Hi! I am a Brazilian student and I am going to graduate in June, 2015 (one of my concerns). I am really lost about which universities I should apply to! I am thinking about top 15-40, but I am really insecure. I am considering doing a masters (UBC, Barcelona GSE or TSE) first to gain more research experience and great LoRs. I would really appreciate some comments and suggestions on my profile! The deadline is coming...
Type of Undergrad: Economics, best private university in Brazil (and most difficult) Undergrad GPA: 3.62 (in the Brazilian system: 92/100) - ranked 1st in class throughout the entire program (received scholarship for 4 years) GRE: 165Q (not that good) Math Courses: Calc 1,2,3 (A), Linear Algebra (A), Diff Eq, Statistics (A), Linear Algebra(A), Probability Theory(A), Real Analysis(A), Statistics Theory(A), Regression Analysis(A), Optimisation methods (A), Stochastic methods (A) Econ Courses: Econometrics 1, 2, 3 (A) (panel data, time series, liner regression, theory), Macro 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (As, just one (Growth and Development, Banking and Money, Basics, Labor), Micro 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (A, just one (Game Theory, Basic, IO, Theory) - Other Courses: Economic History (most Brazilian) (A), Political Sciences (A), History of the economic thought (A), Management courses, Finance (A) (capital markets, financial markets), accounting (, R and Stata (learn how to use them) Letters of Recommendation: One from my thesis advisor (applied micro) who works at the government and did a part of his PhD at Urban Champaign , One from my econometrics teacher well know in Economic History and did a part of his PhD at UCLA, one from my calculus teacher who is the head of the math department Research Experience: Worked with my macro teacher for one semester (he does not have a PhD, but publishes regularly) - employed by my university (received scholarship). But at the end, I did not do anything really substancial Teaching Experience: student tutor for calculus 1 (pretty much basics), employed by my university (received scholarship) , for a year Research Interests: Development economics, Applied Macro SOP: the standard Concerns: LoRs - I have a great relationship with all my professor but they are not exceptional and really known internationally; my university does not send student to PhD in the US, and so I do not know it is its reputation; Research experience. Thanks!!
