with Berkeley PhD, did independent research and took three classes with; 3) prof at top policy school who I worked for. From my NSF feedback, it sounds like they were all good, though the ones from my undergrad profs were probably stronger.
Research Experience: JPAL field RA for a year; RA for a prof at a top 5 econ for a summer; did independent research project with a prof at my school; thesis for my math major, which won best paper award in department; separate thesis-like econ paper, which won best paper award in my department
Teaching Experience: TA for Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Econometrics
Research Interests: Development, Behavioral, Auctions, tons of different applied micro topics
Statement of purpose: Probably fine.
Other: Can't think of anything
RESULTS:
Attending: Yale
Acceptances: NSF, Yale ($$, off waitlist), Berkeley ($, off waitlist), Cornell ($), Brown ($)
Waitlists: MIT, Chicago Booth, Columbia
Rejections: Harvard, Princeton, NYU
What would you have done differently? I spent a long time thinking about this, especially the painful stretch between the first wait list and getting the NSF. My school has had really good placement in the past, and my profs had been pretty excited about my chances at top 5 schools, so letting them down was a bit of a bummer. With another year at JPAL, especially at the Cambridge office, or taking real analysis 2 to get the A , maybe I could have been a contender at M/H? Still, I'm pretty eager to start working on my own research, so wouldn't have wanted to take more time off beforehand; this also lets me be near my girlfriend, which is a high priority. The one thing I would change is to apply to more business PhD programs, but Yale was my third choice behind the Cambridge schools, so I am very happy to be going there. Since they do a lot of behavioral/dev combined, it might even be a better fit for my interests than the others.
A couple of people have asked for advice on the NSF. It didn't end up helping me too much with admission (since Yale would have worked out anyway), so I feel kind of bad getting it when it might have helped someone else, but it did get me into Berkeley. Jeeves and others have a lot of good things to say, so I'll just focus on three things.
First, working at JPAL/doing a proposal on development topics is clearly a huge advantage. JPAL produced at least 200f the NSF's this year, which is just absurd. All three my reviewers mentioned it, and two included it in their comments on both intellectual merit and broader impacts. Second, don't be bashful about multiple applications. I put out feelers in a proposal last year, and the comments were extremely helpful in succeeding this time around. Even if you're rushing to finish it, you'll be able to get a sense of what they think of your idea. Third, just follow their criteria for broader impacts. In your personal statement, you can dedicate a paragraph to each one individually; make their lives easier in checking off excellent for each one. Non-econ related things, such as tutoring or mentoring other students is looked upon favorably, especially if you plan to continue doing so. Also, make sure to devote some substantial part of your research proposal to broader impacts, they look for that too: I had the final half page be just about ways that my proposal could be broadly applied. If you can tie in broader impacts in any way, do it.

aliceav23 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, Latin American University
Undergrad GPA: 3.9 cumulative, 3.9 Econ, 4.0 Math
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics, same university as undergrad
Grad GPA: 3.7
GRE: 800Q, 560V, 4.0AW
Math Courses: CalcI (A+), CalcII(A+), Linear Algebra (A), Probability (A), Statistics (A+), Numerical Methods (A+)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Microeconomics I (A) Microeconomics II (A) Macroeconomics I (A) Macroeconomics II (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Microeconomics (A+,A,A) Macroeconomics (A,B+,A), Econometrics (B+, A), Finance (A+,A+)
Other Courses: Statistics packages (A+)
Letters of Recommendation: 1 UCLA PhD, 1 LSE PhD, 1 Minnesota PhD, 1 T&A M.A. (head of the economics department)
Research Experience: RA in research center, currently research analyst in governmental institution
Teaching Experience: TA of Microeconomics II (Undergrad) for 3 years, TA of Econometrics II, TA of Microeconomics I and II (graduate level), currently part-time teacher Mathematics for Economists
Research Interests: micro theory, applied micro, IO, game theory
SOP: Standard
Concerns: LORs and the fact that my university is not that known
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Duke, Maryland, BU, Toulouse M2
Waitlists: Brown
Rejections: NYU, Northwestern, Minnesota, UCSD, Carnegie Mellon, CalTech, Cornell, UPenn
Attending: Duke
Comments:
If i had known I wanted this from the start that I wanted a PhD, I would've taken many more math courses in a university close to mine. I actually enjoy math but my university didn't offer RA until last year when I was out. That said, I probably would've applied to a more well known masters, however the students that are coming out of my program now know that they can get into a top 20 US school so that makes me happy.

riskaverse 2011:
Type of Undergrad: B.Sc. Economics at Top10 South American university; B.A. International Relations (not the same university as Economics)
Undergrad GPA: 7.5/10 for Economics (Top 5%); 8.46/10 for International Relations
Type of Grad: M.A. Economics at Top10 South American university (not the same as undergrad).
Grad GPA: 7.98/10
GRE: 800Q/540V/4.0A (2nd try)
Math Courses (undergrad): Calculus I and II
Math Courses (grad): Real Analysis, Measure Theory, Linear Algebra (audit)
Econ Courses (undergrad): a lot of them
Econ Courses (grad): Micro Theory I to IV (entire MWG), Macro Theory I to III, Econometrics, Microeconometrics, Corporate Finance, Empirical Microeconomics, Mathematical Economics I and II (some chapters of Stokey&Lucas).
Other Courses: lots of them too because of International Relations
Letters of Recommendation: A total of 4 letters, all from my MA professors. I think all of them like me, but I'm pretty unsure about the strenght of the letters. Two of them are somewhat well known, specially in their fields. I sent the letter from my advisor to all universities and rotated among the other recommenders.
Research Experience: My MA Dissertation. I have some works from undergrad published (co-authored), but not in academic journals (they were mainly directed to policy makers in my country - only one of them written in English).
Teaching Experience: TA for Microeconomic Theory II and Statistics II at the graduate level; TA for International Finance and IO in MBA courses; TA for Micro and Trade for undergrads.
Research Interests: Microeconomics, Contract Theory, Corporate Finance
SOP: very honest. I liked it in the end.
Other: TOEFL 106, but a low grade in the speaking portion. Although I applied to all parts of the US, I have very strong personal reasons for wanting to be in the East Coast.
Concerns: my first GRE try was a disaster, the second try was in December 2010, which made me really afraid of my results getting to the universities very late. My profile seems sometimes a Frankstein for me and I'm really concerned about my letters of recommendation. I don't have the minimum score for the TOEFL speaking portion that many universities require. I'm not the strongest applicant from my country this year, which makes me very pessimist about my dream schools. Also, I worked some time before entering my MA, so I'm kind of older I think... well, lots of concerns!