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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.

spaceship earth 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Double major in Business Economics & Environmental Studies; Top 10 public, top 40 econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.88
Type of Grad: N/A
Grad GPA: N/A
GRE: 780Q 640V 4.5AW
Math Courses: calc series (A+/A), diff equations (A)
Econ Courses: intro micro (A+), intro macro (A-), Micro I (A), Micro II (A), Macro (A+), Nat Resource Econ (A), Env Econ (A+), Data Analysis (A)
Other Courses: lots of ecology & environ science for my environ studies major; relevant because of my research interests, but no substitute for more math/stats/econ
Letters of Recommendation: 1 tenured prof known for resource econ, 1 tenured prof who i performed research under (also known in env/resource econ), 1 recent phd in env econ who was probably unknown but was close to me (TA'd several of my econ classes & guided me through admissions process, now teaches at another unranked school)
Research Experience: employed about 9 months doing econ research part time; also got course credit another time for doing not very technical research related to role of competitive social pressures in mitigating climate change
Teaching Experience: nothing formal; just tutoring on & off for a while
Research Interests: Resource Econ, Environmental Econ, Sustainable Development, Energy Econ/Policy, etc
SOP: Talked about why I wanted to be a economist studying environmental issues. Emphasized extra-curriculars & research.
Other: Was president of an undergrad campus org. Also, I've been working at a global financial services firm since undergrad and I got a CPA license. It probably would have been relevant if I wanted an MBA, but I'm thinking it was no use in this PhD application
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UC Davis ARE ($), UC Santa Barbara (wl$), U Maryland AREc ($)
Waitlists: None.
Rejections: Stanford, UC Berkeley ARE, Columbia, NYU, Yale, Cornell AEM, UC San Diego
Pending: None.
What would you have done differently? No regrets; I was appropriately placed given my research interests. I reached high and the results were similar to my expectations. Also, you only need 1 good admit. That said, if I knew I was going to get a PhD earlier on here's what I would change (in no order):
1) Take the GRE earlier, so I could retake for an 800Q (I took it in Nov, just weeks before the app deadlines; I'm confident i could have gotten an 800Q since I did on several practice exams)
2) Get a straight "econ" major instead of a "business econ" major (this would mean more math/econ/stats/econometrics instead of more finance/accounting)
3) Get a job post-undergrad that is a better stepping stone to PhD (ie: research job, econ thinktank, econ analyst, certain consulting positions) instead of a job that is a stepping stone to an MBA (ie: finance, accounting, certain banking positions)
4) Realize the importance of LORs earlier and connect with more professors who have connections at top institutions (& do more research under them)
5) Regarding top straight econ depts, I also think I was out competed by alot of people w/ masters degrees. It might have served me well to get a masters to bulk up on econ/math/stats/etc.

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.

Curious123 2011:
Institution: University of Maryland
Program: AREc PhD
Decision: Accepted
Funding: Yes
Notification date: 3/17/11
Notified through: e-mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: excited.

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.

AREStudentHopeful 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: B.A. in economics from a satellite state school
Undergrad GPA: 3.35, 3.7 in econ
Type of Grad: M.A. Agricultural and Resource Economics from a large state school
Grad GPA: 3.45 (health problems in fall semester dropped from 3.6 to 3.45)
GRE: 780Q, 590V, 5.0AWA
Math Courses: Calc I-III (C, B, B+), Linear Algebra (A), Axiomatic Systems-Intro to Proofs (A), Intro to Stats (A), Advanced ODE (B)
Econ Courses (masters-level): Micro, Math for Econ, Applied Metrics, Agricultural Production, Water Economics, Research Methods in Economics, Natural Resource
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro to micro, intro to macro, intermediate micro, intermediate macro, advanced macro, environmental, natural resource, comparative systems, developmental, money and banking, econometrics
Other Courses: Many environmental science courses
Letters of Recommendation: 5 econ professors (1 Davis ARE, 1 U Colorado, 1 Berkeley ARE, 1 NC State, 1 U Chicago) depending on what school I'm applying to based on their connections
Research Experience: RAed for an econ prof in undergrad, worked as an RA both years of my masters including one project that I'm getting published in a low-tier journal, masters thesis
Teaching Experience: TA for intro to micro and natural resource econ
Research Interests: Environmental is the main one, plus behavioral, urban and game theory on the side. I'm actually one of the few ARE-type people who enjoy theory (and macro).
SOP: Pretty standard plus very detailed paragraph individual to each school
Concerns: Not as stellar math grades as many of you, low undergrad GPA, no RA (a sin on this forum!)
RESULTS:
Attending: UCSB
Acceptances: UCSB ($?)
Waitlists: Wyoming
Rejections: UCSD, UCLA, Berkeley ARE, Davis ARE, U Colorado, U Arizona, ASU, NC State, Rutgers, Duke, Maryland ARE, Georgetown, NSF
Comments:
I'll stress how much letter of recommendation's matter. Just one unfortunate letter of recommendation seems to have diminished my results greatly. I would think that an acceptance from Colorado, Davis, Arizona and NC State would be likely without that letter of recommendation problem. That being said, I would pick UCSB over any of them so I am very happy with my result. I could probably have been on the borderline for ASU as well, and possibly Rutgers or Georgetown, but no regrets! For more insight into my comments on the process see here: http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-econo...n-process.html (Advice from a 2 1/2-Year Application Process)

johndoe12 2011:
Institution: University of Minnesota
Program: Applied Economics PhD
Decision: admitted
Funding: no information
Notification date: 2/10/2011
Notified through: E-mail
Posted on GF: no
Comments: apparently funding decision to be made in a few weeks
Institution: Cornell University
Program: Applied Economics and Management AEM PhD
Decision: wait list
Funding:
Notification date: 2/23/2011
Notified through: Email
Posted on GF: no
Comments: apparently high on the list, not sure if this is meaningful