martinmx Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Hi, everyone I learned a lot from this forum. Thanks a lot. Recently, I received an admission from LSE EME and an offer from UCSD. Now I am extremely anxious about which one to attend. UCSD is quite good and San Diego is a nice place. LSE EME has very high reputation and might help me get into better graduate programs (there is some uncertainty, especially because I am Chinese). Can you give me some suggestions? Any input is welcome. Thanks! Edited March 22, 2015 by martinmx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chateauheart Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (there is some uncertainty, especially because I am Chinese) This is not an unreasonable concern. Your academic signals will be unfairly discounted, that's for sure. I'm not a fan of maximizing the rank of your program. I think if you're ready for a PhD program (as evident from your offer from UCSD), then you should enroll in one. UCSD is a fantastic place with essentially no ceiling in terms of placement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pch Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Hi, everyone I learned a lot from this forum. Thanks a lot. Recently, I received an admission from LSE EME and an offer from UCSD. Now I am extremely anxious about which one to attend. UCSD is quite good and San Diego is a nice place. LSE EME has very high reputation and might help me get into better graduate programs (there is some uncertainty, especially because I am Chinese). Can you give me some suggestions? Any input is welcome. Thanks! An economist would say - depends on your risk preferences ;) But honestly, if I was in your position, I would have probably chosen UCSD. I assume the school matches your interests, since you've applied there. Since you got accepted by UCSD, you probably have a strong profile already and won't get that much from EME, other than potential LORs from better known professors. This is of course important, but if your letters got you as far as UCSD, a marginal improvement won't make much of a difference. And - you are Chinese. There are really many good Chinese applicants at top schools and but no top program accepts more than 2 or 3, I think. So, the issue is probably not that you're lacking something but that you're compared relative to Chinese applicants and not the overall applicant pool. I think EME would be worth it if you had a very strong chance of moving to top 10 or top 5 afterwards, conditional on your excellent performance. I am not convinced this is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Econhead Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Hi, everyone I learned a lot from this forum. Thanks a lot. Recently, I received an admission from LSE EME and an offer from UCSD. Now I am extremely anxious about which one to attend. UCSD is quite good and San Diego is a nice place. LSE EME has very high reputation and might help me get into better graduate programs (there is some uncertainty, especially because I am Chinese). Can you give me some suggestions? Any input is welcome. Thanks! I do not know the cost of LSE, but I am assuming that you are able to afford the cost of the california system. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, make sure to check into the cost of being an international applicant at UCSD. ~16k/year I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantinity Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I do not know the cost of LSE, but I am assuming that you are able to afford the cost of the california system. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, make sure to check into the cost of being an international applicant at UCSD. ~16k/year I think? It's more from 2nd year, but 1st one is tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantinity Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Seriously though, I think people greatly underestimate how hard it is to get in to a top-10 PhD program, with LSE masters, or without. You have admission into a great top-15 program, and honestly going for masters will be just plain dumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenhorse Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 SD has a nice sandy beach as far as i know... nice bikinis too :pirate:. I remember someone in some other threads said: you want a PhD, and you now have a good offer, isn't that already enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmx Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Thanks a lot to everyone. I checked the placement of UCSD in the past few years. It's quite good and even comparable to some top 10 programs. I will probably attend UCSD, and I think I can have many chances there and enjoy SD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmx Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 Seriously though, I think people greatly underestimate how hard it is to get in to a top-10 PhD program, with LSE masters, or without. You have admission into a great top-15 program, and honestly going for masters will be just plain dumb. Will you attend UCSD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmx Posted March 23, 2015 Author Share Posted March 23, 2015 An economist would say - depends on your risk preferences ;) But honestly, if I was in your position, I would have probably chosen UCSD. I assume the school matches your interests, since you've applied there. Since you got accepted by UCSD, you probably have a strong profile already and won't get that much from EME, other than potential LORs from better known professors. This is of course important, but if your letters got you as far as UCSD, a marginal improvement won't make much of a difference. And - you are Chinese. There are really many good Chinese applicants at top schools and but no top program accepts more than 2 or 3, I think. So, the issue is probably not that you're lacking something but that you're compared relative to Chinese applicants and not the overall applicant pool. I think EME would be worth it if you had a very strong chance of moving to top 10 or top 5 afterwards, conditional on your excellent performance. I am not convinced this is the case. Actually, my LoRs are not from well-known economists. You are right. I checked the past placement of Chinese who got the top ranking in LSE EME, and it is not so good. It seems the risk is so big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantinity Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Will you attend UCSD? I think so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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