Follicle

You'll probably be fine for University of New Orleans. I got in there last admissions cycle and I have 1 master's degree in econ with a 3.6, a lower undergrad gpa, and only a slightly higher GRE score. Publications are also a big deal and I reckon you are a very realistic shot for all of these schools+ some higher ranked ones as well.Their first year funding is pretty bad at UNO, however, so I ended up not going.

Of course you should go... why did you apply if you were just going to ***** out anyway? I did Msc before I did Real Analysis. I think I only had Calc I and II and I chose my school's "phd prep" track (we also offered more private sector focused ones). Micro was tough, but honestly the proof writing skills I developed in RA didn't overlap all that much with what I did in micro. I guess this can vary a lot based on what's covered in one's RA class. Micro was harder, but I think RA would have helped only marginally. It does kind of depend on the prof though. My micro prof just assumed everyone had taken a ton of proof based math and offered no real instruction and it was tough and I had to learn from classmates a lot. Then I did a financial econ theory course afterword and this prof gave lots of handholding and guidance for how to write proofs. And if it's that much of a concern, check the curriculum. Sometimes the math econ course will get into real analysis. You might also have the option of taking RA as an elective through the math department at some schools. Just go dude. Attrition rates at master's programs are pretty mild and mostly from part time students.

I would advise you to stay on the econ/math route, especially if you want to go into finance. I can't speak for information systems/marketing, but phd level coursework in finance will be extremely distant from what's taught in typical undergraduate finance courses, and you'd be much better prepared having taken as much math as possible (which will also help with the econ coursework which will be part of a finance phd) Accounting phd programs almost universally require econometrics+micro coursework, as well.

Isn't this depressing and outrageous when you think about it? I mean this is one of the most important developments in the field and they don't bother teaching much about it in the typical undergrad finance program. I feel like they dumb things down so much because of how downright stupid the typical business undergrad is. Surely the gap between undergrad and grad material in other fields is not so enormous... I finished a 4 year business econ degree without ever having been exposed to a constrained optimization problem.

I know this isn't very relevant, but I don't think it warrants creating a new thread: Does anyone know anything about how HKUST (or any of the programs in HK) views western applicants? I did phd level intro to finance theory course recently (as a post bacc) and the prof I took it with had been a professor at HKUST. He said that the ad-com actively prefers western applicants and that even with my modest profile I would have a good shot at an offer. I found this flabbergasting as they're so high ranked and must have an enormous amount of elite caliber applicants from mainland China and everything I've been told is that demographic background is completely irrelevant to the admissions process at any phd programs. I also looked at their current students page and noticed a complete absence of western names in any business discipline. Is he incorrect or could this be because very few westerners apply there? Fwiw I'm interested in placing at an Asian university. I know this is essentially unknowable, but I would like to hear some speculation.

Yep, that's pretty much the type of school I'm looking for (or rather what I believe I can realistically get into). They do have funding: http://www.uno.edu/coba/EconomicsFinance/PhDProgram/graduate-assistantships.aspx Thanks.

bump. Anyone have any insights to share?

Bump. I'd like a little more feedback on my profile and what range to apply to. I'm really interested in mortgage finance and specifically prepayment modelling by stochastic simulation. Anyone happen to know any programs that might fit with this? Also, I don't mind some brutal honesty. I would rather not blow $1k on application fees and not get in anywhere.

Okay, thanks for your feedback. I guess I was losing hope comparing myself to applicant profiles on here for elite schools. At the same time, I realize I might still be a marginal applicant at some of the sub 100 ranked schools and I plan on applying to more schools and maybe focusing on research fit in addition to ranking and my perceived competitiveness among other potential applicants.

I did this and generally fit in around average for students they'd admitted, but that's for the entirety of their business school's phd programs. I keep reading on here that admissions standards for PhDs in finance are substantially higher than for other business disciplines, but I'm not sure how much higher. Also, are the avg gmat scores on the bestbizschools phd programs generally accurate? Some of them are extremely low, like Washington State for instance had an average of 625. It's really hard to get a good idea of how my chances are from this forum because most applicant profiles are solely targeting elite schools and considering the schools in top 50 or 50-100 as "safeties", whereas a place like UC Irvine is probably a reach for me. Are econ admissions really that much less competitive? I still have a lot of interest in micro theory/experimental micro and I know a lot of econ programs allow you to take finance electives. My master's program used Jehle+Rehny and MWG. Could I truly have an easier time getting some kind of funded offer in fall 2015 if I take the GRE and mix in a few econ programs or is the difference in competitiveness exaggerated?

