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486hunter · 05-21-2008, 05:01 PM

I thought I'd revive this. I am a graduate of IDE and can comment on some of the questions posed above.

(1) IDE is policy-oriented in the sense that it is not necessarily intended as a springboard to a Ph.D. program. Though approximately 1/3 of students eventually go on to receive a Ph.D. (either in Econ or in a related field), the majority of graduates work for central banks, NGOs (World Bank, IMF, etc) or in the private sector. If you are not sure whether you want to continue on to the Ph.D. and are interested in working for a few years, IDE would seem to be a very good choice.

(2) Though it is policy-oriented, the core courses are fairly rigorous -- but definitely not at the Ph.D. level. E.g. The micro course I took used Nicholson and was supplemented with some more rigorous material in class.

(3) The degree can be used (and has been used) as a springboard to Ph.D. programs. Supplementing the core with some Ph.D. level field courses or advanced math is one way to do this. However, the top Candian programs, LSE, etc. are more appropriate preparation for the Ph.D.

(4) Regarding admission, the latest word is that they offer admission to about 1/4 of applicants. The vast majority come from outside the US. My sense is that 770+ math GRE score is desired but they are definitely willing to forgive a lower score if other elements of the application are strong. The mean is given as 750 on the website. Obviously strong grades are important. Mathematical preparation through multivariate calc and linear algebra seems to be the norm. A few people hadn't had this and were required to take a summer mathematics for economists course. Some people have substantially more math. There's a broad range.

In any case, I hope this is helpful to future applicants. I will try to keep checking this thread if people have questions.

05-21-2008, 05:01 PM	#9 (permalink)
486hunter PublicPolicy PhD, Econ MA Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 98	I thought I'd revive this. I am a graduate of IDE and can comment on some of the questions posed above. (1) IDE is policy-oriented in the sense that it is not necessarily intended as a springboard to a Ph.D. program. Though approximately 1/3 of students eventually go on to receive a Ph.D. (either in Econ or in a related field), the majority of graduates work for central banks, NGOs (World Bank, IMF, etc) or in the private sector. If you are not sure whether you want to continue on to the Ph.D. and are interested in working for a few years, IDE would seem to be a very good choice. (2) Though it is policy-oriented, the core courses are fairly rigorous -- but definitely not at the Ph.D. level. E.g. The micro course I took used Nicholson and was supplemented with some more rigorous material in class. (3) The degree can be used (and has been used) as a springboard to Ph.D. programs. Supplementing the core with some Ph.D. level field courses or advanced math is one way to do this. However, the top Candian programs, LSE, etc. are more appropriate preparation for the Ph.D. (4) Regarding admission, the latest word is that they offer admission to about 1/4 of applicants. The vast majority come from outside the US. My sense is that 770+ math GRE score is desired but they are definitely willing to forgive a lower score if other elements of the application are strong. The mean is given as 750 on the website. Obviously strong grades are important. Mathematical preparation through multivariate calc and linear algebra seems to be the norm. A few people hadn't had this and were required to take a summer mathematics for economists course. Some people have substantially more math. There's a broad range. In any case, I hope this is helpful to future applicants. I will try to keep checking this thread if people have questions.