rhuelu

you are leaving out one of the most important pieces of information...what math classes have you taken? If you are interested in finance you will need the calculus sequence, ODE, linear algebra, and a calculus based stats course at a minimum. I think to improve chances it would be good to have real analysis, PDE, maybe stochastic processes as well.

if you are interested in derivatives, Hull is the bible

I imagine the GMAT carries a bit more weight if you go to a lower tier school. You seem to be set in this department.

The tricky part will be to show that you actually are interested in finance. Right now it just seems a bit random that you are applying to phd programs without any coursework, work experience, or research experience in the field.

How old are you? Also, do you at least have some work experience in finance (at a hedge fund or something)? Although this will not really help your application, it will at least convince the adcom that you know something about finance (which will be important given your lack of coursework/research in the field).

I'm currently working on my masters (in math) and I'm planning on applying to finance programs in the fall. I have some research experience from undergrad...but I'm having trouble getting an RA position with any of the economics faculty that focus on finance at my uni. Do you guys have any advice on how to facilitate this. I emailed them 2 months ago but they all said they didnt have anything at the time. Im planning on emailing them again in a few weeks to try to line up something for next semester, but is there something else I should propose (e.g. proposing an aspect of one of their working papers that I could help with). I feel like I am at a bit of a disadvantage since I am not in the econ department. If this doesnt work out, I'll probably work on an independent study in stats with a finance flavor, but I really would like to work on something in an econ department. Any advice is appreciated.

I went to the one in DC a few weeks ago...it was ok. They start out with an hour long forum (about half Q&A) in which they have a few bschool professors answering questions. This was not terribly informative as many people were asking basic questions that you could just as easily get the same answer on this forum. the school fair portion (where a bunch of schools set up tables and have a rep answering questions) was a nice chance to ask specific questions that you might have about particular programs. The quality of the program dictates how much of a conversation you can strike up with a rep. There were probably 15-20 people standing around the HBS, MIT, Chicago etc tables waiting to get in a word and pick up a free pen...this doesnt really give you a chance to ask more than 1-2 quick questions. You could probably get this same information just by writing an email to the programs (though it was nice to pick up a pamphlet from schools that I am interested in). Overall, I would say that this is worth going to if it is close by. I don't think it is worthwhile to get a flight/hotel/take a day off in order to attend. Just my 2 cents...

Do you think it would be better to take a grad level econometrics class or analysis class?

i think that many schools award a masters degree after you pass the qualifying exams

you should probably try to take some more math classes. At a minimum you will need multivariable calc (calc 3) and linear algebra...and this still would be on the low end I think

well what kind of finance do you want to do? The most important thing is finding a place where professors have similar interests, not neccesarily the places with the best names. What was your previous financial research on?

there are much easier ways to get a job on wall street (granted there are no jobs now, but in general) then to get a phd. It seems like you would be much better suited for a masters in quant/mathematical finance. Your math background looks ok (though more probability and stats would be useful). Your GRE score is borderline for the programs you are looking at. Have you taken any finance courses?

congrats on the admit...it must be a relief to already have one under your belt...guess you were not such a longshot afterall :) I'm not applying until next year so I still have time to work on my profile. After looking at the required courses for some programs, it looks like it would def be useful to have econometrics and micro as these are often required in the first semester.

how much of econometrics is based on regular statistics? I have taken several stats/prob courses so will I be familiar with much of what they teach in such a course? thanks!

I would say your best bet is to either find an econometrics program (I think Chicago has one, for instance) or a stats program located in a bschool (Wharton has one, columbia might too). I think that these programs would best suite your interests, and they are def easier to get into than the finance programs at these schools.