another profile eval

[appler]

I want to apply to some econ phd programs in fall next year. hope you guys can give some evaluation on my profile so i can know where to send my apps:

bs degree: intl university, engineering, gpa probably 3.1 after conversion
ma: us terminal master in economics

ma classes(grades): intl fin econ(A), econ thought(A), micro theory(A-), game theory(A), math econ-S&B(A), econometrics(B), corp finance(A), fin markets(A), linear algebra/matrix theory(A), theory of stat I(A), devt econ(A), business risk mgt(A)

gre: 800M, 670V, 4.5AW

research interests: game theory, information econ, financial econ, and probably politcal econ

research experience: not significant

i'm looking to get an idea on what range of schools i should target. any comments(esp. with plain candor), will be greatly appreciated!

[constrainedoptimizer]

Have you had any other stat courses outside of your MA metrics class? Any upper-division math courses you're interested in taking that may appear on your transcript?

If I were you I would look at departments similar to U.C. Irvine in depth of faculty and similar cohort, if Political Economy is your main interest.

Check out some grad students resumes and see if yours is in the ballpark.

If you're real serious about financial economics, maybe U.C. Santa Barbara may be a good fit.

Hopefully others may chime in.

[appler]

The upper math/stat classes I took are the linear algebra(a master level from the math department) and theory of stat I(also master level from the stats dept). there are a lot of 'insignificant classes' i took but it was the best combination i could get. really sucks!

and yeah, am serious about financial economics, more than political econ anyway

[constrainedoptimizer]

Originally Posted by appler

and yeah, am serious about financial economics, more than political econ anyway

I am going out on a limb here, but judging by your background thus far, I think USC, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine might serve as good starting points. Irvine has a reputation as being a good place to study political economy, but they also have Hirschleifer, who is a big name in behavioral finance/financial economics.

You can always throw in UCLA, UC San Diego and Berkeley as reaches...

[asianeconomist]

Do look into some of the Business Schools for PhD in Finance. Check out whether their current research matches your interests. If yes, then you should definitely consider a few of them.

[appler]

I'm looking at some business schools, too.

How far will such a class Functions of Real Variables(:Borel sets, measure and measurable sets, measurable functions, and the Lebesque integral), go to improve my profile? I'm trying to take some summer classes, and this seems to be the best option.

Does a weak undergrad record mean you are screwed forever? My undergrad grades are weak. I know is hard to tell but can a strong performance in master program offset a weak undergrad? It seems that adcoms regard master gpa's to be inflated, because they usually demand higher master gpa cutoffs than for undergrads, so will a master program really help?

I've gone through the profile/results and I havent seen any weak undergrad record being overcome to get a 'top' school placement.

[paradox3696]

Originally Posted by appler

I'm looking at some business schools, too.

How far will such a class Functions of Real Variables(:Borel sets, measure and measurable sets, measurable functions, and the Lebesque integral), go to improve my profile? I'm trying to take some summer classes, and this seems to be the best option.

Does a weak undergrad record mean you are screwed forever? My undergrad grades are weak. I know is hard to tell but can a strong performance in master program offset a weak undergrad? It seems that adcoms regard master gpa's to be inflated, because they usually demand higher master gpa cutoffs than for undergrads, so will a master program really help?

I've gone through the profile/results and I havent seen any weak undergrad record being overcome to get a 'top' school placement.

based on your gre score and graduate level courses and grades, you have a very good chance to get into one or more top schools. But please dont forget to submit strong LOR's which is just as important.

[asianeconomist]

An important consideration should be the level of the courses that you've taken in the Grad level. For instance, did you use MWG/ Varian's Analysis for your Micro theory course. If these courses were rigorous enough then they should definitely act as good signals. Your grade in econometrics is a bit on the lower side, considering you'll be doing a lot of time-series in FE. However, your Stat course performance may partially alleviate that problem.

I wouldn't say that you don't have a shot at top schools, but the general advice would be to apply widely across the board, with let's say 1-3 top 10, 5-6 reaches and 2-3 safeties. You might refer to the EconPhD.net rankings for selecting schools based on your specialties.

[appler]

Originally Posted by asianeconomist

An important consideration should be the level of the courses that you've taken in the Grad level. For instance, did you use MWG/ Varian's Analysis for your Micro theory course. If these courses were rigorous enough then they should definitely act as good signals. Your grade in econometrics is a bit on the lower side, considering you'll be doing a lot of time-series in FE. However, your Stat course performance may partially alleviate that problem.

I wouldn't say that you don't have a shot at top schools, but the general advice would be to apply widely across the board, with let's say 1-3 top 10, 5-6 reaches and 2-3 safeties. You might refer to the EconPhD.net rankings for selecting schools based on your specialties.

my program is terminal, most of the students are just using it to get a leg up in industry. The prof would probably have been scalped if he'd used MWG! We used Reny and Jehle.

Frankly am targeting top 20 as my long reaches, and 20-45 as main targets, with more safeties further down the ranks. But there's a limit to how far down I'd go. I've seen on TM profiles/results the diversification a lot of people use, and it never hurts to apply to some long shots even just for the hell of it.

From what I've seen you seem to need a blemishless profile to enter a top 10, or some 'big thing' to make up. I just wonder how a master level real analysis class would go to shape up my profile now. Right now it seems there's no other way to improve my profile other than LORs.

[asianeconomist]

Originally Posted by appler

my program is terminal, most of the students are just using it to get a leg up in industry. The prof would probably have been scalped if he'd used MWG! We used Reny and Jehle.

Frankly am targeting top 20 as my long reaches, and 20-45 as main targets, with more safeties further down the ranks. But there's a limit to how far down I'd go. I've seen on TM profiles/results the diversification a lot of people use, and it never hurts to apply to some long shots even just for the hell of it.

From what I've seen you seem to need a blemishless profile to enter a top 10, or some 'big thing' to make up. I just wonder how a master level real analysis class would go to shape up my profile now. Right now it seems there's no other way to improve my profile other than LORs.

LORs will definitely constitute a very important part of your application. Your target range seems tenable, however do remember to select schools based on specialty rankings (and not general rankings) if you have a strong research direction.