New to forum

**Eggbeater** · 04-21-2007, 05:36 AM

Hey all, This is my first post on the forum. I'm a sophomore economics/math concentrator at Harvard College and would like to get a Masters in ec at LSE eventually. I've been checking out this forum for the past few days now, and I really like it. I'm always excited to chat with other economics enthusiasts - do you all know of any other forums out there? Anyhow, good to be here!

**Jhai** · 04-21-2007, 05:45 AM

Hey - welcome to TestMagic!
This is really the schelling point for economic students - everyone ends up here if they're looking for advice. I think it's 'cause econphd.net links here.

**OneMoreEcon** · 04-21-2007, 06:06 AM

About LSE... don't. Just stay at Harvard for the MS Stats / PhD Econ that they like to bring their undergrads into.

Just kidding... sort of... well, not really. Harvard Phd is much cheaper than LSE MSc, if you can get into both.

**Eggbeater** · 04-21-2007, 06:17 AM

Originally Posted by OneMoreEcon

About LSE... don't. Just stay at Harvard for the MS Stats / PhD Econ that they like to bring their undergrads into.

Just kidding... sort of... well, not really. Harvard Phd is much cheaper than LSE MSc, if you can get into both.

That would be nice, but I don't think I can for two reasons: 1) I don't feel that I am competitive enough to make it -- I have plenty of peers who have already taken grad courses and probably have a higher GPA than me 2) I'm not 100% positive I want to spend 4-6 years of my life earning a phd. So I figure a 1 or 2 year masters would be a good way to find out. Is the masters program at LSE competitive? I hear a few of you have gotten in already, congrats!

**OneMoreEcon** · 04-21-2007, 06:24 AM

As a sophomore, your peers are taking grad courses? What the ****??? I know some of the Asian students in the PhD program are doing crazy work (one with 4 publications as a 1st year, I think a 4th year with 7 pubs and 7 working papers), but damn...

1) Not all (or most) of the competition is that intense. Antichron's profile isn't so impressive that he was taking grad courses in his second year (he was still at a community college), but he had a 100% acceptance rate last year. Check out pareto-optimal.com.

2) Master's at LSE is competitive, but not as much as US PhDs. Being at Harvard will help. The main thing is that there's no funding, so you're paying for the degree.

3) If you can manage to get into a top US PhD, you can always leave with a master's if you don't like it... but if you do like it, you can stay. I've learned that it's better to leave such doors open, since you don't know how you'll feel in the future (which makes dynamic optimization seem kinda strange as a maximization concept, since even us econ students suck at it in practice).

**Eggbeater** · 04-21-2007, 06:45 AM

Originally Posted by OneMoreEcon

As a sophomore, your peers are taking grad courses? What the ****??? I know some of the Asian students in the PhD program are doing crazy work (one with 4 publications as a 1st year, I think a 4th year with 7 pubs and 7 working papers), but damn...

1) Not all (or most) of the competition is that intense. Antichron's profile isn't so impressive that he was taking grad courses in his second year (he was still at a community college), but he had a 100% acceptance rate last year. Check out pareto-optimal.com.

2) Master's at LSE is competitive, but not as much as US PhDs. Being at Harvard will help. The main thing is that there's no funding, so you're paying for the degree.

3) If you can manage to get into a top US PhD, you can always leave with a master's if you don't like it... but if you do like it, you can stay. I've learned that it's better to leave such doors open, since you don't know how you'll feel in the future (which makes dynamic optimization seem kinda strange as a maximization concept, since even us econ students suck at it in practice).

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, the competition seems to be getting more intense by the year - which I guess is a good thing for the economics field. I know of two freshman who took graduate economics courses. This pareto-optimal figure sounds like a really cool guy, especially since I'm originally from California as well. I would love to talk to him about his experiences some time.

**ekonomiks** · 04-21-2007, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by OneMoreEcon

1) Not all (or most) of the competition is that intense. Antichron's profile isn't so impressive that he was taking grad courses in his second year (he was still at a community college), but he had a 100% acceptance rate last year. Check out pareto-optimal.com.

This guy is good...

**OneMoreEcon** · 04-21-2007, 07:03 AM

I'd like to think you were talking about me, but I suspect you meant Mikey.

**ekonomiks** · 04-21-2007, 07:44 AM

Originally Posted by Eggbeater

Hey all, This is my first post on the forum. I'm a sophomore economics/math concentrator at Harvard College and would like to get a Masters in ec at LSE eventually. I've been checking out this forum for the past few days now, and I really like it. I'm always excited to chat with other economics enthusiasts - do you all know of any other forums out there? Anyhow, good to be here!

I don't see many Harvard undergrads do their graduate studies outside of the Harvard-MIT cohort. As long as you remain an econ/math concentrator, keep your GPA above 3.7, don't antagonize all of your professors, I don't think you're gonna have a problem getting into any top schools, including your alma mater. Why bother getting an MS at LSE? You can always drop out of a PhD program with an MA after two years.

**Golden Rule** · 04-21-2007, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by ekonomiks

I don't see many Harvard undergrads do their graduate studies outside of the Harvard-MIT cohort. As long as you remain an econ/math concentrator, keep your GPA above 3.7, don't antagonize all of your professors, I don't think you're gonna have a problem getting into any top schools, including your alma mater. Why bother getting an MS at LSE? You can always drop out of a PhD program with an MA after two years.

You mean well, and I know Harvard has a deserved reputation for taking its own, but going to Harvard and getting a 3.7+ GPA alone is not enough to get into Harvard or any top school. Add a good senior thesis and good grades in a couple grad classes, and developing good relationships with professors, and then maybe you have a point.

Eggbeater -- what's your ultimate goal here? Why do you know want a masters in Econ? There was another thread somewhere about the employability of those with masters, and really, the prospects aren't all that much better than those with BAs. If you really like research, get a PhD.