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Do you have a recommendation on the order of the various sections in one's CV (length: 2 pages)? I've been working for six years and my professional experience is more relevant than my undergraduate publications (which were in a difference discipline) and more substantive than the current project I'm an RA on. Thus, I'm inclined to put my professional experience first and then follow with publications and current research - but I know the latter weighs more for programs. Any guidance here? Thanks!

Hello I am in the second year of my Ph.D. now. Recently, several faculties in my field of interest left my department so I started looking for transferring options. Please, evaluate my profile! Type of Undergrad:B.S. in Business from an unknown university in Europe Undergrad GPA: 3.54/4 Type of Grad: MA (honors) in Financial Economics from the top school in my country, not well-known internationally, Ph.D. (in progress) from usnews top 40 Grad GPA: 3.72/4 (MA), 3.813/4 (current Ph.D.) GRE: 167 Q, 153 V, 3 aw TOEFL: 106 Math Courses: All the required courses to get into a Ph.D. with grades ranging from B+ to A (A- on average). In addition, Real Analysis (Ph.D. level, B) and Advanced Calculus (A-) from my current school. Econ Courses (PhD-level): Micro I,II (A), Macro I, II (A-), Metrics I, III (A-), Metrics II (A) Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Macro, Micro, Behavioral, Game Theory all A or A+ Other Courses: Advanced Asset Pricing Theory, Accounting, Financial Instruments, Portfolio Management, Corporate Finance Letters of Recommendation: 1 from an Alternate Director at IMF (not research active, not much academic background) - strong letter, 1 from one of the professors who left my current department (currently in usnew top 30, UMN PhD) - solid letter, 2 from professors in my current department - ok letters. Research Experience: two years of research-intensive working experience at a central bank, two publications in an unknown local journal Teaching Experience: TA as a part of my Ph.D. funding Research Interests: Macro, Financial Economics, Macroprudential and Monetary Policy SOP: Dwelled on the validity of my intention to transfer pointing out that I have several referees from my current department who understand and support my decision. Concerns: 1) weak undergrad, although I kinda hope my graduate experience compensates. 2) Low verbal and aw GRE. 3) My schools' pool is too strong given my profile and recommenders. 4) B on the Ph.D. real analysis course even though it was super advanced. Other: I already successfully passed the comps at my current program, grade-wise I'm in the top quarter of my class. coding skills: Matlab, R, Python, C++, SQL, LaTeX Applying to: Northwestern, U of Rochester, Boston College, USC, Notre Dame, U of Virginia, Carnegie Mellon, Swiss Finance Institute, UPenn Wharton, UWM Business School (Financial Econ program), OSU (finance dept), Wash U St. Louis (finance dept), IU (finance dept)

Hello all First time poster here. This forum has been crushing my dreams for the past month, so I figured I should at least post something as well. I am currently a sophomore double majoring in math and economics at a mid sized, un-ranked, non-econ-PhD, public university. Lately, I have been considering obtaining a PhD after graduation (ideally at a T10 to T30). Also, given the fact that my school is un-ranked, I've been considering transferring (to CU Boulder to be specific). I'm wondering if this is worth it or not. I'll list some pros and cons just to give an idea of how I currently feel about doing this. Pros: -Better ranking -Tuition is likely the same as where I'm at right now -Better connections/ opportunity for research Cons: -Throw away the relationships I have with my current professors (which are all very good) -Dealing with the bullshit of transferring -CU Boulder's undergrad program still isn't ranked that high. Not sure if it would really impact my profile that much. -CU Boulder is much larger than my current school. I probably wouldn't have close relations with my professors as I do now. I don't want to get into my current profile, but I am qualified for much more selective schools and was accepted to a couple decent colleges out of high school; I just have a hard time justifying paying the amount they were asking for tuition (I think undergrad degrees are currently very over valued), even after some substantial scholarships. Obviously, there is no way to value these pros and cons, so its hard for me to judge this decision. I guess this comes down to how much institution rank is weighted in the application process relative to other factors. Any advice would be very helpful.

I'm applying next year and I'm pondering if I should retake the GRE or not. My score is not bad, but I'm targeting top schools. So, I'm in this dilemma: should I spend the summer studying for the GRE or should I get more research experience? My current score is GRE:159 (83%) Verbal, 170 (97%) Quant, 4.0 (60%) Analytical Writing. Any advice?