Answers about Yale...(Econ that is)

[floplo]

Hi,

 

first congratulations to everybody around here for the success of their applications (and if you haven't heard anything, don't worry your time will come too). :tup:

 

So, since there are a few people here which have offers from Yale for the Econ PhD, and I have already a little bit of experience in the program (well, almost two years by now), i am happy to answer any questions.

 

Also if you are not an Econ person, but still want to know about Yale / New Haven, no problem, this is a non-discriminatory thread...

 

If you want ask anything confidential, no problem, sent me a message.

(regarding confidentiality, they have circulated the admit list with names and e-mail adresses internally, so I might use e-mail directly to answer you )

 

Also Yale operates a waiting list for the first time in years, I have no idea when and how they will make offers to persons on the list, but I will not report anything from this list back to the department (so don't worry about asking stupid questions ;) )

 

so if you want to know anything,....start posting

[cliff23]

Hi Floplo. First let me thank you for all the assistance and goodwill you've been lending throughout the entire process - it sure helps a lot :)

 

It looks like (saving the unlikely possibility of good news from MIT) I will be choosing between Yale and Harvard. Y gives me more money, but H has more macro people and higher ranking. Still, I might wind up choosing Yale for the following reasons:

 

Yale's webpage makes a big deal out of their emphasis on collegiality and a cooperative environment amongst the students. It says people are encouraged to work together, and not to compete, and to be friends, in contradistinction to a place like Chicago. I think, bearing in mind the stress of the phd program, that I will need that.

 

Also, one of my advisors warned me against Harvard because they tend to focus all attention on the superstars, and the rest of the graduate students are left to languish. Yale, on the other hand, has a reputation for nurturing every single student into the best s/he can be (similar to MIT). I need this, I believe, coming straight from undergrad. People who have masters degrees will be running circles around me until I can catch up, and I don't know if I would make it into the front half or the back half of the class at Harvard.

 

I was just wondering if you could comment on the Yale side of these issues - are the reputations well deserved? Thanks a ton :)

[cliff23]

ps, how's the weather in New Haven?

and I also want to reiterate how TM dominates all the other message boards. I took a look at XOXO today and was shocked at how vulgar, petty, prejudiced, bigoted, egotistic and generally philistine everyone was.

[Dingus]

Floplo,

 

That is such a generous gesture! :)

 

So, http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Goethe/thanxabunch1.gif !!

 

 

 

Cheers! :tup:

Dingus

 

 

 

PS: Got to have gif-animations enabled to see that. ;)

[800needed]

 

Yale's webpage makes a big deal out of their emphasis on collegiality and a cooperative environment amongst the students. It says people are encouraged to work together, and not to compete, and to be friends, in contradistinction to a place like Chicago. I think, bearing in mind the stress of the phd program, that I will need that.

 

Also, one of my advisors warned me against Harvard because they tend to focus all attention on the superstars, and the rest of the graduate students are left to languish. Yale, on the other hand, has a reputation for nurturing every single student into the best s/he can be (similar to MIT).

 

These are very interesting little facts... I had always heard, and therefore beleived, that both schools paid attention to all of their students. I am very curious to see what the response of floplo will be.

[floplo]

ps, how's the weather in New Haven?

and I also want to reiterate how TM dominates all the other message boards. I took a look at XOXO today and was shocked at how vulgar, petty, prejudiced, bigoted, egotistic and generally philistine everyone was.

 

 

The easy things first,...

 

well today's weather is sunshine and blue sky :D

otherwise I don't know where you are from, but i guess it is similar to weather in New England between NY and Boston (aehmm, wow, pretty non-descriptive statement till now), ok so snow (quite a bit) during the winter, hot summer (somewhat humid, not too bad), Autumn quite nice with some traces of foliage.

 

the XOXO board....I don't know whether you ever visited the Princetonreview board before it changed the format (last year I think) and before TM existed. The Grad school discussion was quite civilised, the Law school part however.... and XOXO is basically the legitimate successor of that part

[floplo]

Yale's webpage makes a big deal out of their emphasis on collegiality and a cooperative environment amongst the students. It says people are encouraged to work together, and not to compete, and to be friends, in contradistinction to a place like Chicago. I think, bearing in mind the stress of the phd program, that I will need that.

