profile evaluation from a developing country and your advice

[Imanm]

hi guys hope you all are doing well.

im an undergrad econ student from a middle lower-ish income eastern country. and im planning to pursue my phd at a prestigious program.

unfortunately there is not that much information available to me in my country especially considering my somewhat unique resume which i'll explain later

so i want you guys to give me tips and advice on where should i aim and what to do in the next 12 month left until the next application window (which i'll be applying in)

here is a quick look at my resume:

undergrad in economics at the best program in my country (around 350-400 in the world) unknown amongst top programs in the us. with a minor in mathematic

undergrad gpa: 3.99/4 economics , 4/4 math ( i also have a U15  medal in national math olympiad)

math courses so far : Calc I-II (i also TAed calc II for 2 years) , differential equations, real analysis 1 , linear algebra, elementary combinatorics, stochastic processes, statistics I-II, mathematical economics .... all A/A+ s

economics courses: micro I-III and macro I-II , metrics, applied metrics(will be taking next sem) , IO, Public sector economics I-II, labor and a ton of subfield related courses (development, energy,...) All A/A+.

GRE: expecting to get a 99th percentile score in the quant

Interests: Micro theory, IO, applied metrics, development

i'm aiming for top 20 Phd prgrams and safety schools in 40-80 range for the next year (2023 admission cycle) do guys think i'm aiming too high?

but i want you guys opinion on something. i really like the market design/ micro theory research and i mentioned my course work in economics so far. i want to know your opinion on what math courses should i take in the nest semesters? my university policy allows 2 more math courses. i'm thinking about graph theory and another course. what you guys think? is graph theory useful in the micro theory/ IO or should i go for more advanced analysis/linear algebra? or anything that you think helps in the micro theory field?

also let me put this out: economics undergrad is really strange in my country. there is a very limited math courses available (calc and stats and mathecon only) and i took most of the courses mentioned in math dep which is rare between econ students and thats why i said that i have a unique resume :). so for this reason (bad math background) most of profs in my country don't take undergrad students as RAs but im contacting them and might start RAing a Chicago graduate professor soon. but the question is do you guys recommend emailing foreign profs and asking if they need a RA mainly because there is not that many micro theorists in my country and thats my field of interest. 

also if you have any comment/ advice for me to do in the next year before i apply to grad school i appreciate it.

thanks for your help guys.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Imanm