Please evaluate my profile + school list reality check

[Profgif]

Hi all,

I would like to have a reality check on my list of schools. But first my updated profile.

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad:
Physics, public university, top 3 in Colombia, a Latin America country
Undergrad GPA:
4.70/5.00
Type of Grad:
Master of Science in Organizations (Business), emphasis on finance
4.77/5.00 highest honors
Undergraduate Certificate in Finance
Passed
Incomplete studies:
M. Applied Economics
2 semesters 4.80/5.00 + 1 semester of preliminary courses 4.85/5.00
M. Economics, emphasis on finance
1 semester 5.00/5.00
GRE:
Verbal 670/800 (93%), Quantitative 800/800 (94%), Analytical writing 5.5/6.0 (88%)
TOEFL:
115/120 Writing: 30/30, Reading: 29/30, Listening: 29/30, Speaking: 27/30
Math Courses:
In physics and mathematics programs
- Calculus I, II, Advanced Calculus, Analysis I (Real analysis), II (Banach spaces), Mathematical methods for Physics (Complex analysis)
- Vector geometry, Linear Algebra
- Differential equations, Special mathematics (Hilbert Spaces, Fourier methods, PDEs)
- Field Theory (Feynman/Wiener path integrals), Numerical methods,
- Informatics and applied statistics, Probability, Analysis III (Measure theory), Physics seminar (project about Brownian motions).
In economics (preliminary courses)
- Statistics (Descriptive statistics), Mathematics (General review)
In economics (graduate studies)
- Statistics (Inferential statistics), Mathematics (Dynamic optimization).
In organizations (graduate studies)
- Quantitative and qualitative research methods, Research Seminar I (project about financial econometrics), Research Seminar II (project about nonlinear econometrics).
Econ Courses:
In economics (preliminary courses)
- Microeconomics, Macroeconomics.
In economics (graduate studies)
- Microeconomics I, II, Econometrics, Game Theory, Financial Economics (two courses, mean variance, CAPM and general equilibrium in incomplete markets), Time series analysis.
In organizations (graduate studies)
- Economic and Financial analysis of organizations, Risk valuation, Value management and valuation, Market structure.
In the certificate in financial management
- Included modules in project and business valuation, accounting and law.
Also taking this semester financial econometrics, advanced financial economics (corporate economics) and economic policy.
Other Courses:
In the physics program
- Chemistry I, Chemistry Lab II, Fundamental Physics I, II, III, IV and their corresponding Labs, Modern Physics Lab I, II, Quantum mechanics I, II, Statistical mechanics I, II, Electromagnetic theory I, II, Solid state.
Letters of Recommendation:
I presume that none of them will come from professors with an international name, connections or well published.
-One by a physicist (full professor, PhD in physics) who has some international publications in physics, knew me several years ago, he may say that I'm very good or out of the ordinary at mathematics but normal or even deficient at team work, he will be moderate.
-One by a mathematician, an expert in game theory, (associate professor, PhD in mathematics, master of economics at the Hebrew University under Sergiu Hart and master of economics at Maryland I think), taught me only one class, but recommended me as his assistant for the next period, he may say good things I guess, but he will be moderate.
- And the third one can be chosen between:
. a statistician at the Department of Finance where I work (my boss, master of science in organizations, assistant professor), he is the only one who knows my research and my teaching performance well, he would say the best of me with enthusiasm, but he may need a translator to proofread his statements
. or my master thesis evaluator (full professor, master of industrial engineering at the University of Missouri, he has many working papers and a book in English), now he works at a small university at the department of finance, but he's famous in my country and known in Latin America, he gave me the highest honors and I went to several national conferences as a speaker where he was the organizer, he may probably say that I'm very good or out of the ordinary and he may be enthusiastic
. or an economist at our central bank who taught me one class which I aced, or other professors who have taught me classes which I aced but who barely know me, I don't have the slightest idea what these people could say (some of these are professors that I have corrected in class so I'm afraid that they could retaliate). An interesting choice may be a professor with a LSE PhD in economics but his protégeé apparently dislikes me a lot and this semester I did not matriculate to the master where he teaches, but to the competing master -I was studying two masters simultaneously, but I didn't have time nor money for both this semester.
Research Experience:
Almost three years of research experience at a solvency and risk research group at a department of finance at a top university in my Latin American country, one presentation in France, two publications in local peer reviewed business and economics journals in Spanish, several local presentations and working papers in Spanish and in English.
Teaching Experience:
Half time lecturer at a small college (1 year) - Physics I, mathematics II, differential equations and physics II at the faculty of engineering and at medical school
Teaching and research assistant (2 years)
Full time lecturer (1 year) at a top university in my Latin American country
- Mathematics, statistics, mathematical finance at the faculty of management
Research Interests:
Financial econometrics, time series econometrics, financial economics.
SOP:
1000 words, I have already spent several dozens hours at it. Not specifically addressed to any university. It mentions my qualifications and my research experience and very specific research interests. It also mentions these as "achievements":
- First place every time that I have been ranked since high school.
- First place among circa 70.000 candidates in our national examination for admission to the universities (our SAT)
- First place in a logic game world competition, now ranked 8th (the puzzles were downloaded over 100.000 times, and over 600 participants from over 60 countries including a computer science UTexas professor submitted complete solutions). (I don't know if I should mention this, since it was a hobby, but it seems to sound good, any suggestions?)
- A PhD in physics from Oxford who studied at my physics program, probably the most notable student before me, got a 4.1/5.0 in comparison (I got 4.7, should I mention this?)
Age:
31

