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Good day everybody, I am a rising senior in ugrad economics and planning to apply for a master's. Doing a Ph.D. after my master's is my prior goal, but I want to work for 2-3 years in the industry before going for a Ph.D. Would you recommend me to apply for MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics or MSc in Finance and Economics at the London School of Economics? I think the former is better for Ph.D. and later for the industry, that's why I am indecisive about it. Any advice is welcomed <3

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!!

Type of Undergrad: Top-Ranked Public Liberal Arts Undergrad GPA: 3.73/4.0 Major: Economics (with Honors), International Studies Master’s Program: International Economic Relations (More Policy than Quant) Master’s GPA: 3.9 GRE: Need to take (Over 5 years ago, scored in top 97pctile in quantitative) Math Courses: Multivariate Calc I (A-) Discrete Math (B) Differential Equations (B) Econ Courses: Micro Theory (A) International Econ (A) Intermediate Theory: Money, Income and Employment (A) Economic Statistics (A) Applied Econometric Analysis (A-) Advanced International Economics (A) Economics Honors Thesis Course (A) Letters of Recommendation: 1 from professor from my Master’s program 1 from Partner at my firm (quantitative consulting firm; partner is a PhD economist) Not sure about 3rd yet… Research Experience: 5 years of experience working on research projects for a quantitative consulting firm. Mostly program evaluations for the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as supporting econometricians and statisticians serving as expert witnesses in Litigation matters. Extensive experience in data management (Stata and some R), statistical sampling, predictive analytics, program evaluation, labor economics, report writing, and model validation. Teaching Experience: None Research Interests: International Development- Water Scarcity, Education Applying: I am limited to North Carolina (family reasons). I know most apply to 15-20 schools, but I will be unable to. UNC is my top choice; Will apply to NC State, Duke, Wake?, Please advise. Worries: - I have been out of undergrad for years now and have not kept up with many professors. I have one professor from my Master’s program who will probably write a strong letter, as well as an economist who founded the consulting company I work for. My other options are limited- there is a PhD statistician who I have supported on various litigation matters, but I am not sure how strong that one would be. I’m also limited geographically, so I cannot apply to multiple schools. I have to make these applications as strong as possible. Please advise on 1) whether I look like a good candidate for UNC Chapel Hill, 2) suggestions for NC schools to apply to, and 3) how to make my application stronger. Thank you in advance!