SSE vs PSE vs Bonn for Master in Econ.

[asianeconomist]

Originally Posted by krchan63

I have considered those programs,but their tuition fees are still costly for me due to the fact that i'm not from EU. By the way, do they give the financial support to their international students for their master programs? If they do, I will also consider them.

Tilburg funds international students through Partial Tuition Fee Waivers (EUR 8K) / Tilburg University Scholarship Program (EUR 8K in tuition + 5K for living).

[capitalmarx]

Originally Posted by EnLaPlaya

As for German econ programmes, I´m quite curious about how one can obtain sufficient background for doing research in just one or two semesters (http://www.bgse.uni-bonn.de/fileadmi..._version-1.pdf, Core Courses - Munich Graduate School of Economics, CDSE); could you please give some comment on this?
And as it has been pointed out here lately, it might be quite tough to get in if you´re not German, as they seem to be biased towards students from their own country.

Well, for Bonn, a student who just has a bachelor’s degree have to take background courses for 3 semesters.

[Diplomer]

Originally Posted by EnLaPlaya

As for German econ programmes, I´m quite curious about how one can obtain sufficient background for doing research in just one or two semesters (http://www.bgse.uni-bonn.de/fileadmi..._version-1.pdf, Core Courses - Munich Graduate School of Economics, CDSE); could you please give some comment on this?
And as it has been pointed out here lately, it might be quite tough to get in if you´re not German, as they seem to be biased towards students from their own country.

The German Masters are two year programmes. You get at least 3 semesters foundation courses (Master) plus the taught courses of your doctoral programme, if you attend such. Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität

The links that you posted refer to PhD programmes. In Germany, it is very very unusual to attend a doctoral programme without holding a Master's degree and I believe that it is hardly possible to get into a German PhD programme with a Bachelor's degree. If you apply with a foreign Bachelor to a German PhD it is almost sure that you will be rejected.

However, Bonn might prefer to take students with a Bachelor from Bonn simply because only few other German universities provide a comparable mathematics teaching in their undergraduate programmes. But I would not say that German universities are "biased" towards German students. It simply is unusual that foreign students want to study in Germany because of the language. But of course, the universities I mentioned are typical target universities for the best German students.

If you want to study in Germany you have to be aware that German universities do not provide much service and are very formal, i.e. they stick to formal requirements and that stuff. But I am strongly convinced that you can get into the programme if you satisfy all requirements, especially the mathematics background.

Look here for entry requirements for PhD programmes. They all require a Masters degree:
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
General Requirements for the Admission to the Doctoral Program of the MGSE - Munich Graduate School of Economics
CDSE

Perhaps, I should mention that Mannheim is a very ugly city, whereas Bonn is one of the beautifullest cities in Germany.

[krchan63]

Does anyone know where I can find syllabus for Bonn?
Do master students take the same courses with ph.d students?

[EnLaPlaya]

Just a brief comment on this:

Originally Posted by Diplomer

But I would not say that German universities are "biased" towards German students. It simply is unusual that foreign students want to study in Germany because of the language.

The PhD programmes we are talking about are taught in English and Germans count among the best non-native English speakers, so I somewhat doubt this is the reason. However, the only competent body to answer this are the adcoms (unless one has some kind of first-hand info), who precisely know the German/non-German ratio of their applicants.

And I thought Mannheim was a nice city

[EnLaPlaya]

Originally Posted by capitalmarx

Well, for Bonn, a student who just has a bachelor’s degree have to take background courses for 3 semesters.

But unless general micro, macro and econometrics are hidden under the "master-level courses", you still have only one semestr of these, don´t you? And seminars do not count as courses, so we still might end up with just 2-2,5 semesters in the end. And note that you are to discuss your research right in the second or third semester after obtaining your Bachelor degree (if you go along that track), which is what I was curious about.

[capitalmarx]

I don't know much about ph.d for Bonn.
However, the structure of the master program is like the following:
Program structure
And each module are explained here.
Modules
Furthermore, you can find the list of courses and the topic covered here.
Detailed Modules

As you can see from the website, the master program is similar to other master's programs ( 3 semesters of lectures + 1 semester of thesis).

[Diplomer]

Originally Posted by EnLaPlaya

The PhD programmes we are talking about are taught in English and Germans count among the best non-native English speakers, so I somewhat doubt this is the reason. However, the only competent body to answer this are the adcoms (unless one has some kind of first-hand info), who precisely know the German/non-German ratio of their applicants.

The Master and PhD programmes in Germany are very young. They just started to offer such programmes due to the Bologna process. Before, nobody in Germany attended such programms. Hence, no foreign students could

Additionally, typically only few courses are in English. The programmes in Bonn, Mannheim and some other universities are entirely in English, what makes them different.

Take all the above together, it seems reasonable to say that very few foreign students take the possibility of studying in Germany into account. Of course, you are right that the adcom is the only one who can judge this.
But my experience is that foreign students receive a bit more support and are more welcomed than German students because so few come to Germany.

Kind regards
Diplomer

[Diplomer]

Originally Posted by EnLaPlaya

But unless general micro, macro and econometrics are hidden under the "master-level courses", you still have only one semestr of these, don´t you? And seminars do not count as courses, so we still might end up with just 2-2,5 semesters in the end. And note that you are to discuss your research right in the second or third semester after obtaining your Bachelor degree (if you go along that track), which is what I was curious about.

May I ask how your PhD programme is structured? I do not see a great difference between our PhD structure and other programmes...

Thanks a lot!

Best wishes
Diplomer

[y-gat]

Let me add my opinion to the German Econ graduate programes, since I am German as well and I applied to most of the mentioned programmes.

I feel that the top programmes are:

- Bonn
- Mannheim
- Frankfurt

without any particular order. Then

- Munich
- Berlin
- Constance
- Kiel

Some specific remarks:
Bonn

The Doctoral programe with the longest established reputation in Germany. It is great if you are aiming to do Micro or Behavioural Economics. There they have famous professors like Selten, Moldovanu or Falk.
If you want to focus on financial economics or econometrics, as it is in my case, they do not offer too many possibilities (only Breitung for econometrics and Theissen for Finance). The city is very nice and full of students.
Placements include (Assistant Professors): University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, University of California Davis, University of Michigan

Mannheim

The second very reputated economics and business university in Germany. They are not as strong as Bonn in Micro, but have fine professors in different disciplines (f.e. Van Thadden, Peitz (Micro), Mammen, Fröhlich (Econometrics), Krebs (Macro), Weber, Maug (Finance)).
The city is not as beautiful as Bonn, but I would not say that it is ugly. In comparison to most cities in the US (sorry guys!!!), it is quite beautiful.
In comparison I would say that the economics faculty building of Bonn University is definitely very ugly!!!

Placements include (Assistant Professors): Yale University (this year), Texas University, LSE, Amsterdam, Tilburg

Frankfurt


Probably the newcomer under the best economics departments in Germany. They have a very rigorous PhD program and their faculty members are very strong in Finance (Inderst) and Monetary Economics (Binder).
The city is very commited to the financial industry.
Placements include: Columbia Business School (this year), LSE


MOst programmes require a MAster equivalent degree and have a duration of 4 years.

Regarding the first question of the thread: IF you want to do Micro, go to Bonn. Otherwise go to Stockholm.