nhanntran

I am just curious if U of Texas at Dallas (Econ Dept) only funds Americans and PRs? I have just received an unfunded- offer.

Did you get acceptance from UIC? My status is still "Under review".

Hello, I am applying to PhD program in Finance at Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville. However, I cannot submit my application because they require a "Computer program". I dont even have any ideas on what it is? This is what they ask:" Attach a sample of computer program that you have written, and list the class of job for which the program was written." I haven't written any computer program. What should I do? I have asked the department, but they are unlikely to reply before the deadline of Jan 1st. Could I submit my writing sample (my masters thesis) instead? Does anyone have an idea on this case? Thanks a lot,

I am sorry if it is inappropriate to upload a reference letter here, but here is a draft of my advisor's letter. What do you think? To Whom It May Concern: I have known XXX since he joined our master program in which I have been the director from the beginning of 2016. Our program has been designed in such a way that students are trained to be a serious researcher. As one of requirements of our master program, our students have to submit their papers to the level of Scopus journal by the time they graduate. XXX has been one of the most diligent students in our program, and has just finished up the process successfully. On the surface, he looked a bit quite, but I have observed he becomes very focused especially when it boils down to academic matters. The fact that he has received high grades on a consistent basis proves it. I also had an opportunity to advise his thesis. In the thesis, he re-examined “AAA”. Most extant literature suggests a negative relationship between liquidity and stock returns. Some claim, however, that liquidity has a different role in the emerging market. In particular, using “aaa” stock market data, M (2014) and N (2016) showed a positive relationship between liquidity and stock returns. His paper re-investigates this subject in the framework of the augmented Fama-French model with momentum and liquidity. His study finds that the liquidity factor is priced. More importantly, there is a negative relationship between liquidity and stock return. Although we are still in the process of making his thesis published in a decent journal, I am certain that there is a publishable piece with interesting empirical significance in his thesis. While he wrote the thesis, I also noted that he always responded quickly and yet with great details to all the instructions that I gave; unless he was highly motivated and well equipped with analytical tools, it would not have been possible. In addition, I am sure that he is good at handling the data, because I observed that he had a solid knowledge on many statistical softwares, such as Stata and Eviews. As a team player, he too seemed to share what he knows with many of other students, and is willing to help other projects every time his skills are needed. I have a strong feeling that he is well prepared and thus will succeed in your program. First of all, he has good habits of studying, which includes his diligent and hard-working attitudes. His analytical skills with excellent statistical background will be a plus too. XXX also has a desirable character; he is humble, and yet persistent, and very focusing. Last but not the least, he is highly motivated and prepared to learn and absorb as much of economics and finance knowledge as he can. Based on my observation for the last two years, I dare can assure you that he will be an excellent student, once accepted into your program

Let me clarify a bit: We do study calculus at our high school and I think my calculus at the university level may be equivalent to calculus II,III. But I am not sure if the adcoms would have experience on Vietnamese transcripts and or do I need to explain in SOP/ or elsewhere? My UG major was Accounting (Auditing to be exact). This is the toughest track in my university in Vietnam. I’ve also worked for Deloitte for over 1 year. Unranked schools in South Korea: I was awarded a full scholarship to do my masters. My masters program is a research-based program. So, I decided to take that because it fitted my needs.

But what do you think about funding? I couldn't make it without funding :). Thank you

Hello, During my masters, I have done my thesis on a finance topic (investment). My paper has been sent to a Scopus-indexed journal and under review. I've also worked as a research assistant for one of my professor for 5 months. I would like to do my PhD because I am really interested in development economics, especially poverty and inequality. Any chance for me with some schools in top 100.

Hello, My professor suggested that I should try PhD in Econ because Econ admits a dozen of candidates every year, that of Finance is only 3-5 students. I think PhD in Finance is highly competitive globally? Or is it less competitive in Europe? It seems to me that it would be tough applying for Econ, but I think I don't even have any chance in Finance. :)

Hello, Thanks for your reply. I will take your suggestions carefully.

I am going to apply for some PhD in Economics for Fall 2019 My undergrad: majored in Accounting 8.42/10 (one of the top schools in business and economics in Vietnam) My masters: majored in Finance 4.38/4.5 (an unranked university in South Korea). Math course: Linear Algebra (A+) Calculus (B+) Optimization (A+) Probabilities and math statistics (A+) Applied Statistics in Business and Economics (A+) Statistics (Grad) (A+) Econ courses: Microeconomics I (B+) Macroeconomics I (A) Development economics (B+) International Economics (A) Theories of Monetary Finance (A) Econometrics (Grad) (A+) Time-series (Grad) (A+) My unofficial GRE score: Verbal 147, Quantitative 167. I have not received my AWA score yet. My LORs: 1 from my masters thesis advisor (PhD in Finance at Wisconsin at Madison)- not really strong. 1 from a professor that I worked as his RA (PhD in Economics at Boston Uni)- looks okay 1 from a statistics professor, I am not sure about this letter. My questions are: My background lacks calculus II,III, and some other math courses as well as intermediate micro and macroeconomics? How does it hurt my application? My verbal score is quite low, given that I am an international student with my IELTS score of 7.5? I understand that the committee puts more weight on Quantitative section, but does my super low verbal harm my chance? If I take some online course without certificates on Math, does it count? Some of schools that I may shoot: Hawaii at Manoa, Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Clark, UTexas at Dallas. Do I have any change getting in? Do you guys have suggestions for some schools that I should apply for? Any suggestion is highly welcomed. :)

A perfect score :)