Profile evaluation for 2016/17, Phd Econ with 7 years WE

[oxi]

Hello everyone, I'm posting my profile below. I'm a 31 year old with a somewhat unusual cv. I'd really appreciate if you care to comment on my profile and chances. I'm thinking about applying to schools in the UK and continental Europe. (Imperial College, UCL, LSE, King's College, Bocconi, Barcelona, Vienna)

 

PROFILE:

 

Type of Undergrad: Bsc in Business Administration, graduated in 2006 (top 2 school in my country, known for grade deflation)

 

Undergrad GPA: 2,89/4,00 (according to the schools official equivalence table 2,89/4 = 78/100)

 

Type of Grad 1: Msc in Political Science, same school

Grad GPA: 3,3/4,0 (dropped out in 2010 during last semester due to relocation)

 

Type of Grad 2: Msc in Financial Engineering (the other top 2 school in my country, well known in the US and the UK, sending students to top schools every year)Grad GPA: 4,0/4,0 (completed two semesters, will graduate in December 2015)

 

GRE: think +165 should not be a problem

 

Work Experience: 1 year at a major bank as internal auditor

6 years at the securities regulator as investment services expert, actively engaged with the financial sector.

 

 

Math Courses:

Grad School 2:

Probability theory, Statistics, Linear and non-linear optimization, Financial Calculus (cont time, brownian motion, martingale property, Ito calculus etc), Econometric methods (All A's) Havent taken real analysis yet.

 

Undergrad: Calculus, statistics, linear optimization etc. Not very advanced stuff. Grades were mostly C+, B-.

 

Econ Courses: Micro and macro, international trade, money and banking, (some more, dont remember all, mostly B+ A+)

 

Letters of Recommendation: will be very positive, professors are reputable and they know me well. one of the profs was supervised by markowitz.

 

Research Experience: Master's thesis will be very numerical. Also wrote a thesis at work, very numerical as well (was required for promotion). Could count work experience as well, which includes a lot of research.

 

Teaching Experience: none (apart from inhouse trainings where I made presentations to students)

Other: Passed CFA Level 1 in Dec 2014, wrote Level 2 in June 2015 (result not announced yet, I'm hopeful).

 

Research Interests & SOP: A mix of finance and economics (economics of regulation, leverage and financial crises, fat tails) Will stress grades in grad school 2, want to stay in academia, think I can bring a lot of good research ideas.

 

Concerns: My age (31) and low undergrad GPA. First grad school in political science a bit irrelevant, plus the fact that I dropped out doesnt look good. Dont have a degree in Econ.

 

Strenghts: Top grades in grad school 2, very good LORs, solid work experience.