Answers about Yale...(Econ that is)

[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 )

[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
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]

Originally Posted by 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
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 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.... )

[Dingus]

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

[cliff23]

Originally Posted by 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.

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?