I've heard rumors, which I think were more just rants, that MA at Duke was just a moneymaker not taken seriously. Would you oppose such view? I would think that this year's placements contradict that view.Originally Posted by grace03
Also was the Berkeley admit the best in the class?
Congratulation Peruano929 !!
My applyyourself page still says submitted and I am very worried. Is it a good idea to email the graduate secretary asking about application status ?
I think Duke Econ is a good place for PhD preparation. Last year they placed students at Wharton Finance, Duke Econ, Maryland Accounting, etc.
I would just be patient. I'm sure they'll update it as soon as they make a decision. So far all the places I have been non-insistent about have been the ones that admitted me. Hehe.
I'm that Berkeley kid, I suppose. I'm here procrastinating from midterms.
In answer to questions:
I don't know who posted the rant about Duke's MA program being a just a moneymaker, but they were wrong. Duke's MA program is the best pre-PhD econ prep program in the country. You should definitely go there, unless you get into LSE.
How much their program will actually help you get into PhD programs depends on what your profile looks like without Duke, and more crucially, what you do once you get there. The program is very flexible, and allows you to take classes from the math and stats department, as well as the PhD econ program to fulfill your degree departments. If you intend to apply to top 10 programs, I suggest shoring up weaknesses in your profile, and challenging yourself by taking at least one of the 1st-year PhD sequences. It will NOT do to just take the bare minimum classes.
Back to work, or else I'm not going to be in the program much longer...
Semischolastic, if that is indeed you, then you are my hero! I think my profile is decent without Duke, but I think it needs an edge for Berkeley. I am willing to work very hard, and I do plan on taking the first year sequence. I'm definitely not one to skimp out on rigor. Thank you for your post!
I know Duke is on Spring Break right now. Does anyone know if the adcoms will continue to send out notifications during this week?
Elaborating on semischolastic's comments a little bit...
To be sure, there is not a clearly defined "master's curriculum." Many of the classes listed as master's courses are just cross-listed undergraduate courses, as a quick perusal of the course catalog will show. This is probably what gives rise to sniping that the program is just a "moneymaker," and maybe this is an issue for students who just plan to get an MA and move into industry. (Although not necessarily -- Duke undergraduate economics is pretty good for getting a job in industry, and as an MA you'll be in at least the same shape.)
But for the population that inhabits this forum -- prospective econ Ph.D applicants -- the program is excellent, because it gives you access to all the courses and faculty at Duke. The "built-in" parts of the master's program might not be incredibly rigorous (as semischolastic said, if you do the bare minimum coursework you won't get anywhere), but that shouldn't be what matters. The key is what you are able to do, which is pretty much anything: take the econ Ph.D sequences, take math and stats classes at any level, meet faculty, and so on. Lots of econ MA students are taking the Ph.D core right now, and I imagine that doing well in these courses is a very useful signal to have in your application.
In fact, the opportunities at your disposal are so numerous that you have to be a little careful. Let me relay a personal experience: one semester, I graded an advanced undergraduate analysis class in the math department at Duke. The math department has lower and upper tracks of its core analysis and algebra offerings. Several econ master's students enrolled in the upper track, and I don't think they understood how hard it would be. The professor that semester was more difficult than usual, and the math undergraduates in the class were the best group of mathematicians from their cohort at Duke (meaning that several of them were quite good). The undergraduate math majors annihilated the econ master's students, and all but one of the latter group had to withdraw from the course.
I don't say this to discourage anyone from coming to the program -- indeed, quite the opposite. The point is that your curriculum is so flexible that you're allowed to place yourself in an class where you may struggle. No one is forced to dumb down his or her coursework, and you have the opportunity to stretch yourself and prove your ability to the greatest degree possible. It should be pretty easy to avoid disasters like the one I mentioned above by chatting with older, successful students and seeing what they did, but in a strange way the fact that you're even able to place yourself in such a difficult situation illustrates that the signaling potential of the program is almost boundless.
Is there anyone out there still waiting to hear back from Duke? I just saw the following letter on the Duke AM website: http://www.econ.duke.edu/ecoteach/masters/Duke%20Economics%20-%20Letter%20to%20M.A.%20Applicants.pdf
Do you guys think this is a mass rejection for anyone who hasn't yet heard back? I haven't received an official email yet, and my application still only says submitted.
Last edited by panruisi; 03-14-2009 at 05:06 AM.
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Hey all,
I am a current master student at Duke. As I can perceive, I am ranked around 20% from the top in this program. I am also applying to most top PhD programs this year. According to my personal experience, the outcome is not really satisfactory. I have been rejected by most top 20's. I only got an offer from PSU. Only those who are ranked right on the top of this program can be lucky enough to go to places like Berkley. Good luck!
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