Evaluation Please, I am not sure whether the programs are appropriate for me.....

[sato1987]

Hi,guys, I am an international undergraduate student and I want to apply for PhD in Econ for 2010 fall.

major: finance
GPA: finance 3.9 math(minor) 3.86
GRE score: V640 Q800 AW3.5(......pretty bad)
TOEFL: R29 L 29 S21(pretty bad....) W 28

Research Experience:
Two Unpublished papers (both using econometric methods which in my opinion is advanced)
Team leader of a undergraduate research program.I have been a RA for one professor for one year.
RA for a year

letter of reference: all from professors at my university...not famous in the field,though one of them has published many papers in international journals in the past years...

It is the time to send materials, however, I am not very sure whether the programs that I chose are appropriate.......so, please evaluate my profile~~~
Thanks in advance!

No referees are well known in the filed,they just got PhD for two or three years from Europe and the U.S.

BTW, I am interested in international macroeconomics and time series econometrics and time-series macro

The Programs I Chose:
U of Minnesota
U of Michigan
U of Washington
Arizona State U
Indiana U
UT-Austin
UCSB
Washington U in S.t. Louis
Ohio State U

[mlkovach]

I don't know much about the other programs, but it looks like you have a very good shot at UCSB.

[sato1987]

Thanks for your suggestion. Could you explain why UCSB is the appropriate target? Thanks!

[Gecko]

just a minor note - your econ courses are ok right? intermediate micro and macro

UMN placed someone this job market at Wharton - she was doing work on macro-finance. International macro is done by Kehoe and others. They are not really big on time series econometrics however, so do take note.

[sato1987]

Yeah, my econ courses are ok. I heard that few students take econometrics at UMN.....Professors at UMN only do theoretical models or they use other techniques such as "calibration".......

[Gecko]

they do use panel data.. Bajari for instance. But I don't think he works on finance

[mlkovach]

If you have good econ grades and strong letters I'm pretty sure you could do much better than UCSB, I was just saying you should feel pretty safe about it.

I really can't say how strong it is for macro. Kydland is there, which helps, but you wont see him much...although he may start teaching more in the future, one never knows...they have some other good people doing econ/international...

though if you want an academic placement at a good school, UCSB might not be they way to get there...(though it happens sometimes)

Minnesota and Michgan are both better overall, so I'd pick either of those before SB.

[NB888]

I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere on the internet that UC Santa Cruz is appropriate for international economics, including international macro. You might add UC-Santa Cruz to your list.

[walt526]

Originally Posted by NB888

I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere on the internet that UC Santa Cruz is appropriate for international economics, including international macro. You might add UC-Santa Cruz to your list.

Actually UCSC only does international economics. In fact, the degree is "PhD International Economics." It's a highly specialized school that offers relatively limited flexibility in research areas.

[asianeconomist]

I would throw in at least two other programs. Columbia for Macro and Cambridge for Time series. They might be reaches, but well worth a shot with your profile.