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kt253 2011:
Profile:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. Economics, B.A. Philosophy (two degrees) - 170s ranked National University, Top 100 Econ PhD program
Undergrad GPA: 3.97 Cumulative, 4.0 in both majors and all math courses (only 1 B, in irrelevant course)
Type of Grad: n/a
Grad GPA: n/a
GRE: 770Q, 550V, 5.0 AWA
Math Courses: Calc I, II, III (A, A+, A), Linear Algebra (A), currently in Differential Equations and calc-based stats.
Econ Courses: Intro Micro, Intro Macro, Econ Stats, Inter Micro, Inter Macro, Econometrics, Mathematical Economics (in progress), Moral Foundations of Capitalism, Development, Economic History, Economics of Entrepreneurship.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 Econ Professors, 1 relatively recent PhD from Emory (will be co-authoring a paper and starting RA job with him soon), 1 well known professor from Florida State, and a math prof (my prof for Linear Algebra, m.s. from harvard, phd from Wisc)
Research Experience: RA for a professor, research on philosophical debate regarding organ markets and economics behind it
Teaching Experience: Tutored students in various math, econ, accounting, philosophy, and social science courses, TA for an intro level philosophy course.
Research Interests: Public Economics, Political Economy, Development, Microeconomics, Health Economics
Concerns: GRE score, lack of advanced math preparation (Real Analysis, Probability Theory, etc), reputation of undergrad school
Applied to: Carnegie Mellon (Econ and PP), Maryland, U of Virginia, George Mason, Florida State, West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan State, Indiana, Suffolk, UCSD
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UIUC ($), MSU ($$), FSU ($$), Vanderbilt ($), WVU ($), GMU (?), Suffolk ($, already turned down), UKY (turned down before $ offered)
Waitlisted: none
Rejections: Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, UC San Diego, Carnegie Mellon
Still Waiting on: none
What would you have done differently? I would have started taking math way earlier and more often, studied more for the GRE and maybe retaken it, narrowed my research focus a little in my SOP. I would have also applied to better reach schools - better in terms of those that let in more students, and with funding, a couple more 15-25 schools, and less safeties. I underestimated myself since I came out of a less reputable state school, despite my great GPA and adequate GRE scores. Turns out my undergrad institution wasn't quite as damning as I thought it was going to be.

bassmantin 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.S. Accounting/Finance at a Big 10 school
Undergrad GPA: 3.97
Type of Grad: M.B.A. Accounting/Finance
Grad GPA: 3.91
GRE: 800Q, 700V, 5.0AW
Math Courses: Calculus I, II, II, Linear Algebra, Intro to Advanced Math (all A) After submission of application: Differential Equations, Real Analysis (all A expected)
Econ Courses: Intermediate Micro, Intermediate Macro, Econometrics, lots of grad level business school classes that overlap somewhat: managerial econ, real options, valuation, corporate finance, international monetary systems and hedging (all A) after submission: History of Economic Thought, Monetary Theory (all A expected)
Other Courses: Lots of business
Letters of Recommendation: Accounting professor, math instructor, former employer
Research Experience: N/A
Teaching Experience: two semesters intro to managerial accounting
Research Interests: macro/monetary
SOP: addressed my somewhat unique situation
Concerns: no econ prof letter of recommendation, not too much math before submitting app
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Vanderbilt, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa State, George Mason, Missouri
Waitlists: WUSTL (eventually accepted), Minnesota (withdrew)
Rejections: Chicago, Northwestern, Michigan, Wisconsin, Notre Dame
Attending: WUSTL
What would you have done differently? Take more math. Get letter of recommendation from economists. Get a mentor to guide me through the process.

oyvey 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 20 Nat'l University, Math/Econ joint major (BA 2010)
Undergrad GPA: 3.52
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 800Q 570V 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc III, Diff Eq, Linear Intro to Proof, Real Analysis I, Comp Sci
Econ Courses (grad-level): Price Theory (Audit)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): The whole shebang
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation:
Research Experience: Summer RA, Honors Thesis
Teaching Experience: 1 Semester Micro TA
Research Interests: Behavioral, Experimental
SOP: Pretty Standard, talked about improvements made since last year
Concerns: low-ish GPA bad metrics grade
Other:
Applying to: see signature

JG0626 2011:
Type of Undergrad: Private, Liberal Arts University (U.S. News Top 15 – Regional Universities South)
Undergrad GPA: Overall 3.93; Econ 3.92; Math 4.00
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 780Q 630V 4.0AW
Math Courses: Calc I (A+), Calc II (A+), Linear Algebra (A+), Probability (A+), Intro to Math Reasoning (A+), Calc III (In-Progress), Math Stats (In-Progress), Ordinary Differential Equations (In-Progress)
Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): International (A+), Money and Banking (A+), Investment Theory (A), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A-), Econometrics (A+)
Other Courses: Business Administration second major
Letters of Recommendation: Two econ professors, 1 math professor
Research Experience: Nothing past a term research paper for my econometrics class
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Two broad areas: Macro/Financial Economics and Austrian/New Institutional
SOP: I feel confident in the main body of my statement, but I put most of the customized effort into GMU, WUStL, IU, and FSU.
Concerns: The analytic writing score from my GRE is embarrassing. I’m also concerned about my hiatus from academia; I received my B.A. in economics in December 2006 and worked for a brokerage firm for a few years. I have, however, returned to school for what will amount to a math minor equivalent. Hopefully, this signals my commitment to PhD programs.
Other:
Applying to: George Mason, IU-Bloomington, Washington U – St. Louis, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, UVA, UChicago, Boston U, Florida State

ahall352 2011:
Institution: Indiana University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding: N/A
Notified on: 3/18
Notified Through: email
Posted on GC? No
Comments: Bummed. Short email.

