U of Toronto Doctoral Stream

[econyun]

It s known that being a doctoral stream MA student, we have to take at least one phd sequence of the core courses.

Is it possible to take 3? Is it too risky to do it??

Anyone here has finished MA doctoral stream?????????

where will they go to usually?

since I m thinking to take 3 core phd sequences plus graduate probability 1

for nothing more than a better phd offer next year...

my friends suggested me not to kill myself...

i m just curious what is going on ...there

[canecon]

They recommend that you only take 1. 3 would be a serious stretch, you would have to convince them you could handle it. (2 would be easier to get approval, but I imagine you have to do some convincing).

I think they are reluctant to allow more than 1 based on previous experiences of eager students who thought they could handle more but found out the hard way that they could not.

[TheBrothersKaramazov]

If you intend to apply for PhD programs, you will want the best MA references possible. By doing PhD courses, the classes are smaller and you are likely to be noticed more than in an MA course. On the other hand, your classmates in the PhD program will likely have an advantage over you given that most will have taken MA courses. I'd say take the PhD course in something you are very confident in, and MA courses in areas you are less confident in.

btw, are you TA-ing in your first semester? Trying to balance 4 graduate courses plus a TAship is not a walk in the park.

[werther]

even 2 is discouraged*

[themechanic]

I was in the U of T doctoral stream last year. I did all 3 of the Phd sequences and nobody ever tried to dissuade me from doing so.

[econyun]

Originally Posted by themechanic

I was in the U of T doctoral stream last year. I did all 3 of the Phd sequences and nobody ever tried to dissuade me from doing so.

how s the result? was your life hard last year?
So what the fouth class you took?

[werther]

then i guess its just regular MAs who are discouraged from taking more than 1 PhD core. i just think it's an extremely risky move unles you're totally confident you can do well in all three. and if you do take all three you dont need to take any electives because PhD core courses run for the whole year and count as 3 credits.

[canecon]

To quote the (generic?) acceptance letter I received:

The distinguishing feature of this program is that you must take one of the three first year Ph.D. sequences in microeconomics (ECO 2020H and ECO 2030H), macroeconomics (ECO 2021H and ECO2031H), or econometrics (ECO 2400H and ECO 2401H) and the associated tutorials. (I generally do not recommend that Doctoral Stream M.A. students take more than one such Ph.D. sequence.)

[tangsiuje]

Different people come in with different backgrounds. Some might already have finished a substantial amount of graduate coursework elsewhere. The level of mathematical preparation will vary. Some might be straight out of a three-year undergraduate program with little maths (me), some might have two undergraduate degrees and a graduate degree from a country afar. In particular, one should note the generally in "I generally do not recommend that Doctoral Stream M.A. students take more than one such Ph.D. sequence." My interpretation is that this recommendation can be stretched quite substantially, and I bet that claiming "I took this advanced micro/macro/metrics course last year, I got a good grade and feel sufficiently prepared to take the PhD sequence." will be enough.

Personally, I will take one PhD-sequence, try to get as high grades as possible and attempt to make my TA sessions as intersting as possible. Hopefully, I will have some time left to enjoy my boyfriend as well as Toronto life. Actually, I think that even accomplishing all of this might be a stretch for me.

Oh.. and by the way, since a couple of people planning to attend might read this thread, I hope that we can make our best to prevent the unfriendliness "reputation" of this program from becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm sure we'll have an awesome year.