My list of schools is:
University of Chicago
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania
Yale University
New York University
Cornell University
University of California San Diego
Duke University
Michigan State University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Texas A&M University

I am very risk averse by the way, and I would probably like to replace some of these universities with safer choices but I don't know which ones to change and for which ones. (I will only apply to 12 universities.)

As you may see from my profile, I have zero connections and my letters of recommendation may be thrown to the garbage, (in fact I talked to an international professor who told me that he does exactly that when he does not know the recommender). After reading Astraltraveller's experience, I think people like me should play it as safe as possible without hurting himself with too many suboptimal choices at the same time. I have also considered Boston University, University of Iowa, Oxford University (M.Phil.) and Washington University in St. Louis. (The University of Southern California was a top choice for me, but my TOEFL is too old (1 year old) for them to take it -which I think it's absurd.)

I appreciate any suggestions, criticisms or ideas on room for improvement, both on the list as well as on who to choose as my third recommender or on whether to mention the hobby competition or the comparison with the PhD from Oxford. Be harsh, be tough, better from you than from life!

(Now I am kind of discouraged since I actually spent absolutely all of my money taking a course to try to get a letter from an international professor, but since I didn't come from the "university for the rich" nor wasn't recommended by professors there, I felt that the guy didn't pay me any attention despite the fact that I was probably the most talented in the class and that even he said that I was good. Actually, I couldn't attend the course of another important professor to pay for his course and his advice for me was to take the course with that professor, -I can imagine the other professor telling me exactly the same. It makes me remind of Asimov's words on himself: "Isaac Asimov was born in the Soviet Union to his great surprise. He moved quickly to correct the situation. When his parents emigrated to the United States, Isaac (three years old at the time) stowed away in their baggage." Regretfully I was not as smart a toddler to correct my situation... In fact, now 31 and apparently still not smart enough to correct my situation!, what a shame... )

Thanks again for your much needed help,
PG, still trying to be optimistic...

[nash12]

That seems very good. You have a sound math background and all the requisite econ courses. The only problem could be you're a lilttle on the higher side with age! My sincere suggestion is that you're being Very risk averse. With your profile and interests and provided you want to apply to 12 schools I would recommend the following:

Harvard/MIT, Princeton, Chicago GSB, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, NYU Stern, UCSD, Cornell, Michigan State and Duke.

P.S. Ask both the statistian and maters thesis evaluator for letters and send them alternativley to schools. Your age might not be a deterrent at the business schools. All the Best..

[breakz]

Only thing I'd point out is that you've got two masters in Econ that you didn't finish. But maybe that's the partial coursework you mentioned.

Also, you want to add BU to your list, even if that makes it 13--they're great at time series and have placed people well recently.

I'd say that, and your lack of letters of rec, are your biggest concern. I'm risk averse too, but you definitely have the profile to get into one of the best. Good luck!

[Profgif]

Thanks for your suggestions!
(And yes, the two masters in economics are the partial coursework.)

[asianeconomist]

I was just wondering that if the Physics professor actually writes that you are not good at teamwork, whether that will have any adverse effects on your application....

[Profgif]

That worried me at first when I had other options. In the past, I had an extraordinary LOR, but the guy died, and now I have not much space to choose from. In one former LOR the physicist mentioned a difficulty to interact with other students as the only relative weakness but he also talked about extraordinary mathematical abilities, I have been told. So I hope that helps neutralize the other stuff.

[vanRijn]

I think that your profile is extremely strong, as you have extremely sound math backgorund, more than sufficient econ preparation and research experience. You have also signalled your "innate ability" with high test scores and top class ranking thru your studies. So your application's outcome its gonna be an interesting test of how much "politics" (=connection, thus LORs) matter for international students' admissions.

Given your interests, I would really consider the LSE and Oxford (because of Dr. Patton).

good luck!!

[sonicskat]

Hi Profgif,
I was curious as to what logic game you mentioned. Only ask because I love puzzles, and was just curious about playing it.

If you feel more comfortable, feel free to pm me

[Profgif]

The game is now sponsored and some of the competitions provide prizes so I prefer to avoid linking to it directly. Its inventor, a German PhD in mechanical engineering and one of the authors of this paper, was inspired on the klotski puzzle. You may find the link to the game here just looking for "Klotski" within the page. There are also links to other puzzles there. For timed challenges you may want to try the online Google US Puzzle Championship. By the way, do you think my game performance is worth mentioning in the SOP?

[italos]

Originally Posted by nash12

The only problem could be you're a lilttle on the higher side with age! My sincere suggestion is that you're being Very risk averse.

What do you mean by saying that age could be a disadvantage?