help: Vanderbilt vs. Purdue

[NEWHOPE]

The similar financial package. Not sure which field should be chosen. Any advice? Many thanks!!!

[Andronicus]

What fields interest you? Are you generally more interested in theory or empirics?

Nashville is probably a nicer place to live than West Lafayette, but that's mostly speculation.

[NEWHOPE]

I prefer emperical work now. However, things might be changed...

[Andronicus]

Vanderbilt is heavily theoretical. I'm not that familiar with Purdue, but I think they are good in experimental economics (John Kagel went there) which is by nature empirical.

[puecon]

Originally Posted by Andronicus

Vanderbilt is heavily theoretical. I'm not that familiar with Purdue, but I think they are good in experimental economics (John Kagel went there) which is by nature empirical.

I don't think that "empirical vs theoretical" is the only (or even most important) dimension for evaluating graduate economics programs. Most economics departments have both kinds of people, and after glancing at Vanderbilt faculty roster, it didn't strike me as a predominantly theory place. It also seems like Vanderbilt is a better place to study macroeconomics or international finance because they have several senior people who work in those subjects (I didn't pay attention to other subjects on their roster)

In any case, I already posted my "review" of Purdue a few weeks ago.
http://www.urch.com/forums/phd-econo...tml#post570651 (Purdue's strength?)

One important think to keep in mind is that Purdue economics is a very small program. Looking at Purdue's faculty roster, I can tell that only 14 - 1 + 2 or so economics department professors from that list (one is leaving, two are joining in fall) are actually actively involved in teaching and advising PhD students. This seriously restricts the research subjects you can pursue here. Don't come here unless you know for sure you can see beforehand 2-3 people who work in something that interests you. (side note, you can also probably work with faculty in other departments such as agricultural economics, finance, or say math/statistics. Agecon might have more people who work in I/O and trade. Finance has a good group for corporate finance but is kinda thin in financial markets. Statistics runs a program in computational finance, including a research seminar.

[zwicker]

Purdue has better placement.

[Andronicus]

Originally Posted by puecon

I don't think that "empirical vs theoretical" is the only (or even most important) dimension for evaluating graduate economics programs. Most economics departments have both kinds of people, and after glancing at Vanderbilt faculty roster, it didn't strike me as a predominantly theory place.

It's not the most important factor, but it does matter. I was considering going to Vanderbilt, visited the campus, reviewed professors CVs, and spoke to several knowledgeable sources which confirmed that they tend to focus more on theoretical modeling than empirics. One Vanderbilt faculty member said I should really consider going to Ohio State when I told him I was interested in empirical research. Some noteworthy exceptions are Viscusi and Hersch, but I think they are primarily based in the Law School.

On the macro side, I don't know much about them because I don't have much interest in macro.

[NEWHOPE]

Does anybody can compare the reputation of the two program? It sounds like they are the same line?