Clemson Univ. worth attending?

[jester]

kartelite,
why do you think the econphd rankings are poor? are the US News and World Report the best? are there any other rankings that look at programs by field, like IO, Macro, Metrics, etc.? Just curious. Thanks.

[economicus]

Yes, this is a good question. ...And which ranking do admission folks look at when in need to get an impression about the university of the candidate x?

[kartelite]

Originally Posted by jester

kartelite,
why do you think the econphd rankings are poor? are the US News and World Report the best? are there any other rankings that look at programs by field, like IO, Macro, Metrics, etc.? Just curious. Thanks.

The econphd rankings are, unless I'm wrong, solely based on publications by the faculty members. I don't see how that can possibly be an accurate reflection on any school's graduate program. While in general good graduate schools will have faculty that publish, to use that as the only criteria seems very narrowminded. What about reputation among prospective employers? Average GRE scores of entering students? Faculty:student ratio? Percent of graduates with tenure-track jobs at certain level institutions? Average time to completion of degree? Average starting salary for graduates?

I'm not sure what all US News takes into account, but its rankings are much more in line with what you could expect your professors to tell you. And yes they are broken up by field, but they don't have a ton of schools in those rankings (usually just top 10-20 per field).

[jahizbarlas]

Originally Posted by chintaM

As they say, there is no point of bringing south to the table. They are loyal to no agreement; No treaty is binding for them

In jest.

[USeconphd]

According to 4.15 Resolution, it seems that we have the right to refuse/withdraw the contracted assistantship appointment/fellowship any time before 4/15. But how do you guys understand the resolution and deal with the $ offers?


4.15 Resolution

Acceptance of an offer of financial support (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties.

Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer.

[treasuries]

Originally Posted by kartelite

The econphd rankings are, unless I'm wrong, solely based on publications by the faculty members. I don't see how that can possibly be an accurate reflection on any school's graduate program. While in general good graduate schools will have faculty that publish, to use that as the only criteria seems very narrowminded. What about reputation among prospective employers? Average GRE scores of entering students? Faculty:student ratio? Percent of graduates with tenure-track jobs at certain level institutions? Average time to completion of degree? Average starting salary for graduates?

The EconPhD.net rankings are not narrow-minded if your purpose of joining a graduate program in economics is to teach and do research with a tenure-track position in a top research university after finishing your PhD. These rankings are informative in terms of giving an applicant information about how productive in research the faculty members are of a given department. A reputed institution in a given area 15 years ago may not be the source of leading research in that specialization today so it is important to know which department has the highly productive current faculty members.

Although most rankings won't differ much in their top 20, the EconPhD.net rankings provide more information about faculty resources for those choosing among the top 30 to 60 departments. If the top 20 is a reach for an applicant at least he knows which departments to choose from between the top 30 to 60, those that are the most productive in his area of interest.

Cheers!

[kartelite]

Originally Posted by treasuries

These rankings are informative in terms of giving an applicant information about how productive in research the faculty members are of a given department.

Right. But that doesn't tell us a whole lot about the experience a grad student will have there. What if the faculty publish and ignore preparing for their graduate classes, or prefer not to involve grad students in research? I think data like I mentioned above (and maybe attrition rates) are more indicative of what makes for a successful grad experience.

[treasuries]

Originally Posted by kartelite

...I think data like I mentioned above (and maybe attrition rates) are more indicative of what makes for a successful grad experience.

Of course, I definitely agree. Except for using GRE score as an input to rankings. Remember though that not all those who go through these threads are confident to actually land in the top 20 and I am suggesting a primary indicator, faculty productivity/resources. This is already given in the top programs. But how does one glean from those in the lower tiers?

When it comes to faculty involving students in research, that can be easily determined in recent working or published papers of faculty members by the credit they give to their RAs. At the same time, that is also reflected in co-authorships in chapters of dissertations published in journals by a faculty member and the student. Again these are reflected in the research productivity of the department.

As regards attrition, who reports anyway? I am not aware of any, except some indirect statistics from Toronto's and UBC's annual reports, UCSD I think also provide such information. Some are based on rumors, like that one on Chicago in one of these threads.

[bscout]

What about an ontopic comment? A friend of mine recieved the same proposal from Clemson and he is also wondering if it is worth attending to Clemson.

[treasuries]

Clemson can serve as one's back-up if applications don't do well in other higher ranked programs.

Based on the faculty profile and job market participants from Clemson, someone who has inclination in applied microeconomics might consider the fellowship offer. But its economics dept is unknown. So is the generous package worth it in the long-term? I don't think so.