Hey guys,
I am a long time lurker but this is my first post so I just want to thank everyone up front for sharing your advice and insights here for aspiring candidates like me. Below is my profile.
PROFILE:
Type of Undergrad: Top 3 State School in Texas. Bsc. in Economics and Applied Mathematics
Undergrad GPA: (GPA 3.9/4.0)
GRE: None Yet, taking this summer
Math Courses: Cal III and math proof class
Econ Courses: Undergrad- Micro, Macro, Econometrics, Financial Econ and International Econ. Grad- Experimental Econ
Letters of Recommendation: 2 potential LORs (Both from top 10 PHD program)
Research Experience: Half year of RA experience in a neuroscience lab - acknowledged in a published paper. 1 year of RA experience in an experimental econ lab and a senior thesis on a behavioral econ paper. (RA experience wasn't very spectacular at all, I could have done better but got complacent. Prof seems supportive though)
Teaching Experience: None yet
Research Interests: Macro, Financial Econ, Experimental Econ
I have about 1.5 years left in my undergrad degree. Since I've finished up all of my core Econ classes, the next 3 semester will be filled with math classes (i.e. real analysis, linear, diff eq,) . For the past year, I've undecided between going into finance or pursue a PhD in Econ so I played around a lot between the two without much focus. I will be interning in a hedge fund doing quantitative research this summer. I think this will give you guys a good enough idea on my background.
I did some thinking and I realize that I ultimately want to pursue a PhD program so I would appreciate any response and advice from all of you. Since I have a 1.5 years left, what should my game plan be? I am planning to approach a financial econ professor to RA with but I also feel that I should continue my RA with this current professor. Is it sensible to work for two professor?
I looked at the applicant profiles in the forum and I realize that most strong applicants have strong LORs from famous economist. How could I get hold of famous economist and eventually build a strong enough relationship with them to get good LORs?
Lastly, there are many talks about a low-rank undergrad --> high rank europe masters --> top 10 PhD program path, not necessarily from this site. Should I focus on going to a PhD program right away or should I pursue a MA in Europe to strengthen my profile.
Thank you.