my1433

I am an applicant from Hong Kong. I hope I can get some advice about my profile. Any suggestion is welcomed! Type of Undergrad: Top 3 department in Hong Kong. Year exchange at McGill. Undergrad GPA: Hong Kong: 3.8/4 (I am not sure about the ranking, but I have never found somebody in my department with a higher GPA. Perhaps top 5%) McGill: 3.94/4 Type of Grad: none GRE: 150V, 168Q, 4AW TOEFL: 110 Econ Courses: HK: Econ stat (A-), Intermediate Micro (A), Intermediate Macro (A-), undergard econometrics (A-), Public Finance (A), grad econometrics (currently taking) McGill: Advanced Micro-honuors (A with average B+), Advanced Macro-honuors (A with average B), Game Theory-honours (A with average B+), Monetary Econ-honours (A average unknown), IO (A with average B), Money and Banking (A with average B). Math Courses: HK: Stochastic Calculus and Probability Theory (currently taking), Stochastic Processes (currently taking) McGill: Calculus 3 (A with average B-), LA1 (A with average B+), ODE (A with average B-), Probability (A- with average C) UIUC Netmath: Real Analysis (A) Research Experience: · RA for my grad econometrics teacher for 4 months. Mostly literature review and programming work. · Currently writing my final year paper in macro with a full professor. Teaching experience: None Research Interest: Macro, Finance. I think my interest should be theoretical. Letter: · My grad econometrics teacher and my RA boss. (Top 5 PhD grad. Assistant professor but with nice publication) · My final year paper advisor (Full Professor) · A full professor at McGill. I only took a course taught by him and got an A. · Undergrad programme coordinator (Top 10 PhD grad. Senior Lecturer but should have decent track record for master’s). I performed well in a course taught by him and he should remember me as an ambitious student in the programme. The first 2 letters should be strong. The last 2 as you can easily see is weaker. Schools going to apply: My final target is to get into a top Econ or Finance department, but I know Asian students’ optimal strategy is to get a master’s first. I will still give a try to top schools, but the expected outcome is master’s. Master’s: Chicago MAPSS (my top choice!) Oxford MPhil LSE EME LSE Finance and Economics U of T MA UBC MA PhD: Princeton Chicago MIT Stanford Questions: What are my chances of getting into the master’s? Any chance on PhD? What schools should I also apply, given my profile and interest? Any comment welcomed!! I have learnt a lot from this forum. Thank you very much for all your inputs!!

Hi all. :encouragement: Summarizing information on various forums and programme websites, I have basically narrowed down my targets to these 3 programmes. LSE EME and Oxford MPhil have long been regarded as having the best placement record to PhD programmes, but as I observe MAPSS's placement is also excellent. So I would like to ask for some more opinions: if I wish to enter top 10 programmes in Econ/Finance, which programme would be the best for me? My research interest is in Macro/Finance. I know they are all good in their placements. But if I only aim for top programmes, how top (in terms of ranking) in my cohort in each master's do I have to be in order to enter top 10 PhD? This piece of information is essential but unfortunately not easily gathered. For your reference, this is the placement information: MAPSS: PhD Placement | MAPSS | The University of Chicago Oxford: Limited information can be found on MPhil in Economics | University of Oxford LSE EME: Overall placement of LSE EME+Econ can found on Career and PhD destinations Of course, any input about the 3 programmes is also welcomed!!! Thanks for your help.

Thanks a lot! But why would you put (1) before (2)?

I am now deciding between which 2 of the following 3 courses to take 1) Optimisation Theory: Unconstrained and equality optimization models, constrained problems, optimality conditions for constrained extrema, convex sets and functions, duality in nonlinear convex programming, descent methods, conjugate direction methods and quasi-Newton methods. Textbook: "S. Boyd and L. Vandenberghe, Convex Optimization, Cambridge University Press, 2004." 2) Real Analysis: This is an introductory course on the Lebesgue integration theory on real line. Topics include: measurable sets, measurable functions, Lebesgue integral, Fatou's lemma, monotone convergence theorem, Lebesgue dominated convergence theorem and differentiation. Textbook: Real Analysis by H.L. Royden 3) Mathematical Economics (offered by Econ Department, and the grading is more lenient): This course discusses basic tools in mathematical analysis and their applications to mathematical economics. Mathematical topics include sets, functions, sequences, continuity, open sets, closed sets, compact sets, maximum existence theorem, separating hyperplanes, and fixed points. Economic topics include preference, utility, demand, competitive equilibrium, and Pareto optimality Textbook: Lecture notes by professor I have taken Calculus I to III, Linear Algebra, ODE, Probability, Basic Real Analysis, Stochastic Processes, Stochastic Calculus. I am interested in doing macro/finance stuffs (probably theory). I am quite interested in (2) as I quite enjoy Basic Real Analysis and Measure seems necessary for theory. (3) is in fact a good choice since it covers lots of topics including optimisation and fixed points, but it may seem less sophisticated. That's why I am struggling between these courses, particularly (1) and (3). Does anybody have some thoughts on this. Thanks a lot!!!!!!

Update: I have just retaken GRE and the score now is V150, Q168, AW4. I totally understand improvement in GRE scores does not increase the chance of admission, give that I have passed the threshold. But the problem is: do I pass the threshold with the new score if I aim at top 10 schools? Q and AW should be fine, but V seems be to very marginal...