 

Also, one of my advisors warned me against Harvard because they tend to focus all attention on the superstars, and the rest of the graduate students are left to languish. Yale, on the other hand, has a reputation for nurturing every single student into the best s/he can be (similar to MIT). I need this, I believe, coming straight from undergrad. People who have masters degrees will be running circles around me until I can catch up, and I don't know if I would make it into the front half or the back half of the class at Harvard.

 

I was just wondering if you could comment on the Yale side of these issues - are the reputations well deserved? Thanks a ton :)

 

ok, since I have no idea about H's programm, I won't say anything about (except that I have heard the same rumor.....well they didn't admit me, so please consider me somewhat biased :whistle: )

 

But yeah, what the website says is pretty consistent with what I have experienced here till now. It started from Math Camp, where Yale focusses more on people getting to know each other and New Haven than on Math. For example in my year the prof doing it really pushed us to do our homework in groups, and even animated the TA to have a pizza party at her place for the whole group, because he feared we weren't cooperating enough....

With Professors they are really helpful, open und accessible (for example for RA jobs during the summer), and I have never seen any indication for a preferential superstar treatment....(well, I am no superstar :o , but still feel that I receive a lot of support from the dept) and the secret weapon of our dept is the grad registrar, she is like a mother to all the grad students, whatever problem you have, she helps fixing it....

 

Also the atmosphere between students is very cooperative, for example during the study period for the comps (the exams at the end of the first year) everybody worked with everybody else in study groups, and everybody shared material, notes, etc very generously and people were always willing to answer questions....(and in the end we lost only one classmate to the comps, so the department is surely not out there to fail people)

 

I hope this gives a first impression, but to be honest, describing it on the internet goes only so far, I would really recommend that you visit both places before you make a decision, so hope to see you on the admit weekend :D

[Dingus]

...and the secret weapon of our dept is the grad registrar, she is like a mother to all the grad students, whatever problem you have, she helps fixing it....

 

Deal with this question right at the very end. :)

 

Does she make chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies and more importantly, pass them around? :D

[floplo]

Deal with the question right at the very end. :)

 

Does she make chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies and more importantly, pass them around? :D

 

 

well, no (at least to the passing around part ,:( ), (but the occassional apple pie baked by junior faculty...:p) but we have lunch-seminars with dept-sponsored lunch, usually including cookies..... so she doesn't need too ;)

[Dingus]

That's certainly a very strong point in favour of Yale! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v162/Goethe/xyxthumbs.gif

 

 

 

 

PS: Take a special note of this, cliff. ;)

[cliff23]

lol! thanks for your response Flo, it's very helpful. And it's nice to know that their website isn't at all misrepresenting the student climate there. I will be at both open houses, and it will be nice perhaps to meet you :)

 

are the dept. sponsored lunch's cookies good? they play a major role in my utility function ;)

 

[ps dingus the monkey gif is SO CUTE!!!]

[floplo]

well, the choice of cookies depends on what seminar you visit... (there are lunch seminars monday through thursday, each day a different specialisation)

 

the main food is usually sandwiches (well I also had already seminars with lasagna, chicken Marsala and other weird choices...), but each direction (Micro, Macro, Dev, etc) has a different supplier, so your interest is determining what food you get (and well, you have to sit through a seminar :grad: )

[cliff23]

sounds delicious! food is definitely high in my ordering of preferences :).... flo, what fields are you doing? do you find the macro people are good despite that there aren't too many of them?

[floplo]

my fields are very likely going to be Econ History and Trade (well, which is the process of a nice change through two other fields, so I am not completely settled...)

 

well, Macro was never one of my favorites, so I never looked to closely into it...and well I don't know how many you want to have, but for my taste there are enough... ;) , just kidding.

