Profile Evaluation for Phd Finance

[Arbitrageur]

Hi All,

I will apply for PhD in Finance for Fall 2010 and I would appreciate to receive profile evaluation and feedback.

Type of Undergrad: BSc Finance & Accounting 4 years – Top Greek Business School
Undergrad GPA:Overall grade: 8.76/10 with 8.51 being distinction level – 1st out of a class of 215 students
Type of Grad: MSc Banking & Finance, Finance Department in top Greek University
Grad GPA:Overall grade: 8.78/10 with 8.51 being distinction level – 3rd out of a class of 45 students
Grad Courses:Quantitative Methods in Finance (Stochastic Calculus) 9, International Macro-Finance 9, Banking 8, Corporate Finance I 10, Corporate Finance II 7, International Financial Management 9, Financial Econometrics I & II both 8, Portfolio Theory 9, Real Estate 10, Strategy of Financial Institutions 8.
GRE:760 Q – 550 V – 4.5 AWA
Undergrad Math Courses:Math I (Linear Algebra) 10, Math II (Multivariate calculus) 10, Statistics 9, Econometrics 10.
Undergrad Econ Courses:Micro I 9, Micro II 10, Macro I 10, Macro II 9, Econometrics 10, International Economics 10, Industrial Economics 10.
Undergrad Finance Courses:Corporate Finance I &II 10 & 8, Capital and Money Markets 10 and lot of accounting courses.
Letters of Recommendation:1 full professor –Head of the Finance Department and supervisor of my MSc Thesis with strong publication record, 1 assistant professor (my stochastic calculus prof) not so known, 1 assistant professor from my undergrad studies, all of them know me well and will strongly support my case.
Research Experience: My MSc thesis in the portfolio management in the long run (heavily focused on econometric techniques - grade: 10)
Teaching Experience:Tutoring Undergrad’s IT Labs
Working Experience:SummerIntership at a well known Greek bank
Statement of purpose:Standard
Research Interests: Empirical Asset pricing, International Finance.
Targets: Europe: LBS, LSE, INSEAD, Swiss Finance Institute, Tilburg. – Perhaps some US Finance Schools but I haven’t decided yet on which.

Questions to TMers:
- Do you think with my profile there are chances in being accepted in US Top 20-50? Any suggestions ?
- Any other strong European programmes that I should be considering ? What's your opinion about the Swiss Finance Institute? It has some really good placements recently.

I'll really appreciate if you can post your opinions.

Thank you all in advance.

[JosephKeith72]

It depends on the quality of the institution. Do any of your Greek professors have contacts within any programs in the US?