PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BSc Economics, top ranked institution in home country (little known elsewhere)
Undergrad GPA: Top 3%
Type of Grad: M. Econ., top ranked institution in home country (little known elsewhere)
Grad GPA: Top 2%
GRE (Q/V/A): 170/166/6.0
Math Courses: Calculus I & II, Linear Algebra, Probability and Statistics, Real Analysis (PhD course)
Econ Courses: pretty standard; intermediate-to-advanced microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, plus some field courses
Other Courses:
Letters of Recommendation: (1) master thesis advisor, PhD @ Top 5 US; (2) PhD @ Top 5 US, did well in two of his classes; (3) young researcher whom I TA'd for. Strong letters all around I suppose, although my referees aren't world-renowned scholars
Research Experience: None, other than my masters' thesis
Teaching Experience: TA for 3 years (undergraduate macroeconomics courses)
Research Interests: Macro, Migration
SOP: standard; talked mostly about research questions that interested me
Other: NA
RESULTS:
Acceptances: Minnesota ($$), Columbia ($$), Maryland ($), Rochester ($$), Bocconi ($)
Waitlists: Boston U (rejected right away once I got the email)
Rejections: Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, NYU, Penn, Chicago, UCLA, UBC, Cornell
Pending: Toronto (asked me whether I was still interested, replied that I wasn't)
Attending: Columbia
Comments: Pretty happy with the way this turned out, given my lack of research experience and having a master's from a relatively unknown school in Europe. Applying to the top 5/6 schools in US was admittedly a stretch.
What would you have done differently?
being more proactive in finding RA opportunities, maybe doing a master's degree in a more prestigious institution somewhere else in Europe
How accurate were others' predictions of your range of admissions:
Like other posters have said, most people underestimate the competitiveness of the PhD application process. My master thesis advisor expected me to have a top 5 offer - I surely didn't. anyway, thrilled to be going to Columbia, and best of luck to everyone applying next year!