For whatever reason, the number of students specialising in Macro is not too large, so you really get attention from faculty (no, they don't scare students away, they actually are happy about interest). But I think there is quite a variety in the work of the one's we have. I just might be the wrong guy trying to sell them :whistle:

We definitely have a weakness in not having a senior international Econ prof, but I don't know any hiring outcome yet.

 

Which flavor of Macro do you want to specialise in ?

[cliff23]

my fields are very likely going to be Econ History and Trade (well, which is the process of a nice change through two other fields, so I am not completely settled...)

 

well, Macro was never one of my favorites, so I never looked to closely into it...and well I don't know how many you want to have, but for my taste there are enough... ;) , just kidding.

For whatever reason, the number of students specialising in Macro is not too large, so you really get attention from faculty (no, they don't scare students away, they actually are happy about interest). But I think there is quite a variety in the work of the one's we have. I just might be the wrong guy trying to sell them :whistle:

We definitely have a weakness in not having a senior international Econ prof, but I don't know any hiring outcome yet.

 

Which flavor of Macro do you want to specialise in ?

 

Well, I think I am interested in macro now. That could all change in a couple of years should I survive them :whistle: As for flavor of macro, I am but a lowly undergraduate right now so I shouldn't be taking sides in the great neo-keynsian/rbc debate... yet;) i do think i want to do growth though.

 

The idea of there not being too many macro students there though sounds good - I feel like because of the high % of macro profs at Harvard, there's also a high % of macro students.

 

I got the package about New Haven today from Yale. It seems like a place where the stipend goes a really, really long way... but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be too much to spend it on. Not that I'm planning on having too much time to get bored there! Although I will probably be so busy I won't mind too much. As long as there's one decent disco or something and I can have my one night of clubbing per semester (that's all I can take!) I'll be fine. There's always a possible trip to NY - do you go often?

 

ps, despite your earlier claims that you were having difficulty with humor in english, you're doing great ;)

[ChoBaka]

Sounds like the Yale environment is very supportive and warm, as well as being academically rigorous. That's the same vibe I got from the undergrad program (my sister is interested in applying there), versus Harvard focusing the spotlight only on the superstars. Do you happen to know what other departments at Yale are like? I'm interested in the Computer Science graduate program.

 

Even though I'm not an Econ person, I'd like to thank you for coming back to TM and giving out such a wonderful service like this.

[andyecon]

Cliff, can I ask if you are coming from US undergrad? If so, did you have a research paper that you submitted? I will be applying to schools next year from a US undergrad, so I won't have a masters thesis (which many of the top candidates on here seem to have). Thanks.

 

Also, I apologize for hijacking the thread.

[floplo]

well, I don't really know much about the specifics about the CS program. The husband of one of my classmates got into it, and I think he likes it. (well this is hearsay, but they are currently away on spring break,.....)

 

However one thing he said was that on the first day a prof made the following comment about the first year: (not sure about the exact wording)

 

"It's hard , but hey it is not economics....."

 

(to be fair I think Econ is one of the few programs (thanks Dingus for the correction) where you take the major qualifying exams right after the first year, so they tend to stress you a little bit more early on.... :mad: )

[Dingus]

Count Cancer Epi in the qualifiers-after-first-year ordeal. :(

[cliff23]

Cliff, can I ask if you are coming from US undergrad? If so, did you have a research paper that you submitted? I will be applying to schools next year from a US undergrad, so I won't have a masters thesis (which many of the top candidates on here seem to have). Thanks.

 

Also, I apologize for hijacking the thread.

 

A research university with a Top25 economics dept. I am doing a senior research thesis. I described it and my motivation for it in my personal statement, and my advisor said she wrote a bit more about it in my recommendation. Good luck with your apps! Do you have any particular place in mind you want to go?

[andyecon]

Cliff

I won't know where I'm applying until the end of next fall really. I still have to take the GRE and finish my math major (next fall will be analysis 1, topology, and probability). So, I guess it depends on how I do in those classes and on the GRE. I would be thrilled to go to Michigan, because I need to stay in the Midwest. Strange, I haven't seen anybody on here who applied there. Then again, this board seems to be fequented by extremely strong candidates (including yourself, of course, congrats on all the great admits).

