regmonkey

Hi everyone, I come from a low ranked (internationally in econ, fairly high ranked otherwise) tier 2 Canadian University (just outside top 4) In my first year of undergrad, my average (in a business program) was 3.0 with an A+ in calc 1 but some Bs in intro econ courses. After switching to a Math & Econ program, my grades in years 2 & 3 (going into 4th year now) has been straight 4.0 with only 2 3.9s. This includes: -Calc & lin alg sequences (A+ except A in LA 1) -Real Analysis 1 (A+) -Topology (A+) -And assorted math courses (complex analysis, few courses in ODEs, some prob/stats, etc...) (A+) -Random econ field courses (A+) -intermediate micro & macro (all A+ except A in inter. micro 1) -econometrics (A+) -econ research course (A+) -game theory (A+) -One withdrawal (W) in some 2nd year financial math course I am currently doing an NSERC micro project and will write my GRE this summer which I should get close to 170q on. I plan on doing my econ thesis next year and should have some good letters of rec. I plan on taking (high likelihood of getting A/A+ in all of them) -Advanced micro / macro courses -Micro 1 (MA / PhD stream) -Real analysis 2 (graduate level) -econometrics 2 I am going into 4th year but I will be staying for a 5th year and will only be taking 3 or 4 courses per semester until i graduate due to having to work part time. As mentioned, I plan on taking all the standard advanced econ courses, real analysis 2, and some other upper year math/econ electives later on and should finish with a 4.0 in my last two years. However even if I get all 4.0s from now on (very likely), I can only finish with a CGPA of around 3.7. -Will my crappy 1st year marks + 1 Withdrawal resulting in a rather meh CGPA really matter especially since I have gotten high marks in upper year math / econ? -Will taking an extra year in undergrad while taking 3/4 courses instead of 5 courses a semester influence my results? -Will my relatively unranked undergraduate institution factor heavily in my chance of going to a top school? I want to and I do believe that I can do well in a top school but I am not sure where to apply to given my circumstances. Are there any chances of getting into a top 10/20 PhD right out of undergrad? Will doing a masters (think top 2 Canada or Duke) bolster my chances? Thanks guys.