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laca 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Econ from top 10 US, top 5 econ
Undergrad GPA: 3.77/4.00
Type of Grad:
Grad GPA:
GRE: 800Q 690V 4.0AWA
Math Courses: Honors Calculus I-III (A,B-,A), Real Analysis I-III (A-,B+A-), Math Probability (A-), Stat Methods/Theory (A-)
Econ Courses (grad-level): Price Theory I (B), Social Interactions and Inequality (A)
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate micro (A-,A), intermediate macro (A,A-), game theory (A-), IO (A), honors metrics I-II (B+, A), macro modeling (B+), reading/research (A,A)
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: 1 econ, 1 finance, 1 accounting prof, all highly regarded in their field. I have RAd for at least a year for each, two of them have seen me in a classroom setting as well. Coauthored an unpublished working paper with two of them. They all reassured me that the letters would be strong.
Research Experience: 1 year undergrad RA, 1.5 year as full time researcher at highly ranked business school.
Teaching Experience: for a short while I tutored math to freshmen in college
Research Interests: applied micro
SOP: Nothing too exciting.
Concerns: Math grades could be stronger; GRE AWA could be better. Hoping that research experience and strong LORs will compensate for it.
Other: Some poli sci electives and required college core courses
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Chicago Booth finance ($$), Chicago ($), Stanford GSB political econ ($$), NYU Stern finance ($$), UCLA ($)
Waitlists:
Rejections: Berkeley, Brown, Columbia GSB finance and econ, Cornell, Harvard, Kellogg finance, MIT, NYU, Princeton, Stanford, Yale
Attending: Chicago Booth finance
What would you have done differently?
Overall, I am very happy with my results, although I was really not expecting the composition of the acceptances to be so tilted towards finance instead of econ - I originally applied with the expectation that I would end up at an econ program. I think that the take home point is that recommendations matter; having two biz school recs provided me with excellent results at other business schools, but possibly doomed my applications at econ departments. So in hindsight I should have added an additional econ recommender. I also wonder a bit if I somehow messed up my econ sop, despite the fact that I have much less familiarity with finance research topics.
However, I am quite excited to take a step outside of my comfort zone, and learn about a whole new field!

chatlunatique 2012:
Type of undergrad: BA in Econ, minor in Math, from large public school in the midwest (top 60 econ)
Undergrad GPA: 3.85/4.00
GRE: 170 Q /160 V /6.0 AWA
Math courses: Multivariate calc (A), Vector calc (A), Diff EQ (A), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis (A+; taken at Ivy)
Econ courses: Econometrics I-II (A,A), Honors thesis (A), Financial econ (A), Trade (A), Development (A), Seminar in Monetary econ (A), Seminar in trade/devo (A), Statistical analysis (A), Intermediate Macro/Micro (A,C+), Intro Macro/Micro (A,A+)
Other courses: Some African studies, some French, others from across the humanities/social science spectrum
Letters of recommendation: 2 from professors who I have managed field research projects for in the past 2 years (I am co-authoring a paper with one; both are junior but fairly well known in their sub-fields and earned their PhDs from top programs). 1 from undergrad professor who I took two classes with and excelled.
Research experience: UG thesis; 6 months RA at a regional Fed; 2 years RA managing research projects in an African country; co-authoring paper with one of my current bosses.
Teaching experience: 2 semesters TA for Intro to Micro
Research interest: Development, IO, Personnel, Micro
SOP: Talked about my research interests and how they developed, and explained my grade trajectory.
Other: Phi Beta Kappa, Summa cum laude, econ departmental honors
RESULTS:
Acceptances: NSF ($$$$), HBS Bus-Ec ($$$$), Stanford ($$$$), LSE ($$$), Northwestern ($$$), UCSD ($$$), UCLA ($$$), Duke ($$), Michigan ($$), Maryland ($$)
Rejections: Harvard econ, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Stanford GSB, Chicago, Chicago GSB, Columbia, Columbia GSB, NYU, NYU Stern, Penn, Penn Wharton, UCL, Berkeley, Brown
Attending: HBS!
What would you have done differently?
Nothing? I’m thrilled with my acceptances, and managed to get into my top 2 choices, even with such high variance in outcomes. Above all else my results show that even with a shaky and unfocused first couple years of undergrad, it is possible to get into good programs. I did not take any math or serious econ courses until my fourth year of university, and ended up overcoming some poor early grades (including a C+ in intermediate micro) to finish strong in my last two years, and then go on to earn RA positions where I was able to work with top economists on research that fascinated me. Should be a fun few years ahead!