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Profile Evaluation for 2014 ~


common

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Hi , everyone ! Frist of all thanks a lot for you guys' help , I learned much information from this forum .

 

Here is my profile , and I am looking forward to your advice .

 

PROFILE:

 

Type of Undergrad: BA( Econ major , Math minor ) from top university in Canada ( although econ department here is not as strong as the university )

 

Prior to entering this Canadian university , I also spent two years studying French in a key university in China

 

Undergad GPA: 3.9 ( in Canadian top university , ranking top 3 in the department ) 89.5/100 ( in the university in Beijing , ranking number 1 out of 120)

 

Grad GPA: N/A

 

GRE: have not taken yet , but according to the practice results , they will be Q 168 V160 and W 4.0 ( I am an international student , so the adcoms will be lenient to my verbal and writing part )

 

Math Courses: Calculus A (98) , Calculus B (95) ,Linear algebra and geometry (A) ,Probability (A) , Statistics (A) , linear algebra (A-) ,Analysis 1 (B+ ) , Analysis 2 (A),and will take ODE in the coming fall

 

 

 

Econ Courses:Microeconomic Theory(A) ,Macroeconomic Theory(A), Economic Statistics(A-, luckily I got two A in the mathematical prob and statistics courses above later , hopefully it will show that I actully have a good skill in stat .) Game Theory (A), Intro to Behavioural Economics (A ) , Chinese economy ( in the fall ), Honors Econometrics (W , and will retake it in the fall ) , Independent Econ research ( in the fall)

 

other econ electives that I have taken in China : intro to macro (95 ) , intro to micro (85 ) , international finance (95 ) political economics (86), economics history (89 ) ,

 

LORS: one very famous ( not sure if it is strong , will try to perform better later ) , one famous in its field ( should be good and have good connection with top 10 departments) , one from the dean of Peking university econ school ( not famous , did not get a phd from US ) , but I did research with him for 4 years , he will write that I am his top student during his 20 years teching experience ) one Math( analysis) Prof ( from a famous phd program , should be strong , 99 percentile student in his class )

 

Concerns: I got a W in Honours econometrics 1 due to course selection mistake ( will mention it in SoP ).in our school , the prerequistes of it is mathmatical stat and linear algebra , but I took it before I have taken the two courses . so finally withdrew it and studied the two courses first . But I will take it in the coming fall , and will expect to get an A ; got a B+ in Analysis 1 , although got an A in analysis 2 later

 

Reseach experience : did research with the dean of peking university for four years , have three papers published , and two under review ( All published in English , but the journal is not good , of course ... )

 

Teaching experience : spent one summer as an TA teaching Chinese economy in Peking University ( LSE -Peking summer program )

 

Applying to: All top 20 , and some schools ranking between 20 to 30

 

 

Thanks a lot ! Guys ! I am worrying if I am targetting too high ?

Edited by common
top 20 ? too high ?
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I don't think you are aiming too high, but keep in mind the noisy application process is even noisier for international students. Definitely apply to the top schools, some in the 10-20 range, and some in the 20-30 range. I would choose 1 or 2 in the 30-50 range that you would be content with. I can't imagine you getting shut out of the top 30 with your steller profile, but I would think at the worst you could get into a solid top 50 program.

 

You seem to have a good grasp of the process already, just make sure you do very well on the GRE.

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  • 4 weeks later...
I like your profile. You're only missing econometrics, but since you have plenty of stat courses the adcoms might overlook that. Your school range also seems fine, but my advise is that if you're interested in a particular field you should focus on schools that are very strong in that field, even if the department itself is not high ranked.
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LORS: one very famous ( not sure if it is strong , will try to perform better later )

 

It sounds like you may not want this LOR writer. My inclination is that being famous acts as an amplifier. A very strong recommendation from a big name will help enormously, but a lukewarm letter from a big name could harm you a lot. If you want a letter from a big deal prof, be quite sure that he/she will give you a very positive review. Otherwise, I'd consider alternatives.

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