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Is Oxford's MSc Economics for Development rigorous/well regarded enough for PhD?


redrose27

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Hello,

 

I've been accepted to Oxford's MSc Economics for Development program and am very tempted to take the offer over my other pure economics admissions (Canadian schools--UBC, Toronto, Queen's). The problem is that I don't know whether the program is economically rigourous enough for admission to good PhD programs (in Canada or USA) or if it is well regarded. I know that the 2 year MPhil is generally highly regarded, but the one year MSc is split between the development and economics departments at Oxford---we'd take year long courses in micro, macro, and econometrics as well as courses in related development fields (poverty, inequality, health, environment, etc.). I don't know whether a PhD program would view thee other courses as being insufficiently theoretical or empirically based. I know the program does place graduates into Oxford's own DPhil program, but I believe you can enter the DPhil straight from BA so that's not a great indicator. I worry about schools (e.g. in Canada) that require economics Master's for admission to PhDs---would they view this as more of a development degree than an economics degree? Moreover, would the lack of courses in other areas of economics (labour, public, IO, etc.) hurt me in my preparation?

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http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/pdf/study/msc-econ-dev-course-guide

 

If this helps anyone in offering advice, this is the course guide for the program. it's a mixture of core courses in quantitative methods, micro, macro, trade/international economics, and then elective modules in institutions, macro policy, risk, stabilization, and political economy

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I think Oxford is one of the top European schools. I'd check the Fed's RePec ratings (They rank waaay more institutions than US News, and more rigorously acc. to my grad director). According to the Fed, Oxford is #5, So I think that would be a good choice. By comparison, Toronto is 43rd, and Queen's is 40th. Plus, getting through any master's program at all shows a good degree of ability- at least to stomach the first year of classes, if nothing else.
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I think Oxford is one of the top European schools. I'd check the Fed's RePec ratings (They rank waaay more institutions than US News, and more rigorously acc. to my grad director). According to the Fed, Oxford is #5, So I think that would be a good choice. By comparison, Toronto is 43rd, and Queen's is 40th. Plus, getting through any master's program at all shows a good degree of ability- at least to stomach the first year of classes, if nothing else.

 

 

thank you for the reply. My only worry is that the degree might be too specialized for a phd---we would be taking only courses on development (as well as micro, macro, and metrics), and wouldn't be taking any on labour, IO, etc. I know that UK and US programs let you go straight from bachelor's to phd so they wouldn't see that as a problem, but many canadian schools require an MA in economics so i'm worried that they might see this as too focused/specialized to consider for admission

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Hello,

 

I've been accepted to Oxford's MSc Economics for Development program and am very tempted to take the offer over my other pure economics admissions (Canadian schools--UBC, Toronto, Queen's). The problem is that I don't know whether the program is economically rigourous enough for admission to good PhD programs (in Canada or USA) or if it is well regarded. I know that the 2 year MPhil is generally highly regarded, but the one year MSc is split between the development and economics departments at Oxford---we'd take year long courses in micro, macro, and econometrics as well as courses in related development fields (poverty, inequality, health, environment, etc.). I don't know whether a PhD program would view thee other courses as being insufficiently theoretical or empirically based. I know the program does place graduates into Oxford's own DPhil program, but I believe you can enter the DPhil straight from BA so that's not a great indicator. I worry about schools (e.g. in Canada) that require economics Master's for admission to PhDs---would they view this as more of a development degree than an economics degree? Moreover, would the lack of courses in other areas of economics (labour, public, IO, etc.) hurt me in my preparation?

 

I went to the MSc a couple of years ago, great program and definitely a good track to stay for a Dphil at Oxford (as long as you stay in the top 3-4 of your class). I don't know about schools in Canada but I got into top 15 PhD program in the US (Minnesota) with the Msc and 2 years of research experience.

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When facing the choice, I would argue a broad master is better - the Oxford MPhil in Economics is more comparable to the first 1-2 years of a US PhD and should thus be a better choice. If the Dev. master is your only option, I agree with previous comments that admission/completion is a very decent signal. Getting letters of recommendation from good faculty would also benefit, although you wouldn't get them in the first semester probably.
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I went to the MSc a couple of years ago, great program and definitely a good track to stay for a Dphil at Oxford (as long as you stay in the top 3-4 of your class). I don't know about schools in Canada but I got into top 15 PhD program in the US (Minnesota) with the Msc and 2 years of research experience.

 

by 2 years of research experience, do you mean that you did work after the MSc, or prior to it? Looking on the DPhil website they seem to state that specific economics masters (e.g. development econ) are not necessarily sufficient and that we'd have to establish why we have enough rigour in our master's....I worry that Canadian schools which require masters in economics as prerequisites for admission (vs us schools which can admit straight from undergrad) might view this as not being broad enough.

 

PS did you find the program to be worth the money? My choices are the MSc straight out of pocket (costs about $70,000 CAD) or a free or nearly free Canadian degree ($0 to $20,000 for total costs). Did most of your classmates get good placements (jobs or education) after? Have you found the "Oxford brand" has helped you?

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When facing the choice, I would argue a broad master is better - the Oxford MPhil in Economics is more comparable to the first 1-2 years of a US PhD and should thus be a better choice. If the Dev. master is your only option, I agree with previous comments that admission/completion is a very decent signal. Getting letters of recommendation from good faculty would also benefit, although you wouldn't get them in the first semester probably.

 

Unfortunately the MPhil is not currently one of my options :( Would a very specific MSc from Oxford (in Development Econ) be a better signal then, than a broad masters from UBC, Toronto, or Queen's?

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Just reread your original post, I didn't see the other offers. I'm not at a top 10 school so take my advice with heavy caution, but I don't think it's worth the money to go to Oxford and pay 70,000 CAD as opposed to attending UBC, Queens or Toronto for free or 20,000 CAD at most.

The three schools are very good schools and they do place well.

Edited by sulebrahim
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Just reread your original post, I didn't see the other offers. I'm not at a top 10 school so take my advice with heavy caution, but I don't think it's worth the money to go to Oxford and pay 70,000 CAD as opposed to attending UBC, Queens or Toronto for free or 20,000 CAD at most.

The three schools are very good schools and they do place well.

 

 

UBC is probably off my list now, but Toronto and Queen's are still in consideration. If this ends up being my terminal degree though, would you say that Oxford would be the better choice? If I was 100% sure i was going to continue to a phd i'd probably go with the most affordable canadian school, but i'm reconsidering that route more and more each day (especialyl after speaking with current phds in the field) so i'm wondering whether the Oxford degree might end up opening more doors for me than the canadian degrees would, especially for a position with an international organization (WHO, etc.)

 

I'm also wondering how much instruction/supervision support I'd receive in the MSc. with oxford i hear mixed reviews---some people had very supportive departments whereas others thought that they were "abandoned" in their master's programs depending on the field.

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