oab729

I'm wondering if there any masters in particular that are good preparation and a good signal to PHD programs. I don't really need any mathematical preparation, but I do need a better idea of what subjects I'm really interested in and a chance to do real research/(hopefully) publish papers. Right now I think I'd like to do asset pricing (empirical or theoretical) and market microstructure, so masters programs that have lots of classes in those would be awesome.

Should I apply to masters programs instead, do well, get better LORs and then reapply? I can't really imagine getting better letters without waiting a year. Is it even worth it? Should I maybe apply to econ phd programs instead?

Unfortunately, this isn't a case of revealed preferences. I would be happy with admission to a top 15-20 program. Do I even have a shot at such programs, given my lack of advanced econ courses?

It's been changed to top 15-20. I know how competitive it can be to get in, so I'd also be happy with UCLA or Kellogg. Maybe ecstatic was too strong of a term.

I'm mostly interested in doing a finance phd but I'll be applying to some econ programs. My problem is that by the time I apply I've have only taken one advanced econometrics course and a bunch of intermediate econ courses. On other hand I've done a bunch of grad math courses and did thesis research with a CS prof in auction theory/mechanism design (very little handholding). I was planning on getting LORs from my math prof, my advanced econometrics prof and my thesis advisor, but I'm worried about the fact that my thesis advisor isn't well known and no an economist. Should I instead get another letter from a finance prof that I got an award from in an intro to finance class?

Since by the end of fall, I'll have only taken one advanced economics course, I can't really get another econ professor to write me a letter, attesting to my ability to handle grad level econ work. I could get my finance prof (phd also from MIT) to write me a letter, but the class was not at all mathy and focused a lot more on intuition. I did receive a best student award, but I'd still be worried since he stopped publishing mainstream work and mostly writes economic history type stuff. Should I get him instead? As for my mechanism design prof, she'd be my thesis advisor and she has published on auctions but most of her stuff is in algo game theory. Hopefully she can attest to my technical research ability.

I'm a junior, triple majoring in CS, Math and Economics at Dartmouth applying to Finance (asset pricing/market design) and Econ (financial economics/game theory) phd programs next year. I'm hoping to get into a top 10 econ or top 15-20 finance phd, with a preference towards finance phds. I'd be ecstatic with say cornell johnson or nyu stern. I have a pretty unique situation, in that my CS research has been in mechanism design and I've only taken intermediate Econ courses. Going forward, I'm wondering what I should do to maximize my chances of getting into a good phd program next year/ whether I should apply to MFE or masters in the hopes of reapplying to phd programs in a year. Here are my stats: GPA: 3.9 top 5% math courses taken (all A's except for one A- freshman year in calculus and optimization): optimization, real analysis, abstract algebra, graduate measure theory, graduate probability, graduate functional analysis, mathematical finance econ courses (all A's): micro/macro/econometrics/finance intro/corporate finance My current plan is to take advanced econometrics (research paper based course)in the fall, do research in market design, and then get LORs from my advanced econometrics prof, my thesis advisor in market design, and my math professor. Here is where things get tricky: I abruptly stopped doing market design research with my professor last fall, because I realized I needed to take more econ classes/ thought I was going to enter the business world rather than do a phd. I also never went to her optimization course (got an A-) and sat in the back of her algorithms course (got an A). She did like my research, but did not like my lack of participation. My plan is to really apply myself in research and get her to write me a good LOR. Alternatively, I could do research with a math professor in functional analysis type stuff, but I felt that market design would be more applicable to econ. I'm also thinking of getting a letter from a computer science networks researcher who really liked me in my previous class. Hopefully he can talk about how I'm hard working and go the extra mile in implementing additional functionality/ doing stuff for fun. I'm wondering how this plan sounds and if there's some stuff I shouldn't bother with, like asking for a letter from my CS networks prof. Also, will my application be significantly strengthened if I wait a year, spend a 1 year finance masters/working at a quant firm, and then reapply having letters from my advanced micro/finance profs? Thanks

Sorry I meant graduate programs. I've already taken up to graduate functional analysis, so the analysis component is not a problem.

How do I become Steven Shreve or Peter Carr now? What college program would allow me to do cool math that is potentially useful and lucrative.

Also, do my overall grades matter. I might let them drop to 3.8 while keeping my major gpa at 3.95+

Are there any other math courses I should take, and should I just take a minor in CS or will having a third major in CS be useful?

Sorry I wasn't clear about my research. I was an RA at Stanford in management science/ops in h.s., then I was an RA for a marketing professor at tuck, where I'm credited in a forthcoming paper as a research asst., and then I did some RA work again for a math professor under clustering analysis (spectral theorem type stuff... similar to PCA). Now I'm doing more actual research I guess, with some guidance from a professor. As for all the responses and advice, thanks a bunch. I think from here on out, I'll focus on my econometric/finance courses and try and write good final papers for those, and try and pursue some research with a tuck prof once I've finished my finance courses. I'm wondering though how I would approach a tuck prof, and if having taken a lot of math will help? Also, keep in mind that the reason I took graduate math courses rather than grad econ courses was because there's no graduate econ department at Dartmouth. I actually like econ more (I prefer reading varian/ross over rudin) , but undergraduate econ is really slow (So I prefer folland because it's faster).

Oh I've also done research in math and am now doing research in auction theory

Hi, I'm a math/econ/cs major at Dartmouth. As I'm looking ahead, I realize I really want to be a b-school prof in finance, economics, or ops/management science. However, given the difficulty of attaining tenure and the foregone income of working @ a finance firm, I'd only go to a phd program if i gained admission into a top program (harvard, stanford, mit, chicago, berkley, etc). I was wondering what my chances are given my current stats: 3.9 gpa major gpa: 3.98 math courses taken: standard honors fare + graduate sequence in analysis (measure theory and functional analysis) + graduate probability econ courses taken: micro, macro, finance, corporate finance cs courses taken: machine learning, software design/implementation, optimization Since I'm currently a sophomore, I was wondering what I might do to maximize my chances at getting entry into a top b-school phd program. Should I take more econ courses, or should I go do more math. Should I be doing more extracurriculars, etc? The main reason I want to be a b-school prof is because I get to do highly theoretical thinking while still maintaining some applicability to the real world. Plus, I get perks such as a relatively high salary for work I would do for fun and fewer hours than working in the finance industry and I get to dictate my schedule mostly.