PhD Profile Evaluation - Fall 2021

[jjoon]

PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BA Math and Economics, Ivy League (starts with P)

Cumulative GPA: 3.51 / 4.00

GRE: 169 Q/166 V/4.0 AWA

Math Courses:
Calc II-Multivariate (A), Calc III-ODE (C), Calc IV-PDE (A-), Linear Algebra (A), Math of Finance (A), Real Analysis I & II (C/A), Adv ODEs (A)

Stats Courses:
Probability (A), Regression (A), Time Series (A), Stochastics (A), Math Stat (A-), Bayes (A-), Machine Learning (A-)

Econ Courses:
Intermediate Micro/Macro (A-/A+), Game Theory (B-), Adv Micro (A), Adv Game Theory (A), Economic Development (A)

Letters of Recommendation:
- Prof
- Fed economist
- Current boss (was previously an Asst Prof at a top-5, well-known in finance)
[assume generally positive but maybe not superlative - all agreed to write without reservation. I honestly don't have a great sense]

Research Experience:
2 years at Federal Reserve
1.5 years of independent work with an Asst Prof at a top-25 (couple of presentations, still WIP stage)

Teaching Experience:
None

Work Experience:
Internship at top DC think tank - economic policy
2 years at Federal Reserve
3 years Data Scientist at Silicon Valley tech/finance company, currently senior level (~200K salary). Have a couple of mathy blog posts which can be adapted for writing sample.

Programming skills:
R, Python, Scala

Questions/Context: ​
Wondering how competitive I'll be at top 10. Also looking at business programs. Have low/mediocre GPA with some unfortunate Cs which I think is my biggest weakness. Should I do a Master's? I've saved enough (350K, no debt) that I can afford it easily. Honestly a PhD wasn't really on my radar until end of senior year, would have studied a bit harder had I known earlier

[Zubrus]

String of really good grades, and a string of really bad grades. Good research exp and pedigree. Expectation of < top 10 but with a confidence interval that includes schools in the top 10. You have a high opportunity cost (based on your current wage), that I would just apply and see what happens.

[Snagret]

PhD Profile Evaluation - Fall 2021 for PhD in management/OB (micro)
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: BS Psychology from a solid private school

Cumulative GPA: 3.84 / 4.00GMAT: 720 (94%), V 41/51 (94%), Q 47/51 (60%), AW 5 (56%), IR 7 (81%)Research Courses:
- Psychological Stats (A), Research Design (A-), Psych Testing (A-), Writing in Psych (A-) + tons of other psych courses with research elements.

Math:
- Calc 1 and 2 (A), College Alg (A)

Research Tools:
- R, Qualtrics, STATA, advances database queries

Research Experience:
- Worked part-time for 2 years as an RA in undergrad for 3 different professors, Econ, Psych, and OB
- Varied between 0-20 hrs a weeks depending on needsLetters of Recommendation:
- Professor I was an RA for, OB
- Professor I was an RA for, Psych
- Professor I had 3 classes with and was a great mentor/friend, Psych

Teaching Experience:
- Was a TA in psych for one semester

Work Experience:
- 1 year in HR consulting/training as a project management.

Research Interest:
- Business and behavioral ethics
- Meaning in business and work
- Ethical Leadership
- Positive Org Scholarship

Questions/Context: ​
- I've applied to 9 schools, a mix of top 10, top 20, and top 40 (from TAMUGA rankings). I am wondering how competitive I'll be and if I should apply to more schools? And I'm wondering if my Quant is a little low, or if it matters that much going into micro OB programs? Plus any other advice y'all have. Sorry about the bold font, it won't let me change it