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PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Canada Undergrad GPA: 3.98 Type of Grad: Top 5 US Masters Finance Grad GPA: 5.0 / 5.0 GRE: 160 V, 170 Q, 4.5 AW Math Courses: Calculus 3, Adv Calc, ODE, Analysis 1 and 2, Algebra 1 and 2, Linear Algebra, Probability, Stochastic Processes, Mathematical Finance Math Courses (grad-level): Mathematical Statistics 1 and 2, Generalized Linear Models, Sampling Theory, Adv Stochastic Processes (in progress) A in all math courses Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics 1 and 2 (taken at my undergrad institution), Stat Method in Economics (Phd level taken during my masters), Econometrics (Phd level taken during masters, in progress). Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Honors Micro 1 and 2, Honors Econ Stats 1 and 2, Honors Macro 1 and 2, Honors Econometrics 1 and 2, Game Theory, Advanced Economics 1 and 2, Monetary Economics (A-) A in all econ courses except monetary economics (won undergrad award for top honors econ student) Other Courses: Financial Engineering, Financial Markets, Advanced Corporate Finance, Data Structures, Other Finance Courses Letters of recommendation: Tenured Professor in Econometrics with whom I took 2 classes and received A's. Wrote large paper for the grad class. Tenured Professor in Macro. Received A in class and he also coached our Governor's Challenge (Canada's version of Fed Challenge) team which one first place. Professor in Macro with whom I took 2 courses and did small independent research project with. Research Experience: Limited. Did small independent research project Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Econometrics, Financial Economics SOP: Standard Concerns: Lack of research experience Applying to: Harvard , HBS , MIT , Sloan, BC, Chicago, Columbia, CBS, NYU, Stern, Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Wharton, Brown, CMU, JHU, Duke, UVA, Michigan, Wisconsin, WASHU, Stanford, Berkeley Accepted: Princeton ($$$), Sloan ($$$), Northwestern (unfunded year 1), Berkeley (Low funding), Wisconsin, Michigan, Duke, UVA, Washu Declined to Pursue: CMU, JHU, BC Rejected: the rest

I have heard from a friend who was accepted into LSE EME today Also interviews are starting to be handed out from Wharton finance department

I attend a Masters Program at a top 5 school for finance that has in the past placed students into top PhD programs (although this is not the focus of the program for most students). If my program is representative of these schools on your list, then I would say that if you are competitive for top 15-30 PhD then you are without a doubt going to get accepted into each of these schools.

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 5 Canada Undergrad GPA: 3.98 Type of Grad: Top 5 US Masters Finance Grad GPA: 5.0 / 5.0 GRE: 160 V, 170 Q, 4.5 AW Math Courses: Calculus 3, Adv Calc, ODE, Analysis 1 and 2, Algebra 1 and 2, Linear Algebra, Probability, Stochastic Processes, Mathematical Finance Math Courses (grad-level): Mathematical Statistics 1 and 2, Generalized Linear Models, Sampling Theory, Adv Stochastic Processes (in progress) A in all math courses Econ Courses (grad-level): Econometrics 1 and 2 (taken at my undergrad institution), Stat Method in Economics (Phd level taken during my masters), Econometrics (Phd level taken during masters, in progress). Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Honors Micro 1 and 2, Honors Econ Stats 1 and 2, Honors Macro 1 and 2, Honors Econometrics 1 and 2, Game Theory, Advanced Economics 1 and 2, Monetary Economics (A-) A in all econ courses except monetary economics (won undergrad award for top honors econ student) Other Courses: Financial Engineering, Financial Markets, Advanced Corporate Finance, Data Structures, Other Finance Courses Letters of recommendation: Tenured Professor in Econometrics with whom I took 2 classes and received A's. Wrote large paper for the grad class. Tenured Professor in Macro. Received A in class and he also coached our Governor's Challenge (Canada's version of Fed Challenge) team which one first place. Professor in Macro with whom I took 2 courses and did small independent research project with. Research Experience: Limited. Did small independent research project Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Econometrics, Financial Economics SOP: Standard Concerns: Lack of research experience Applying to: Harvard, HBS, MIT, Sloan, BC, Chicago, Columbia, CBS, NYU, Stern, Northwestern, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Wharton, Brown, CMU, JHU, Duke, UVA, Michigan, Wisconsin, WASHU, Stanford, Berkeley

Thanks again for the reply. I really appreciate your help and advice. I will definitely look into all the RA options. Out of curiosity, without an RA year, what range of schools do you think I am competitive for?