[Edgar]

 

 

 

Yale's webpage makes a big deal out of their emphasis on collegiality and a cooperative environment amongst the students. It says people are encouraged to work together, and not to compete, and to be friends, in contradistinction to a place like Chicago. I think, bearing in mind the stress of the phd program, that I will need that.

 

Also, one of my advisors warned me against Harvard because they tend to focus all attention on the superstars, and the rest of the graduate students are left to languish. Yale, on the other hand, has a reputation for nurturing every single student into the best s/he can be (similar to MIT). I need this, I believe, coming straight from undergrad. People who have masters degrees will be running circles around me until I can catch up, and I don't know if I would make it into the front half or the back half of the class at Harvard.

 

 

I have to say that looking at Yale's faculty does not really convince me of their strength in macro.

None of the big names in macro is there and I can't remember any macro-guy out of Yale doing well in the job market in the last few years.

Having said that, if you are not 100 percent sure that macro is your thing, then Yale might be attractive because of its strengths in other fields (econometics, theory...).

If you are very sure that macro is your thing, I would prefer Harvard, even though I heard the same stories about them. However, if you got into Harvard and Yale, aren't there any other offers you can consider? (if you really want to do macro, there are better places than both Yale and Harvard).

[cliff23]

Not yet. Rejected from Stanford, waitlisted at Princeton, no aid at Chicago. Haven't heard from Berkeley, MIT, Penn, NYU, Northwestern, which I think bodes ill except for MIT and Penn which haven't really released decisions yet....

 

Edgar, that's my only misgiving about Yale is their lack of prominence in Macro. I haven't talked with the bulk of profs here I need to consult with yet, as I don't have all my final offers. There's only one that I really keep up to date, the rest I'm going to go talk to when I hear from MIT.

 

Thank you for your advice edgar :) and kind words andy

[floplo]

None of the big names in macro is there and I can't remember any macro-guy out of Yale doing well in the job market in the last few years.

 

...well, last year we placed one of the Macro-guys (aehmmm, sorry a Macro-gal ? what's the female version of guy...???) at Harvard.....

 

but well, yes, Macro is not really Yale's strongest discipline

 

Edgar, if you don't mind, how come that you are monitoring the complete job-market over the last years...?

[floplo]

I got the package about New Haven today from Yale. It seems like a place where the stipend goes a really, really long way... but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be too much to spend it on. Not that I'm planning on having too much time to get bored there! Although I will probably be so busy I won't mind too much. As long as there's one decent disco or something and I can have my one night of clubbing per semester (that's all I can take!) I'll be fine. There's always a possible trip to NY - do you go often?

 

New Haven has had a downtown revival in the last years and there is a considerable range of bars and nightclubs (the most renowned club is actually just next door to the grad dorm ),... well, I am not to much of a nightlife person (but I know a few Econ people, who enjoy it considerably more than I do...), so I prefer to try restaurants more, and for the size of New haven there is a surprising diversity of decent ethnic food available.

 

we don't have big sports in town,...but that's something you have to go to NY (or Boston.....) (although I believe there should college Bball around somewhere, or where does UConn play ? Sorry, I don't follow it so I don't really know)

 

Personally I don't go to NY too often (the last time was for the Christo Gates in Central park, pretty interesting), but I know one of my classmates took a class at NYU (he was an Undergrad there) last semester, commuting one day a week there,...and relevant for Macro, I know one higher year, who actually works with Sargent there... but yeah, it's close from an american perspective (not really from a european one, but I am slowly getting used to thinking larger...)

 

if you are more into cultural things, we have an interesting range of theaters , museums and galleries, classical music. Most of them are located closely to Campus, so they are easily available. Small drawback, no mainstream cinema directly downtown, need a car to get to there, but there are two little bit more artsy cinemas in case you don't need Schwarzenegger...

 

and I don't know whether you want to live on campus or not, but yes housing is a little bit cheaper here than in Boston/Cambridge,...so your stipend should go a little bit further :tup:

 

if there are other spending categories I haven't mentioned...let me know