Something wrong with Rochester?

[philosophking]

i've heard from some people that it's developed a reputation similar to chicago's-- accepts a lot of people, throws out a lot of them after the first year, is very technical, etc. i've heard this from a graduate of the program and also from people around here. it can make the school a bit more competitive than it needs to be, and not everyone is into that.

secondly, from someone who hails from that great city ... the weather is not so bad. sure we get a lot of snow (lake effect), but the springs and falls are beautiful, and have very good temperatures, and the summers are not too hot and not humid or anything either. overall, if you can stand the cold, (and of course, it's not anything extreme like UW-Madison) i think it's a fine place to be for most of the year.

[apropos]

What's wrong with Rochester is that they rejected my application

Rochester gets over 450 applications per year. This sounds like a lot to me considering they target a first year class under 20 students. This is the first time I heard on this board that they have such a competitive environment. Some undercover professor of economics (not jlist) posted last year that he thinks that Rochester and UMN are the best "value added" Economics Ph.D. programs among the top 20 in the sense that both take a good care of their students and place them relatively well. Maybe he was wrong about Rochester.

[jahizbarlas]

What's wrong with Rochester is that they rejected my application

Rochester gets over 450 applications per year. This sounds like a lot to me considering they target a first year class under 20 students. This is the first time I heard on this board that they have such a competitive environment. Some undercover professor of economics (not jlist) posted last year that he thinks that Rochester and UMN are the best "value added" Economics Ph.D. programs among the top 20 in the sense that both take a good care of their students and place them relatively well. Maybe he was wrong about Rochester.

haha, actually this prof i know said to me that minnesota and mit were the best 'value added' programs around right now for macro. (he used exactly the same term)
he used to be at rochester a few yrs ago.
i wonder

[crslr]

I believe Epstein is leaving this year.

This rumor circulates every year. It's a mystery that some top ten department hasn't hired him away yet, but then - Rochester has some advantages, e.g. it's very collegial and consistent in turning out very well-trained PhDs (true for all fields). And there Larry gets the respect and authority that's due to a truly great professor.

[Prso]

This rumor circulates every year. It's a mystery that some top ten department hasn't hired him away yet, but then - Rochester has some advantages, e.g. it's very collegial and consistent in turning out very well-trained PhDs (true for all fields). And there Larry gets the respect and authority that's due to a truly great professor.

it's not rumor. Epstein will leave 07-fall

[Prometheus_Econ]

where will epstein go?

[TradeOff]

where will epstein go?

As long as I Know, Boston University is taking him.

[chappl]

Thanks to all of you for your feedbacks.. It is very nice to have stories from well informed people / insiders.

I think I will most probably accept the Rochester offer if I don't get into any top 10 program.

see you maybe there econchick06

[bluesywoozy]

Rochester still has one of the best PhD programs in economics. The training you'd receive at Rochester is rigorous, up to date and very research oriented. The problem though is that there is quite a bit of circulation of professors among top schools and Rochester is affected the most in this process due to small number of faculty. In the history of Rochester, there has been a few times when they lost a few top people simultaneously to other schools and each time Rochester managed to recover from the crisis.

In the last few years, Rochester lost some big names to other schools but also hired very promising faculty members... there is nothing wrong with Rochester, just experiencing one of its transitory troughs in its cycle.

Somebody mentioned monetary economics as a field of interest.... go somewhere else if you are certain you want to pursue this field. The strongest fields in Rochester are micro theory, macro theory and international economics. They also have a very good labor group.

Rochester is truly challenging as a program, the first year is a nightmare but you'll be amazed at how much you've learned in a single year. Somebody mentioned that the qualifiers is a big issue and the system is like Chicago where they admit a whole lot and kick out most of them. This is not true! In some years, there are a few who fail the qualifiers but most of the students who do not complete the program quit with their own will.

PM me if you have any other questions.

[bluesywoozy]

Rochester Rochester still has one of the best PhD programs in economics. The training you'd receive at Rochester is rigorous, up to date and very research oriented. The problem though is that there is quite a bit of circulation of professors among top schools and Rochester is affected the most in this process due to small number of faculty. In the history of Rochester, there has been a few times when they lost a few top people simultaneously to other schools and each time Rochester managed to recover from the crisis.

In the last few years, Rochester lost some big names to other schools but also hired very promising faculty members... there is nothing wrong with Rochester, just experiencing one of its transitory troughs in its cycle.

Somebody mentioned monetary economics as a field of interest.... go somewhere else if you are certain you want to pursue this field. The strongest fields in Rochester are micro theory, macro theory and international economics. They also have a very good labor group.

Rochester is truly challenging as a program, the first year is a nightmare but you'll be amazed at how much you've learned in a single year. Somebody mentioned that the qualifiers is a big issue and the system is like Chicago where they admit a whole lot and kick out most of them. This is not true! In some years, there are a few who fail the qualifiers but most of the students who do not complete the program quit with their own will.

PM me if you have any other questions.