kamukaze

Thank you YaSvoboden for your comments, I really have concerns and I am trying to understand my standing and the strength of my overall CV. Writing to professors may not help in terms of admission. However I can understand something, some clues lets say, both about my chances and their stance againt my CV. And some of them, especially Turkish scholars or some scholars somehow related to Bocconi, may provide very helpful advice. The problem is, in my bachelor university, engineering department was really challenging and GPAs were not as high as in faculties in US. I believe I can support this with the GPA of economics courses that I had taken. Moreover, my referee really trust me, we still see each other even he is a top manager, a chief economist. So I have a powerful reference who will explain this low GPA. Some professors suggest me this will help much. Some universities (such as LSE and UC San Diego) requires to write a research proposal for the application. I already have a plan and a draft of a motivation letter, but I need to focus on a research proposal. But to what extent I should write a proposal? Can you give me any advice about that? About what may universities expect from a proposal? And any comment from someone in finance will be highly appreciated too.

Hello everyone, I will apply to a Phd in Finance program this year. Please find a short review below, and any help or suggestion will be highly appreciated. Originally from Turkey, graduated as top student from high school and ranked in top 0.01% in the National University Entrance Exam. Test Scores (GRE): 318 (V148+ Q170) Undergrad GPA: 2.9/4.0 Electrical & Electronical Engineering, Koc University but graduated among top 10 students. My GPA of economic courses (which I took during bachelor) is 3.33. And I have a really strong reference from Bachelor, from an economist (however he is no longer teaching, but a Chief Economist in one of top 3 banks in Turkey) MSc GPA - 3.60. MSc in Economics, Bocconi University, two references who are Carlo Favero (Head of Finance Department and President of IGIER in Bocconi University), and Francesco Giavazzi (prof of economics in Bocconi, former president of IGIER, graduated from MIT E&E Engineering, publish papers mostly with Harvard scholars) Research Experience: MSc graduation thesis, worked with Favero, with 8/8 max credit. No publishments. Teaching Experience: none Work Experience: currently working in ING Bank, have 3 years of experience in finance. Concentration Applying to: Phd in Finance. Interest: Asset pricing (both empirical and theoretical) Number of programs planned to apply to: 15-20, actually I have a shortlist: LBS, LSE, INSEAD, SFI, Texas-Austin McCombs, UC San Diego, Rochester, CMU Tepper, Purdue, UFL Warrington, HEC Paris, Tilburg, PennState, Mannheim. I cant apply more because one of my referees can only give me 7 referances because he is very busy. Dream Schools: Standford GSB, Upenn Wharton, UC Berkeley What made you want to pursue a PhD: I am quite curious. I like intellectually stimulating environment. I will write elaborately later in my SoP. Concerns you have about your profile: 1- Will my bachelor GPA be a serious problem given that I explain it as aforementioned? 2- Will my GRE verbal be a point of concern even if I take >105 from TOEFL? 3- Will my letter of recommendation (bachelor) from a former professor be a problem? Any additional specific questions you may have: 1- I already wrote to many scholars from the universities I will apply and do you think this will help or improve my chances of admission? I have a very positive responses from many of them (especially from Turkish professors). 2- What can I do to increase my chance further? 3- Can you please comment (subjectively) of my chances of being admitted to my short list? And also what do you think of my chances of being admitted to top 20-25 schools? 4- How can I improve my short list? Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thank you all in advance for your attention.

Originally from Turkey, graduated as top student from high school and ranked in top 0.01% in the National University Entrance Exam. Test Scores (GRE): 318 (V148+ Q170) Undergrad GPA: 2.9/4.0 Electrical & Electronical Engineering, Koc University but graduated among top 10 students. My GPA of economic courses (which I took during bachelor) is 3.33. And I have a really strong reference from Bachelor, from an economist (however he is no longer teaching, but a Chief Economist in one of top 3 banks in Turkey) MSc GPA - 3.60. MSc in Economics, Bocconi University, two references who are Carlo Favero (Head of Finance Department and President of IGIER in Bocconi University), and Francesco Giavazzi (prof of economics in Bocconi, former president of IGIER, graduated from MIT E&E Engineering, publish papers mostly with Harvard scholars) Research Experience: MSc graduation thesis, worked with Favero, with 8/8 max credit. No publishments. Teaching Experience: none Work Experience: currently working in ING Bank, have 3 years of experience in finance. Concentration Applying to: Phd in Finance. Interest: Asset pricing (both empirical and theoretical) Number of programs planned to apply to: 15-20, actually I have a shortlist: LBS, LSE, INSEAD, SFI, Texas-Austin McCombs, UC San Diego, Rochester, CMU Tepper, Purdue, UFL Warrington, HEC Paris, Tilburg, PennState, Mannheim. I cant apply more because one of my referees can only give me 7 referances because he is very busy. Dream Schools: Standford GSB, Upenn Wharton, UC Berkeley What made you want to pursue a PhD: I am quite curious. I like intellectually stimulating environment. I will write elaborately later in my SoP. Concerns you have about your profile: 1- Will my bachelor GPA be a serious problem given that I explain it as aforementioned? 2- Will my GRE verbal be a point of concern even if I take >105 from TOEFL? 3- Will my letter of recommendation (bachelor) from a former professor be a problem? Any additional specific questions you may have: 1- I already wrote to many scholars from the universities I will apply and do you think this will help or improve my chances of admission? I have a very positive responses from many of them (especially from Turkish professors). 2- What can I do to increase my chance further? 3- Can you please comment (subjectively) of my chances of being admitted to my short list? And also what do you think of my chances of being admitted to top 20-25 schools? 4- How can I improve my short list? Any suggestion will be appreciated. Thank you all in advance for your attention.