So, you want to go to grad school in Economics?

[ramshackled]

I want to say one thing to put it into perspective...medical school? I think they have it much tougher in terms of free time, socializing, etc. as well as for a longer duration, in my opinion (4 years). They have the MCAT, an 8 hour exam, not the cheesy GRE. They have 3 prelim exams, 8 hours, 8 hours, and then two days. Finally, if that's not enough, they have to go through another ~4 years of residency and pass another cumulative board exam.

And they're still alive!

I'm saying this because I come from a family of medical doctors and I feel like I'm seeking cheesy route to being called "Dr." compared to what they had to go through.

Also, another thing to put into perspective: clocking 60-80 hours of work without weekends is something many doctors, lawyers, and consultants do ALL the time, often for LIFE. And what about raising children? That's committing to something you can't quit for at least 18 years. We're only worried, because we're young, I think.

PASS THE PRELIMS! Research will be fun -- More fun than overnight calls and needles, I think.

[uhokay]

Personally, I liked this advice document by a UC Davis guy:

http://www.econphd.net/downloads/mp_surv.pdf

[celtic_tiger_econ]

Anyone who has the time to write that paper, has time to sleep :-)

[Bored]

Originally Posted by ramshackled

I want to say one thing to put it into perspective...medical school? I think they have it much tougher in terms of free time, socializing, etc. as well as for a longer duration, in my opinion (4 years). They have the MCAT, an 8 hour exam, not the cheesy GRE. They have 3 prelim exams, 8 hours, 8 hours, and then two days. Finally, if that's not enough, they have to go through another ~4 years of residency and pass another cumulative board exam.

And they're still alive!

I'm saying this because I come from a family of medical doctors and I feel like I'm seeking cheesy route to being called "Dr." compared to what they had to go through.

Well you could always say compare residency to the time before a tenure review - then medical school and getting a PhD are comparable in terms of time.

Also I have plenty of friends at both top 3 medical schools and top 5 econ programs. From what I can see, the first year of an econ PhD is way harder than anything in medical school. The level of the average students is just so much higher (then again the third year of a PhD program is probably the most laid back of all).

[OneMoreEcon]

I really thought this thread would be about the following link: So You Want To Go To Econ Grad School. . .

[singmeat]

I'll be making time to eat 5000 calories a day and lift and do cardio.

oh and sleep

[Golden Rule]

Originally Posted by ramshackled

Also, EXCERCISE! Sacrificing one hour to be more productive over the remaining is a good trade-off in my opinion.

Yeah, that was definitely neglected in the document.

[YoungEconomist]

Originally Posted by ramshackled

I want to say one thing to put it into perspective...medical school? I think they have it much tougher in terms of free time, socializing, etc. as well as for a longer duration, in my opinion (4 years). They have the MCAT, an 8 hour exam, not the cheesy GRE. They have 3 prelim exams, 8 hours, 8 hours, and then two days. Finally, if that's not enough, they have to go through another ~4 years of residency and pass another cumulative board exam.

And they're still alive!

I'm saying this because I come from a family of medical doctors and I feel like I'm seeking cheesy route to being called "Dr." compared to what they had to go through.

Also, another thing to put into perspective: clocking 60-80 hours of work without weekends is something many doctors, lawyers, and consultants do ALL the time, often for LIFE. And what about raising children? That's committing to something you can't quit for at least 18 years. We're only worried, because we're young, I think.

PASS THE PRELIMS! Research will be fun -- More fun than overnight calls and needles, I think.

Don't med schools have fairly low attrition rates? I'm not saying attrition rates are the by-all-end-all of rigor, but when I hear that law school is tough and that over 99% of people who start law school finish, I have a hard time believing it's that difficult. Thoughts?

[KGkhan23]

double post!

[KGkhan23]

Originally Posted by ramshackled

I want to say one thing to put it into perspective...medical school? I think they have it much tougher in terms of free time, socializing, etc. as well as for a longer duration, in my opinion (4 years). They have the MCAT, an 8 hour exam, not the cheesy GRE. They have 3 prelim exams, 8 hours, 8 hours, and then two days. Finally, if that's not enough, they have to go through another ~4 years of residency and pass another cumulative board exam.

And they're still alive!

I'm saying this because I come from a family of medical doctors and I feel like I'm seeking cheesy route to being called "Dr." compared to what they had to go through.

Also, another thing to put into perspective: clocking 60-80 hours of work without weekends is something many doctors, lawyers, and consultants do ALL the time, often for LIFE. And what about raising children? That's committing to something you can't quit for at least 18 years. We're only worried, because we're young, I think.

PASS THE PRELIMS! Research will be fun -- More fun than overnight calls and needles, I think.

I don't have any friends in econ programs, but the past and present med students I know complain a lot more than I would expect, given their workload. Including classes, they seem to put in roughly 60 hours a week or so studying, with fluctuations depending on the time of year of course. Is that really all that much for a graduate degree? I get the feeling that they're trained to complain about having a hard time, so they do. The same way you hear people at "harder" schools complain during undergrad, even when they're majoring in management or something. I mean the stuff doctors learn largely requires rote memorization, in contrast to economics which requires you to really have an understanding of complex material. Frankly, most med students (that I know) are not that smart either, at least not as smart I would expect for people studying for what is possibly The Most Prestigious Degree In The World.

Sorry I'm ranting, and you can tell I'm obviously biased. Like ramshackled, I am also coming from a family with a lot of doctors. My grandparents actually thought (assumed) for a couple of years that I was pre-med... they were really heartbroken/ashamed when I told them I was studying economics of all things (not medicine or engineering!?). I've just become really impatient with doctors and people who want to be come doctors, because I haven't witnessed much introspection on their part as to why they are doing what they're doing. It's a generalization, but most just seem to have been pre-med since elementary school, without any thought as to why. Who knows though, maybe this is just with us brown people...

Anyway, comparing medical doctors to my econ professors (or professors in a lot of academic fields), I get the feeling that really insightful people tend towards research. Or rather, people who care about knowledge tend towards careers where they can focus on acquiring and expanding knowledge. Rant over.

Oh also, to YoungEconomist - I can't comment on attrition rates as a whole, but I know that Boalt Hall is known for having very high graduation rates - they make a point of it. But I think they're also supposed to be one of the tougher schools, they would just rather graduate you than not.