As far as I know, not many schools require us to upload the course outlines of relevant courses. Also, it is not always the case that schools give us a spreadsheet to indicate textbooks/contents of the coursework. Although I am sure we can emphasise the rigor of courses somewhere in our application, how can we signal ourselves EFFECTIVELY? I mean: how can we increase the probability that Adcom really understand our coursework without official course outlines? (I think for spreadsheet of coursework, Adcom cannot always know even if somebody lies.) It is especially true for international applicants studying in an international school with non-conventional course titles. Examples in my school: - Foundation of Morden Math --> Intro to Proof - Stochastic Calculus --> Measure Theory + Stochastic calculus - Quantitative Methods in Derivatives --> Stochastic calculus/Stochastic Differential Equation - Empirical Finance --> Financial Econometrics Indeed, these course titles are not wrong, but just fail to (fully) highlight their rigor. Any suggestion?

Really appreciate all your advice! I am now thinking how can I change my study plan. If possible I will probably replace a pure math course with a financial mathematics course for letter from a finance professor. I will also try to RA in a more "finance" project. Just a quick question: other than finance research experience, what are the differences of a typical top 10 profile and mine? What range should be my target now? Again, thank you for all your inputs!!

Thank you very much! I will definitely retake GRE. I do lack grad finance experience. Are grad courses in finance essential for admission? And in what aspects are they important? (Show research interest? or they are just as crucial as math?) As I search through different programmes, they often mention math or econ experience are even more important than finance courses. Can I remedy this disadvantage by grad econ courses? If not, what masters are the best preparation for top 10 finance schools? Thanks again for all your helps!!

What is my chance of getting into a top finance programme?? Please Help. Test Scores (GRE): 148V 166Q 4 AW (will retake) Undegrad GPA: 3.8/4 major in Econ in a university in Hong Kong Math: Cal 3, Linear Algebra, ODE, Numerical methods for DE, Stochastic Process, Time Series, Probability, Real Analysis Econ: Many. Basic +Intermediate+ Advanced Micro and Macro, Econometrics, Game Theory, Stat for Econ, Mathematical Econ (real analysis with econ application), Grad computational econ, Grad Econometrics Finance: Basic Corporate Finance, Investment and portfolio analysis (All A/A- but some are expected grades) Graduate GPA: N/A Research Experience: RA for an econ assistant professor (from top 5 Econ PhD) in summer. 2 senior theses in Econ (Only 1 before application) Teaching Experience: N/A Letter of Recommendation: One from the Econ professor I RA. One from the first senior thesis (Full Prof). For the third one, I plan to use the one from Grad Econometrics this cycle. In the next year, I will use the one my supervisor of the second thesis. (All Strong) Work Experience: Summer intern in a top-tier Chinese investment bank (Econ Research) Concentration Applying to: Finance Number of programs planned to apply to: 20 Dream Schools: Top 10, especially those strong in asset pricing, macro-finance Concern: - Not much finance exposure - Poor GRE, especially the verbal part. I have not taken TOELF, but my IELTS score is 7.5 overall, and I have an A- English grade in college. - Few research experience - No work/TA experience If you think I am not well prepared for top finance PhD, what are the masters I should consider? Thank you very much‼

Thank you for all your inputs!! I also tend towards senior thesis, but I am worried about the difficult of writing a good thesis (though I think a good letter is almost for sure given I put my effort). What kind of math is actually needed for a senior undergraduate thesis, say, in macro?

I am an undergraduate aiming at top econ master programmes in 2019 and applying for PhD in econ or finance in 2020. I am now struggling between whether to write a thesis or take more math courses next year. My background: - Math/Econ courses completed/Under consideration Cal 1-3, Linear Algebra, ODE, Probability, Econometrics, Grad Econometrics, Stochastic Process, Numerical Analysis, Grad Computational Econ (something like numerical methods with econ application), Intro math analysis, Math Econ (proof-based course with econ application), PDE (All A/A- from a University in East Asia) - In fact, other than the thesis, I have to write a 13-20 pages paper (excluding graphs) next year. I do not count this as a formal thesis as it is only 2 credits, and a professor is guiding ~10 students as the same time. But I should be able to get a letter from this semi-thesis stuff. - Research Experience: Not at all now. Probably will RA for a professor this summer. If I have to write the thesis, then I have to give up one course above, probably PDE. Does anyone here have some advice for me??

No. I mean I am planning to apply for econ master/PhD. Can these summer courses help me?

I am lacking some essential math courses for PhD in econ, like ODE, Real Analysis and Probability. Can anyone tell me how useful it is if I take these courses during summer? Class hour is the same (~36 hours+conference), but each course only lasts for ~1 month. Courses under consideration: LSE: Real Analysis, Advanced Econometrics UCB: Intro to Analysis (MATH 104) McGill (somehow I know somebody here): ODE and Probability If I cannot take these courses, probably I can only take Intro to Analysis at my home next semester. Do Adcom discount my grades obtained during summer school?? Are they useful for admission?? Thanks all!!

Thank you very much!!!! But what range of program should I aim??

Hello, I am a non-native speaker of English (coming from Hong Kong) and I have got a poor result in Verbal GRE... Here are my scores: V: 148 Q:166 AW:4 I took the IELTS before and got a 7.5. I believe I can improve it to a 8.0 or a similar score in TOEFL. Can I have a try for the top programs?? :( I study in Chinese U Hong Kong and have all essential econ courses taken with good grades (GPA:3.84/4). But for math I only have up to Calculus 3, Linear Algebra, Intro Analysis and Time Series, and perhaps ODE. I really hope to get into top programs. Do you guys have some kind suggestions??? Btw, how's the reputation of my school (Chinese U Hong Kong) worldwide.....? Thanks, Michael