Profile evaluation for Finance PhD

[richard]

Hello guys! I have posted an evaluation thread in the Econ phd forum, and somebody kindly recommends to have a try in finance.

So any comments on my profile for a finance phd application? Thanks!

 

Undergrad: BS in Applied Math in a Top 10 Chinese university. GPA 3.5, but some bad grades for Calculus (around 70)

 

Masters: MS in Financial Math in a Top 10 (or Top 15?) U.S. university. GPA 3.9.

 

GRE: 166 Q/ 162 V/ 3.5 A

 

Math courses: my major was math...

 

Recommendation:

1. econ professor (I have been his RA for almost a year, and publish two working paper on his institute website)

2. applied math professor whose research field is quant finance (I did two research projects with her, paper write-up but not published)

3. applied math professor whose research field is machine learning (we did a deep learning project together)

 

Research:

1. Two working papers (one macro/currency, one commodity market) with the Econ professor mentioned above.

2. One research project paper (commodity market) with the second professor mentioned above.

3. A stock prediction project using deep learning with the third professor mentioned above.

 

Teaching: TA in two derivatives and investment related courses in the business school of our university.

 

Concerns:

1. No formal publications

2. My undergrad GPA is not top level.

 

Applying: I have not picked my schools yet. Any advice? I really wanna go to a top tier or somewhat "good" university. How big is the possibility here...

 

Thank you very much!