Good Pre-Docs for Econ PhD

[MrNero]

Hi all, hope you guys are doing well. I am currently applying for Ph.D in Economics to top 20 with a couple of safeties in top 25. As of now my situation is as follows:

- International applicant with recognized international undergraduate institution, summa cum laude in Economics

- MS in top 20 US where I caught up with some math work, including Real analysis, Theoretical Linear Algebra, Measure Theory, Differential Topology and Econometrics. GPA: 3.9 Currently taking PhD  level Micro and possibly Stochastic processes next semester. Good ability with Stata and MATLAB. I have been a TA for Statistics, Intro to Business and a Market Dynamics courses.

-I am working as a research assistant in applied economic research with a faculty member right now but I would like to get a taste of a pure full-time research position to see if research is suited for me.

I was considering applying also for a 1-year pre-doc research position. I wonder if you guys know any suitable school that can, at the same time, give me a taste of how is to do research 24/7 and likely increase my chances of being admitted to top 10 econ PhD. 

Thanks, your help is really appreciated.

Edited October 1, 2015 by MrNero

[holayoha]

you deserve to be in a top 10 school. just saying.

but UC santa barbara's campus still looks irresistible.