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

HeyNomad 2011:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Small but highly regarded liberal arts college. Degree: BA, Economics
Undergrad GPA: 3.91 in major, 3.89 overall
Type of Grad: Large state school (highly ranked within the field). Degree: MA, Education
Grad GPA: 4.0
GRE: 720Q/800V/5.0W
Math Courses: Embarrassingly little. Just one semester of calculus, stats (A in both)
Econ Courses: The usual macro & micro (the latter was very math intensive), urban political economy, international trade, history of economic though, Marxism, various seminars (all A's, with a B+ in intermediate micro))
Other Courses: Some math-intensive physics and environmental science courses
Letters of Recommendation: Very strong and personal recommendations from three profs who know me very well, including one who was a graduate of UMass and pretty well known, as far as heterodox people go
Research Experience: All in econ: independent study, grant-funded student/faculty collaborative research project, honors thesis (presented at an undergraduate conference/paper competition where it won 1st place in macroeconomics category)
Teaching Experience: TA and/or tutor for several intro/intermediate micro/macro courses, taught high school econ (for whatever that’s worth—probably not much)
Research Interests: History, philosophy, & methodology of economics, political economy, public economics, comparative economic systems
SOP: Emphasized my strengths while acknowledging my shortcomings; talked about how I’ve worked to overcome them (a great deal of self-directed study in math). Emphasized research and teaching experience, originality of thesis. Made a case for my research interests as unique and worthwhile, and successfully (I assume) presented myself as a potential asset for the department.
Other: College honors, department honors, Phi Beta Kappa, award in economics presented annually by the college
RESULTS:
Acceptances: UMKC ($$), Denver U (M.A.) ($), New School (meh), UUtah ($$), UMass Amherst ($$ + fellowship)
Application withdrawn: LSE philosophy and economics (I always knew LSE was both a long shot and impractical for other personal reasons; once I got an offer from UMass in mid-February, I decided to bail on LSE)
Waitlists: NA
Rejections: UC-Riverside
Attending: UMass Amherst
What would you have done differently? UMass was by far my top choice, not just within the set of departments I applied to. I received a TA/Instructorship, plus a University Fellowship for at least the first year, which grants a larger stipend and frees me from teaching obligations, so I’m pretty pleased overall. Nonetheless, I do wish I had taken more math as an undergrad (at the time, I didn’t expect to be going on in economics). I had been very sick for several days when I took the GRE, which is what I'm blaming my low quant score on. I guess I was risk-averse and chose not to retake. I’m still not sure that was a good decision, but it didn’t hurt me, so oh well. If I'd gotten my act together, I would have applied to more UK/Continental schools.

metalearn 2011:
Institution: The New School
Program: MA Economics
Decision: Admitted
Funding: -25% Tuition (I wasn't expecting any scholarship from New School)
Notification date: 3/14
Notified through: Mail
Posted on GC: No
Comments: Still need to hear from three other programs (2 MA, 1 PhD). I've heard The New School is supposedly stingy with scholarship and funding, so I am happy to receive any aid from them towards a master's degree.
Haven't heard from: NYU MA, CUNY PhD, Boston MA

heconomics 2012:
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Economics, from a little known university in South Asia
Undergrad GPA: Couldn't convert it into GPA. Overall score was 73 per cent
Type of Grad: MA Development Studies from a premier social sciences institute of my country
Grad GPA: Couldn't convert it into GPA. Overall score was 70 per cent
GRE: 157 Q (Yes, I know), 161 V, 4.0 AW
Math Courses: Mathematical Economics, Quantitative Techniques (These courses had very heavy loads and covered most of the relevant topics)
Econ Courses (grad-level): N/A
Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intermediate/Advanced Micro, Intermediate/Advanced Macro, Development Economics, Monetary Economics, International Economics, History of Economic Thought, Econometrics
Other Courses: Advanced Quantitative Research
Letters of Recommendation: All of them should be decent. One from Harvard PhD, well known, especially in heterodox circles. Another one from my MA thesis advisor. Final one from well known economist from my country.
Research Experience: 1 year RA work - climate change economics
Teaching Experience: N/A
Research Interests: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Philosophy of Economics, Heterodox (Left-wing) Economics
SOP: Wrote about my exposure to a various schools of economic thought, discussed the research skills I gained while doing RA work, mentioned my self-study of advanced mathematics
Concerns: Abysmally low GRE quant score. It was a bad day. But too late for a retake. Limited formal training in mathematics. Virtually unknown undergrad institute
Applying to: UMass and UMass (Resource Economics), University of Utah, American Univ, New School of Social Research, University of Wyoming, Simon Fraser Univ (MA), University of Oxford (MSc Economics for Development)