Oxford MPhil in Economics

[Lombardo]

Has anyone heard anything from Oxford about the MPhil in Economics application? I think their communication system is pretty archaic, i.e. snail mail

[grahamcoxon]

I applied, but didn't hear anything from them. Neither a notification of complete application. Btw, since I got in Caltech I don't care any more about any European application I made.
Good luck for your app!

[Lombardo]

Btw, since I got in Caltech I don't care any more about any European application I made.
Good luck for your app!

Is that because European universities (especially British) provide poor funding opportunities or you think American schools are better?

Thanks for the good luck wishes by the way

[grahamcoxon]

A combination of the two things, actually. The European schools I applied to (LSE, UCL, Oxford, Pompeu Fabra, Stockholm School of Economics, University of Stockholm) are worse than Caltech (my only admit, so far) with respect to fields I am more interested into (political economics, micro theory, behavioral economics). An exception may be LSE, but it is common wisdom that LSE is an expensive and not funding-granting institution (and I have got no external fellowship). So there's no reason to wait for reply to those application. On the other side, I am almost uninterested in some of my American applications as well (UCSD, Boston University, Columbia), because Caltech is higher in my personal ranking. If you are aware of the field you want to do research into, I advise you to make comparisons on that ground.

personal statement: I was wrong. I applied to the D.Phil. (i.e., straight to the ph.d. programme). I will be rejected because they want you to take their M.Phil. first. This is another reason why I won't look at my European application any mare. It is easier to get into a top us ph.d. programme than into a european one.

[Lombardo]

If you are aware of the field you want to do research into, I advise you to make comparisons on that ground.

Totally agree with you; the reason for my interest in Oxford was Neil Shephard and Kevin Sheppard, who are very good in (Financial) Econometrics.