Help with PhD financial economics or economics/minor finance

Graduate School
1

I want to thank everyone in advance for taking the time to read and respond to this thread.

From my understanding of numerous posts, a strong background in mathematics is necessary for admission into a top Econ program such as Ivy League. I want to aim as high as possible because my IQ is above 180.

UCLA graduate in economics
Soon to be graduate student in financial economics at a cal state university (calculus 1-2 based Econ program) I don’t have much of a choice and can’t attend UCSC due to mathematics requirements.

This is my plan.

Graduate Economics courses

  1. Advanced micro / macro
  2. Advanced econometrics
  3. Time series economics
  4. Research seminar

Graduate finance courses

  1. Financial management
  2. Securities analysis
  3. Advanced financial analysis

Upper division Mathematics courses

  1. Linear algebra
  2. Differential equations
  3. Analysis and proofs
  4. Combinatorics
  5. Probability theory(multi var calc based)
  6. Multivariable calculus 1-2
  7. Ordinary differential equations
  8. Partial differential equations
  9. Topology

Am I missing any courses?

My understanding is A. Coursework and grades, B. Research experiene, C. Letters of recommendations, D. Test scores, not exactly in that order.

What should I write about in my sop?
Please estimate, how many highly rigorous phd in economics programs are there? What schools should I look into?

2

Most PhD programs will give you a prompt for your statement of purpose - it’s usually something like “tell us about what preparation you’ve had for our graduate program, why you want a PhD in economics from our department, and how this program will help you reach your professional goals.” So that’s what you write about.

Your IQ is not really a good determinant of what programs you should aim for; your GPA, GRE scores, research experience, strength of recommendations from professors and your fit with the department are really the most important factors. Does UCLA have a good fit with your research interests? Can you pursue the scholarship that you want to there?

Therefore, the schools you look at should be based on that. You can use economics rankings like the National Research Council’s as a guide for how competitive programs are/what kind of reputation they have in the field, but that’s only a baseline - after that, you need to find PhD programs that match what kind of research you want to do.