Test Score: GMAT 720
Undergrad GPA: 91 BS is Financial Engineering (One major university in finance and economics in my country, but maybe not very famous in US)
Grad GPA: 90 (expected) (Double-Degree-Program jointly offered by one the Top 3 university in my country and one of the Top 3 university in Singapore, MS in Economics & MS in Financial Engineering)
Research Experience: 3 RA positions related to economics and finance (one with undergrad professor, and two with grad professors); two working papers; four conference presentations (including FMA annual meeting and AFA annual meeting); but no publications in journals.......
Teaching Experience: 2 TA positions in graduate-level courses (Research Methodology, Behavioral Finance)
Work Experience: No
Concentration applying to: Finance (research interests are empirical asset pricing and behavioral finance)
Number of programs planned to apply to: 15 (3-4 in Canada)
Dream schools: Top 30
What made you want to purse a PhD: I like exploring questions in finance and the RA experience inspires me to pursue an academic career.
Concerns you have about your profile: The LOR are not from well-known professors. Also, I have a concern about the language test. My oral English is not very good. I took IELTS previously (Overall 7, but only 5.5 in Oral part). I am going to take TOEFL soon.
Additional questions:
1) It seems that the competition in Finance program is much more severe than that in Economics program. Is it reasonable to first apply for an Economics PhD program and then transfer to a Finance Program?
2) Are my target schools realistic? What should I do to increase the probability of getting admitted by these schools?
Any comments and suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
