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Help me choose where to study for a masters (Warwick/UPF)


econmsc

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Hey guys,

 

Ok, here is the situation. I have offers from Warwick and UPF/GSE both for the MSc Economics and I simply can't decide. Location is not an issue. I have visited both and actually liked Warwick better. I would like to do a Phd at a top US school but also keep my options open to work in the city later (London). Which would you chose and why? How about teaching quality?

 

Any opinion/advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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Here are some facts:

 

- on average, teaching quality is not really good in WW. In micro courses is particularly bad, whereas in econometrics area is good. BTW, it's really difficult to teach in front of 100 students (this was the figure, this year)

 

- you said location is not an issue. Consider that WW is in the middle of nowhere (even though the campus is so green and quiet... probably too much !), whereas Barcelona is a completely different (and better, IMHO) story

 

- WW lost two "monetarist" lecturers (Neil Rankin went to York, Martin Ellison to Oxford), so money area is not covered adequately, at the moment.

 

Btw many considered Neil Rankin the best lecturer in the MSc Economics: his lectures were really crowded, but they left him go anyway (the message is: they are completely not interested in what students think about teaching quality).

 

They are hiring other guys to fill the gap, but their names have not been disclosed yet

 

- WW has excellent structures (good library, a lot of PC clusters, etc.)

 

- in WW the expression "for free" doesn't exist. You have to pay even for the oxygen you breath, literally

 

- I read in other posts that UPF is currently stuck in the transition towards GSE, but somebody else will be able to give you more details

 

-some of my fellow classmates already have good job offers, even before the MSc is over. And I heard that, in general, British employers have a good opinion of Warwick alumni

 

I don't know if your offers are comparable from a financial point of view, and I don't know your interest, but as a bottom line I would say that if you intend to apply for a PhD in US, probably UPF is a better choice, whereas if you intend to work in UK Warwick should best fit this intention.

 

That's my 2p.

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Here are some facts:

 

- on average, teaching quality is not really good in WW. In micro courses is particularly bad, whereas in econometrics area is good. BTW, it's really difficult to teach in front of 100 students (this was the figure, this year)

 

- you said location is not an issue. Consider that WW is in the middle of nowhere (even though the campus is so green and quiet... probably too much !), whereas Barcelona is a completely different (and better, IMHO) story

 

- WW lost two "monetarist" lecturers (Neil Rankin went to York, Martin Ellison to Oxford), so money area is not covered adequately, at the moment.

 

Btw many considered Neil Rankin the best lecturer in the MSc Economics: his lectures were really crowded, but they left him go anyway (the message is: they are completely not interested in what students think about teaching quality).

 

They are hiring other guys to fill the gap, but their names have not been disclosed yet

 

- WW has excellent structures (good library, a lot of PC clusters, etc.)

 

- in WW the expression "for free" doesn't exist. You have to pay even for the oxygen you breath, literally

 

- I read in other posts that UPF is currently stuck in the transition towards GSE, but somebody else will be able to give you more details

 

-some of my fellow classmates already have good job offers, even before the MSc is over. And I heard that, in general, British employers have a good opinion of Warwick alumni

 

I don't know if your offers are comparable from a financial point of view, and I don't know your interest, but as a bottom line I would say that if you intend to apply for a PhD in US, probably UPF is a better choice, whereas if you intend to work in UK Warwick should best fit this intention.

 

That's my 2p.

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- in WW the expression "for free" doesn't exist. You have to pay even for the oxygen you breath, literally

Would you mind elaborating? I know Warwick U is supposedly "private" (i.e., privately slanted) and profit-driven, but how does it really affect you as a student...?

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@ italos: yep, but leaving it in September

 

@ tangsiuje: basically they find every possible way to make you pay for anything. You have to pay to review your written exams, whether you passed them or not. You have to pay if you ask to shift your accommodation on campus. you have to pay to buy a printing card (pay attention: a card WITHOUT credit; you'll have to pay more to buy some credit).

 

I heard from friends that their printing credit had been mysteriously lost for problems in the computer system (?) so that they had to wait a lot and ask a lot to have their credit back.

 

It seems they want to increase the number of students admitted to 2008/09 MSc Economics (this year there were 96 students) as to collect more money.

 

Basically, there's no lunch for free, that's perfectly clear, but I had the impression that in WW they are much more interested in what students pay rather than in what students learn...

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@amiscora: I don't find the fee to review an exam paper particularly unreasonable. You may want to think about the administrative costs of providing exam scripts for every student somewhat dissatisfied with their grades. Personally, I found all my exam papers were graded very fairly throughout my undergraduate career and never had reason to review any of my exam scripts.

 

It seems that Warwick has gone back from its fully electronic printing credit system since I left about one month ago. I know there is a photocopying card which you have to pay for without any photocopying credits on it, but this is the case for most universities. I think it's excellent from an environmental perspective: no one would be willing to hold onto those cards if they didn't have to pay for them.

 

I don't find the administrative fee for switching on-campus accommodation unreasonable: think about how much you would lose out if you're in the private sector....

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You have to pay for everything there even for an exam resit!

Check this http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/92404-warwick-msc-getting-into-top-us-phd-programme-2.html#post602444

 

where more or less I give my impression on their MSc.If you want me to state if I was going to to make the same choice again the answer is NO!

