Profile Evaluation for PhD in Economics

[pc724]

Hi Guys!

 

Any thoughts, suggestions would be greatly appreciated! This isn't (obviously) for this go around of applications but the following year.

 

Wondering what would be considered a realistic for Econ PhD programs? Top 10? Top 20? Top 50? Looking to see where I relatively hold up. More details about my profile:

 

Undergrad GPA: 3.78 Top 50 National University with honors

Major: Econ major, math minor. I took principles of macro & micro (both As) intermediate macro and micro (both As) econometrics (A-) History of monetary economics (A-) Economic Policy Analysis (A-), Public Economics (A), IO (A-) Senior Capstone, written on a topic in financial economics,(A), Calc 1 (A) Calc 2 (A), Calc 3 (B+), Stats (A-), Linear (A-), intro to proofs (A-) Time series analysis (A)

 

Grad GPA: 3.9 (Same university)

Major: Mathematics

Real Analysis (A-), Measure Theory (A), Probability (A-), Statistical Inference (A) Algebra 1 (A) Algebra 2 (A) Thesis: Applying methods of topological and symbolic dynamics to complex economic modeling problems (A) I was also a TA for undergraduate Analysis (if that counts for anything)

GREs: Not taken yet! Although practice tests, including the 2 ETS tests have been 166-170 Q, 157-160V.

Letters: Professors from 1) (Grad) Math Thesis advisor. We're in the process of publishing some of the results that came out of my thesis and 2 years of research I did for him. 2) Undergraduate Capstone advisor in which I wrote a paper on quantifying reputational losses that are felt by publicly traded firms when they are accused of misconduct.3) Economist at Federal Reserve Board.

 

Research Experience: I spent 2 years as a graduate research assistant to a professor which involved mathematical modeling of complex systems. Research is funded by a DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) grant. My focus was on applying some of the abstract general modeling approaches to concrete economic models. I am currently working at the Federal Reserve Board doing applied macro research on linkages between real and financial market behavior. Includes policy simulations and projections of macro activity. A lot of DSGE modeling and some statistical inferences.

 

I'm not entirely sure what to think of my profile and how competitive I am for some of the top schools. I think my research background is good and my letters of rec will be strong as well, but I want to hear what everyone's thoughts are. I'm concerned about my GREs. Not quant, but verbal. Is a verbal score in that range too low?

 

Overall, thoughts and chances? Please be realistic. Thank you!

 

 

(Also posted in "PhD in Economics" Thread)