Thank you very much for the response. I likely won't find out until late March/April if we are admitted in the same location. Is it possible to apply for RA positions that late for the upcoming year. That is, if I apply for these positions in April, will positions starting in the fall still be available?

Hello all, I am wondering how practical it is to apply to a large number of programs (say 30). In particular, would this be likely to annoy my LOR writers? The reasons I plan to apply to so many schools are as follows: 1. I plan to apply to programs in both econ and finance whenever possible 2. My girlfriend, who has a roughly equivalent quality profile to mine (for medicine), is also applying and we really want to get into a school in the same city. My understanding is that there is a lot more volatility in medical school admissions and so she is planning to apply to around 30 programs. I was also wondering, conditional on good performance in my masters, what range of schools you would consider reaches, targets and safeties for me. Thank you very much! PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 5 or so in Canada Undergrad GPA: 3.98; Econ GPA: 3.98; Math: 4.0 Type of Grad: Masters Finance at top 5 school (both econ and finance) in US Grad GPA: Haven't began yet GRE: 170Q Expected Courses during Masters: several standard finance courses (portfolio theory, options, derivatives, financial engineering, etc), measure theory, phd econometrics sequence Math Courses Undergrad (all A): Linear Alg, Calc3, Adv Calc, Differential Equations, Prob, Stochastic Processes, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Real Analysis 1, Real Analysis 2, Mathematical Finance, Regression Math Courses Masters Level (taken during undergrad): Sampling Theory (A), Stats 1 and 2 (A, A), Generalized Linear Models (A) Econ Courses Undergrad: Micro 1,2,3 (A,A,A), Macro 1,2,3 (A,A,A), Monetary Econ (A-), Game Theory (A), Econometrics 1,2 (A,A) Econ Courses Masters Level (taken during undergrad): Econometrics 1,2 (A, A), Letters of Recommendation: I only really have professors who know me from courses. I can get LORs from 3 profs who are well published (top 10% RePeC), and in whose class I had the top grade, but I did not do research with any of them. Research Experience: Very little. I will do a Masters Thesis during my Masters Program. There was no undergrad thesis, although there was a 25 page econometrics paper. Research Interests: Finance, Econometrics, Macro Other: Won award for top Econ grade in undergrad program Concerns: Definitely my research experience is my main concern. My guess is that I am a long shot for top 10 schools, some shot between 11-20, good shot at schools ranked 21-30, and pretty safe for schools ranked outside top 30. Thank you very much for all your help. it is really appreciated.

Thank you so much for the reply. I probably should have mentioned in my question that I am a US citizen so unfortunately I can't apply for SSHRC scholarships. Do you know of any others?

PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Top 3-5 in Canada Undergrad GPA: 3.99 / 4.0 (4.0 econ and math) Type of Grad: N/A Grad GPA: N/A GRE: Not yet taken but hope to get 168+ Math Courses: Calc 3, Adv Calc, ODE, Linear Algebra I, Real Analysis I, Real Analysis II, Algebra I, Algebra II, Probability, Stochastic Processes, Mathematical Finance (All A). Next year taking PDE, Numerical Analysis, Stats, and maybe a couple more Econ Courses: Micro I and II, Macro I and II, Econometrics I and II, Game Theory, Economic Statistics (All A). Next year taking more econometrics, advanced micro, and advanced macro Other Courses: Not Much Relevant Letters of Recommendation: This is tough since I have yet to do any research. There are a couple professors who really like me as a student and I performed well in their classes, but I do not know them personally. Research Experience: Nothing yet. I will write a thesis second semester next year Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: Not totally sure yet SOP: Standard I think Other: For personal reasons I want to do a one year masters before I decide if I want to apply to a PHD. I plan to apply to the following: Finance / Financial Engineering: Princeton, MIT, Columbia, Stanford, Queens, Oxford/Cambridge (Maybe) Economics: University of Toronto, UBC, McGill, UWO, LSE, Cambridge Stats: Harvard, Berkeley, Yale, Chicago, Purdue My questions are do I have a good shot of getting into these schools despite my lack of research? Also do I have a chance of getting funding or scholarships at any of these places? Finally does anybody know where to apply for external scholarships. I see on the university FAQ pages that some students get external scholarships but I despite my searching I have not found any available for people applying to masters programs. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate your help.

For econometrics (if that is your interest) I would say choose McGill. They have a very strong econometrics faculty. Otherwise I would recommend UBC and reapply next year.