 

And what did you like on Rankin' s teaching? The fact that he is just teaching theory and avoiding further discussion?.For example he was teaching adoption of rules in conducting monetary policy using Woodford's book but when you were talking to him on the literature and on the estimation of these models(most of them are DSGE based models) by avoiding further discussion.Most of the times he was giving me the impression that he ignores the literature .You know what the question on the exam paper will be and you just have to memorise even without learning anything.On the econometrics part I can say that it is good just because it is better that the other courses which consists an illusionary comparison.Even in that course you know what will be the question and it is sufficient to learn by heart the handouts(I took econometrics B).I asked Mike Clements if they do mind if students learn by heart and explicitly he said that they do not care!

My general overview is that they do not teach you anything!You just pay for everything

 

To econmsc who asked the suggestion I have to say that it is better for him/her to go to UPF. I did the summer school last month at UPF/CREI (I will discuss my experience shortly in a new thread) and please do believe me I discovered better quality of teaching and better people.The fact that they get 25 students(I was told so and this year there will be just 25 students) per year respect to 100 of Warwick really tells a lot! Just the library structures are minor but it can be improved.And life.....nothing to compare with Warwick an UK(a great minus is that Spanish generally do not speak English so probably there will be some communication problems outside class but still it has nothing to do with you choice)!I do not know about the fees differences but life in Barcelona in much cheaper better and much better weather. I was having a full lunch of very good quality at the UPF's restaurant and I was paying approximately 4-5 euros per lunch while at Warwick you need more than 10 GDB per lunch(and food in the Warwick's restaurant's is awful with serious lack of ingenious regulations)

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Having said that my opinions just reflect my personal experience and taste, I would like to stress that they were only instrumental to give econmsc some info to base his/her choice on.

 

@ italos: the general opinion I reported about Neil Rankin's lectures is a matter of fact and needs not be my personal opinion, but just what I heard from most of my classmates.

 

@ tangsiuje: I'm sure it is possible to find a lot of sensible reasons to make people pay for anything; that's why guys who manage Universities are usually so clever: they have to find as many sensible reasons to make students pay (and be happy for that) as they can.

 

And that's why I think that the most sensible choice of all for a student would be not to go to WW, and perhaps go to a Uni which is managed by people who are slightly less clever... :)

 

My position on exam revision is that it has nothing to do with being satisfied or not about the marks received: students should have the chance to learn from the courses they attended, and exams (it doesn't matter whether candidates wrote something wrong or not) are just a part of those courses, not an extra service to be extra paid.

 

Therefore, as I see it, when a University claims a payment from students to allow exam revision, that Uni is simply cheating on students, as it shifts part of the fee from one moment in time (when students accept offers) to the future.

 

Of course Unis can advocate the opposite opinion, and they actually do, as you did... but again, you can advocate any opinion, with respect to the side of the wallet you are on...

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Hmm, i m from singapore, and from what i know of the 3 govt-funded unis in my country, 2 require a fee for revision of their papers.

 

for mine, generally the profs are quite open if u wanna see ur paper, provided u tell them that u r not out to haggle for marks :D

 

so for pedagogic purposes, i really dun see what is wrong with seeing the performance of exam papers..

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Hmm, i m from singapore, and from what i know of the 3 govt-funded unis in my country, 2 require a fee for revision of their papers.

 

for mine, generally the profs are quite open if u wanna see ur paper, provided u tell them that u r not out to haggle for marks :D

 

so for pedagogic purposes, i really dun see what is wrong with seeing the performance of exam papers..

What 'm', 'govt', 'unis', 'wanna', 'u', 'ur', 'r' and 'dun' stand for?

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My apologies, those were abbreviations.

 

It should read like this instead:

 

Hmm, i'm from singapore, and from what i know of the 3 government-funded universities in my country, 2 require a fee for revision of their papers.

 

for mine, generally the profs are quite open if you want to see your paper, provided you tell them that you are not out to haggle for marks http://www.www.urch.com/forums/../images/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

so for pedagogic purposes, i really don't see what is wrong with seeing the performance of exam papers..

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Originally Posted by amsicora

as a bottom line I would say that if you intend to apply for a PhD in US, probably UPF is a better choice, whereas if you intend to work in UK Warwick should best fit this intention.

 

I'd agree with that. Although crude I think it's an honest summary. I chose UPF-GSE over Warwick and UCL. I will go back to UK employment and am not currently considering a US PhD. :hmm: No regrets though, yet.

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My apologies, those were abbreviations.

 

It should read like this instead:

 

Hmm, i'm from singapore, and from what i know of the 3 government-funded universities in my country, 2 require a fee for revision of their papers.

 

for mine, generally the profs are quite open if you want to see your paper, provided you tell them that you are not out to haggle for marks http://www.www.urch.com/forums/../images/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

so for pedagogic purposes, i really don't see what is wrong with seeing the performance of exam papers..

 

 

Apologies accepted.It is one of the rules to write clear withou abbreviations

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btw, warwick chose the guys who will replace neil rankin and martin ellison. They are two guys from Cambridge and LSE, and got their phds few months ago.

 

their names can be found in the website of the dept. of economics...

 

Do you mean Gregory Crawford,Michael McMahon and Daniele Massacci?

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