Where To Go Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Hi, I am one of the lucky few who got accepted at several top 10 universities; but not at Harvard or MIT. Essentially, I would like to have some suggestions on which universities to consider. Personally, I feel inclined to say that at this level, each of those is so good that I should only look at where I feel most comfortable during the visit days. But I keep hearing and reading that rankings do matter, which makes me wonder if I should maybe limit my main consideration even more. My interests lie in macroeconomics (no clear preference theoretical / applied) and econometrics. For the sake of anonymity (towards universities) I would like not to narrow it down further (as they know more detailed interests through SoP and contact to faculty). But I have actually also always enjoyed the work in other fields and found questions I was interested in in pretty much all my courses. So (a) my interests can change anyway, and (b) already now a good professor would have me interested in lots of fields. Macro and econometrics as what I find the most interesting and enjoyable has been relatively stable over the last couple of years though. I have so far: Northwestern, Princeton, Stanford Still waiting for: Berkeley, NYU (given the other results, there is some chance of me getting into those two, so I would appreciate comments w.r.t. these as well) (I also have Wisconsin, but I think that would be putting all my money on econometrics, and probably not even the best for that. If someone disagrees, let me know :)) Am I "a fool" for pretty much considering them equally and making my decision depend on how I feel on a single visit day? Should I just limit my list to Princeton and Stanford (and maybe Berkeley) because they are better ranked overall anyway, and would give me more opportunity to switch fields? Funding is not an issue. (unless Berkeley or NYU would not offer enough to live from) Teaching requirement is similar across my three offers (3 years in total), but Stanford adds a year of RA. Is that standard practice at Stanford to get students in touch with research / professors or do they just not want to give me as much money "for free"? (That's certainly something I would want to find out during visit days, but maybe someone here know already.) In terms of location, none of these cause me concerns, and I do not have a strict preference big vs. small city. I guess the weather ranking is obvious, but I have lived in roughly all these climates and I don't want to make it the decisive factor. I would really appreciate to hear what you think: Should I consider all of them? Where do you see strengths / weaknesses of the programs? (I have looked at that myself, of course; but x eyes and ears see and hear more than 2) If anyone would like to share how s/he decided in a similar situation, please do so! Insights from current grad students at these places are, of course, also very welcome. How much weight should I put on rankings? How much on old rankings? There is something about research productivity: https://jpconley.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/conley-and-onder-class-rank-department-rank-and-research-productivity-6-19-14.pdf PhD placement: (I can also check the websites, of course) http://www.econ.umn.edu/graduate/PhDRankings.pdf and many using publications, citations,... The plan would be to stay in academia afterwards. (I guess that's everyone's at those programs.) I know that I am a lucky guy with a difficult but really nice decision to make, and that any of these places will be great. I just want to know in a few years - whether I'm happy with the decision or not - that I have considered my options, listened to other opinions,... But as I said: Right now I am leaning towards considering them equally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santigarza Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 First of all.... let me tell you: CONGRATULATIONS! Certainly it is difficult to decide among such marvelous Programs. And yes, you should consider all of them a priori. If I were I would pay attention to the following things, forgetting about rankings: 1) Program fit with your research interests: of course those are good in many fields and subfields, but they tend to spend more resources in some particular areas. 2) Professors you would like to work with: this is directly related with the above topic. 3) Placement: if you go to those schools you should look at this very carefully. 4) Experience on your visit day: this is not trivial, at all. You get tons of information and something that nobody can tell you, you should feel it. Good luck to you! Any decision you will make will be the right one :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f p ramsey Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Teaching requirement is similar across my three offers (3 years in total), but Stanford adds a year of RA. Is that standard practice at Stanford to get students in touch with research / professors or do they just not want to give me as much money "for free"? I am not at Stanford Economics, but can confidently tell you that the RA-ship during the second year is highly valued by both students and faculty. See it as an additional opportunity, not a burden. You have a tough choice ahead. Visit days will be very informative – try to go to all of them. If you want something concrete to do in the meantime, go [one more time] through their faculty lists, and count the number of potential advisors whose fields match your interests. This is different from name recognition; look for tenured faculty that are still actively publishing (the younger the better, conditional on tenure), and go through their CVs to see their track record as advisors. This is more informative than comparing placement of the past few cohorts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michalz Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 May I ask why only tenured professors are relevant? I don't really know how it looks like - is it a formal requirement that your advisor has tenure, is it traditionally so or is it just beneficial from job market perspective? Can assistant or associate prof be your advisor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Because at most places, more than a majority of currently-untenured professors won't be there when you're on the job market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where To Go Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Thanks for the replies so far, in particular on looking for tenured professors and that RA is valued by Stanford. Any more opinions on how much value I should attach to the higher ranking of, say, Princeton vs. Northwestern? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawls234 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 If you look at placement records, there's no question in my mind: Princeton and Stanford way over Northwestern (probably a result of this Elitism in the academy | Science Careers). At Northwestern you have to fight for funding each year against other students, but it appears that at Princeton and Stanford you do not. I didn't know that Northwestern was good for macro, I've only heard of them being good for micro but this was just hearsay from faculty at the school I went to. As far as Princeton vs Stanford, that's a tough decision - if I was interested in macro I would personally go to Princeton (https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.mac.html), but it depends on your specific interests. However, this is only because climate is not a factor. If it's any factor, the scales balance towards Stanford regardless :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ec0nGuy Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 If you are considering placement records and you are very confident that the topics you like will not change over time, then a much more reliable piece of information would be placement (ranking) within your field and not placement (ranking) overall. For example, I think Macro's placement and ranking at Princeton is superior to Stanford's and Northwestern's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeehouse Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Thanks for the replies so far, in particular on looking for tenured professors and that RA is valued by Stanford. Any more opinions on how much value I should attach to the higher ranking of, say, Princeton vs. Northwestern? All second year students at Stanford must RA. It's their second year RA program. Even if you have an NSF or you have external funding, you will still be required to RA (the department sees this as beneficial for yourself). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where To Go Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 At Northwestern you have to fight for funding each year against other students, but it appears that at Princeton and Stanford you do not. I didn't know that Northwestern was good for macro, I've only heard of them being good for micro but this was just hearsay from faculty at the school I went to. Funding is guaranteed (under the typical conditions) for all years in all my offers. So at least for me this is not an issue. All second year students at Stanford must RA. It's their second year RA program. Even if you have an NSF or you have external funding, you will still be required to RA (the department sees this as beneficial for yourself). Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
behavingmyself Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Higher ranked schools have better placements, but they also start with better students. You can place anywhere out of any of these schools. Focus on picking the environment where you can become the best economist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Where To Go Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Any current / former grad students willing to share how much they like / would have liked not having to teach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santigarza Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 How about starting starting a thread about TAs and RAs responsibilities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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