First Year Prelims

[BUSPHD]

I have been searching around and have a general question. At most schools you pass the dreaded prelims after the first year (micro and macro, are there more at some schools?) and then only some schools have second year field exams?

I do not hear much about the second year exams is that because not every school has them or because they are a lot easier?

After that is there any other HUGE roadblocks that could make you leave a program?

[asquare]

Take a look at this thread (Sample Prelims and Requirements) for information about prelims.

There's more information about attrition in the links at the end of the first post in this thread (FAQs about Graduate School in Economics and Links to Useful Threads).

[JosephKeith72]

Prelims are usually the most difficult hurdle for students. Many programs have either second year (field) exams or a second year paper requirement. In any case, you don't want to enter a program with the mindset that you might fail out.

[treblekicker]

the general rule of thumb is that if a school has first year prelims/quals, then they are the major hurdle. if they do not, field exams/papers have a lot more meaning.

in many cases, field exams/papers are necessary to continue within a certain field. i know one field here which has rather high standards for field papers and frequently rejects them.

[untitled]

At UW-Seattle, I think if you don't pass your field exam, you might have to switch fields. I think this is common for people who aren't tied to a second field, but have to pass two.