Type of Undergrad: Very bad state school, almost none of the finance/econ faculty publish or even try to. Undergrad GPA: 3.21, 3.6 business Type of Grad: Research/Academic focused MsC in Financial Economics from better school in another state with faculty members who actually publish, Thesis Grad GPA: 3.6 GMAT: 86th quant, 70th verbal, 91st AW. Math Courses: At the time my application goes in it will be: Calc I-III, Linear Algebra, Intro to higher math, Real Analysis Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Micro Macro, Intermediate Micro Macro, International, Environmental, Public Choice, Econometrics Econ Courses (grad-level): Adv Micro, Adv Macro, Econometrics, Time Series Econometrics, Financial Econometrics Other Courses (grad-level): Financial Economic Theory, Financial Management, Investments and Portfolio Theory Letters of Recommendation: Associate Professor who has a few environmental econ publications, Dept Chair at the undergrad institution, Lecturer from grad institution who is a high ranking business economist at Wells Fargo who has several academic publications in time series econometrics and forecasting even though he's "outside academia" kinda. Research Experience: Thesis+2 research projects Teaching Experience: Micro TA, International TA, both as an undergrad Research Interests: Empirical Asset Pricing, Financial Econometrics, experimental micro SOP: I went very specific and outlined several research questions I plan on addressing during my PhD and in my academic career as a whole. Concerns: Everything, I feel like a very weak and average applicant and I feel like the only thing that gives me an edge is a very specific research agenda. Other: Experience as a low level analyst at a small firm that does 3rd party valuation of mortgage backed securities. Applying to: UARK UC Irvine Binghamton Washington State University University of Nebraska Lincoln Simon Fraser Kansas University of Oklahoma Old Dominion V-tech Do I really have a shot at some of these rank 50-100 schools or should I limit my applications to the ones ranked below 100th on ASU research rankings? Do I even have a shot at these schools? Should an applicant like me apply to more than 10 schools? As unambitious as it sounds, I just want to go to a place that will at least give me a good shot at a spot as an AP at a no-name b-school with an MBA program. I'm not looking to teach anywhere known/famous.

Really? A lot of schools publish the average GMAT scores of admitted students and even at some 50th-100th schools it's as low as the 80th percentile. I guess you might be right because these only refer to composite scores and can include business disciplines other than finance. But still part of me hopes this is not true for the schools ranked below 100th. I was in the 86th percentile : (.

This would be instead of working full time. I'd leave my job and move back to my home state of AZ and study at ASU. I know they have a very high ranked finance phd program and doing a post-bac there+auditing a few courses would be great. I doubt they'd ever actually admit me to their phd program, but having a LOR from a prof who teaches in the program would probably go a long way. I can't remember if Stochastic Processes required probability theory as a pre-req or if the two can be taken concurrently. If I can't do it I'm thinking I should just not add any additional classes, drop to half time student status, and spend more time doing finance phd coursework/seminars without credit. Maybe they'd grow fond of me and actually admit me, who knows.

I finished a master's in econ which included some finance courses. I came into the master's with only Calc I and II and had a half-semester crash course in stochastic calculus. I'm working in industry right now and immediately realizing it's not for me and I'd like to pursue a PhD in Finance. Here's my plan so far: Fall: Calc III Differential Equations Linear Algebra Mathematical Structures (intro proof writing/higher mathematics) +auditing one phd level finance theory course Spring: Analysis Probability Theory Two more I don't know yet. Suggest things to me! I have a few options. I could just add more more upper level math or I could take a few MBA level finance courses. I did a courses in corporate finance, investments and portfolio theory (which was not remotely rigorous and I learned very little), financial economic theory, and financial time series in my master's program. I'm thinking it could be very helpful to just do an MBA level derivatives course. While I got some exposure to it in financial economic theory, I definitely wouldn't mind more background in it. On the other hand, I'm not sure if something like abstract algebra or geometry might be more impressive to adcoms even though I'm not really sure how helpful it would be. If I do go the route of more math, I'm not really sure which courses would be most helpful for PhD level micro theory/asset pricing courses. For whatever it's worth, I plan on pursuing research in micro theory and empirical asset pricing. I've already had 3 graduate econometrics courses and feel somewhat comfortable with the math involved in those, but I am really not confident in the math used in micro theory or continuous time asset pricing. I really struggled with pretty much every micro theory or fin econ theory proof question. Thanks, all.

Thank you for the thorough and detailed response! I guess when I look closely most of the people posting insanely good stats are gunning for top 25 schools and putting the 25-50 range as their safeties; I'm sure I stand a chance at the less selective and well known institutions. I think I'll go ahead and submit 10 or so applications to relatively lower ranking schools where I think I would mesh well with the faculty. I'm also going to continue on with Calc III, Linear Algerbra, and Diff-eq during my down-time which should strengthen my application for next season and keep my brain fresh if I do get admitted+funded somewhere. I neglected to mention I do have graduate research experience. I worked on two main projects in real estate finance. The first was my thesis and the 2nd was a group project. One of my group-mates is submitting it to the Journal of Housing Economics. I don't think it has much chance of being published. I also did two smaller independent projects as part of econometrics coursework but probably won't mention them in my SOP.