Targeting applications for Fall 2015
Undergrad: B.S. Math, B.S. Economics with 3.83 GPA at small liberal arts university
Grad: M.A. Economics with 3.9 GPA at state school with relatively unknown phd program
GMAT: Not yet taken. Practice run before studying was 710 so with lots of studying, I'm hoping for 740-760, but I suppose you never know if the practice test will be like the real thing.
Research experience: No journal publications, one white paper, one presentation at decisions sciences conference during undergrad. Three years research analyst work for market research agency doing statistical analyses and designing surveys.
Teaching experience: Two years experience teaching Marketing Research to MBA students at large state school, but not a top program.
LORs: Two should be strong and for the third one I'm working on the relationship with the professor. None of them are well known researchers though.
SOP: I'm interested in consumer behavior broadly, with specific interests in consumer financial decision making as well as conspicuous consumption.
Target schools: I have a long list at this point so I'm hoping some of you can tell me where I may realistically fall in terms of targeting top 20, 30, 50 etc. so I know if I need to cross some of the list. A few researchers of interest are John Lynch at CU-Boulder, Michael Norton at HBS and Lisa Bolton at Penn State.
Thank you for any advice you can offer.