nyykid 2011:
Sorry I am a new user so I have all 5 decisions (I have been trolling since last summer when I was taking the GRE)
Institution: Fordham
Program: PhD Econ
Decision: Admitted
Funding: possible with outstanding rejections
Notification date: not withdrawing
Notified through: snail mail
Posted on GC: unknown
Comments: close to home, like the (MA and certifacte) programs, not looking to go into academia so it fits me
Institution: Clemson University
Program: PHD ECON
Decision: Admitted
Funding: possible with outstanding rejections
Notification date: not withdrawing
Notified through: online status/snail mail
Posted on GC: unknown
Comments: awesome program, far from home, already in debt
Institution: Temple University
Program: PHD ECON
Decision: Admitted
Funding: unknown
Notification date: not withdrawing
Notified through:snail mail
Posted on GC: unknown
Comments: low-ranking, friendly staff
Institution: George Mason University
Program: PHD ECON
Decision: Admitted
Funding: no info
Notification date: not withdrawing
Notified through: snail mail
Posted on GC: unknown
Comments: really cool program with big time personalites, unsure if i wanna get into government though (more into $)
Institution: Rutgers University
Program: PHD ECON
Decision: Rejected
Funding: rejected
Notification date: not withdrawing
Notified through: online status/email
Posted on GC: unknown
Comments: woulda been nice (cheap), but even with alumni reccomendations i couldnt get in, top 50 - ranked program.
Not sure what Im gonna do

austrianecon 2011:
After visiting as a guest for a few weeks, eventually, here is my results:
Institution: George Mason University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Decisions will be made later this month according to the program coordinator
Notification date: 3/24/11
Notified through: E-mail from College of Humanities and Social Sciences and also from the Department
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: The best program in the world!
Institution: Rutgers
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: No
Notification date: 2/23/11
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: was my last choice
Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Waitlisted
Funding: Yes if accepted
Notification date: 3/7/11
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: no comment
Institution: NYU
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/19/11
Notified through: Unofficial email
Posted on GC: No
Comments: So wanted to work with Mario Rizzo there!
Institution: Duke University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 2/25/11
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: So wanted to work with Bruce Caldwell and study at HOPE center.
Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/14/11
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: no comment, just applied!
Institution: Northwestern University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/4/11
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: no comment, just applied!
Institution: Penn State University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding: -
Notification date: 3/11/11
Notified through: email
Posted on GC: Yes
Comments: no comment, just applied!
In: Rutgers (-), George Mason (?) Waitlisted: Texas at Austin ($) Out: NYU, Duke, UIUC, Northwestern, PennState Waiting for: McGill

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.

econbon 2011:
Catching up...
Institution: Oklahoma State University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 2/14-Valentine's Day
Notified through: Postal mail
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: Ouch! And on Valentine's Day! Particularly bad considering this was my safest of safe schools. Talk about making me want to lose all hope. Oh well, didn't want to go there anyway (grape sour much?)
Institution: University of Virginia
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejected
Funding:
Notification date: 2/19
Notified through: Email to check website
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: I would've loved to go to UVA/C'ville, but I knew it was a bit of a reach
Institution: University of Kansas
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding:
Notification date: 3/4
Notified through: Email to check status
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: Getting very nervous at this point
Institution: University of Illinois-Chicago
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding:
Notification date: Letter dated 3/4
Notified through: Postal mail
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: At least they were gracious enough to spend paper on me. At this point virtually all of my safeties have responded "no."
Institution: Clemson
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: tuition remission+$15k
Notification date: I deferred from last cycle (so my admission date is irrelevant) and received notification of funding offer on 3/7
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: I have visited Clemson, and the prospect of funding is ALWAYS welcome. Finally some good news
Institution: George Mason
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding:
Notification date: Letter mailed 3/12
Notified through: postal mail
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: I really, really, really wanted to go here. Applied here last year as well. C'est la vie
Institution: Indiana University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: rejection
Funding:
Notification date: 3/18
Notified through: Email from Econ secretary (?)
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: Applied here last year as well. 0-2
Institution: Arizona State
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Rejection
Funding:
Notification date: 3/29
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: Subject line: ASU Rejection. No punch line!
Institution: Vanderbilt
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: rejection
Funding:
Notification date: 3/30
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: Expected.
Institution: UNC
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: "Waitlisted"
Funding:
Notification date: 4/5
Notified through: email
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: Wow. My number one choice. Please someone decide not to go here. I would be ecstatic.
Institution: University of Oklahoma
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted?
Funding: ?
Notification date: ahem see comments
Notified through: see comments
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: Very unimpressed. Applied here last year. Was never contacted. Found out I was accepted into Master's instead of Ph.D. This year I had to call and was told I'd been accepted into Ph.D. Not very organized
Institution: Southern Methodist University
Program: PhD Economics
Decision: Accepted
Funding: No :'(
Notification date: Called 4/6 and she told me over the phone
Notified through: phone
Posted on GF: ?
Comments: I would like to go, but no way without funding