PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad/Grad: BSc in Economics (finished), MSc in Economics (should be finished in December) and possibly MSc in Statistics (I'll probably have the coursework ready but no time to write the thesis) from a relatively unknown university in Finland.
Undergrad/Grad GPA: Overall 4.90, Econ 4.94, Math 4.83, Stat 4.94 (on a scale of 1-5)
GRE: 800Q, 390V, 4AWA
TOEFL: 111 (29R, 30L, 23S, 29W)
Math Courses: Unfortunately, they don't have illustrative names. I tooks a course packages for a minor in math that dealt with the basic areas (linear algebra, differential calculus, integral calculus, real analysis, etc.) in more of an applied fashion.
Stat Courses: A lot. Mathematical Statistics 1 & 2 and Probability calculus A & B + courses on time series analysis, survival models, mixed models, regression models, multivariate statistics, etc. I'm probably taking courses in stochastic simulation, computational statistics and bayesian statistics in the fall/spring
Econ Courses: A lot. Intermediate and advanced level courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, mathematical economics and econometrics + courses in labour economics, regional economics, microeconometrics, applied econometrics, game theory etc. I'm probably taking either PhD Micro or Phd Econometrics in the fall/spring.
Letters of Recommendation: 2 economics professors from my university and a research director from an economic research institute. I guess they all know me guite well and believe in me so their letters should be good in that sense. I might still try to get more recommenders but we'll see what happens.
Research Experience: BSc and MSc theses in economics, RA for my economics professor for 7 months, two last summers as a research trainee in an economic research institute, last fall and next fall as an assistant researher in an economic research institute, next year as a researcher in an economic research institute
Teaching Experience: None
Research Interests: (Empirical) labour economics, (micro)econometrics
statement of purpose: Trying to figure out what to say in it...
Applying to (still a very preliminary list): MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Yale, Northwestern, MSU, LSE (MSc), Oxford (MPhil), UCL (MSc), Warwick (MSc), Tinbergen, Tilburg (MPhil), Uppsala. I'm aware that at least the top schools are way out of my league but for some reason my
letter of reference writers want me to apply to them. I guess I'll just follow their advice and hope for a miracle.