Thoughts on the New School for Social Research (Economics MA/MS)?

[iwannaask]

I am on a bit on unorthodox path. Currently I work in fire/ems having graduated in 2016 with double major in biology and economics (good grades, T50 undergrad program). I am applying to medical school, but the soonest I can attend is the 2020 fall semester, so on a whim last winter I took the GRE to see if I could apply for a masters program in economics. The reason for this is that I hope to work in emergency medicine to help develop and improve upon rural pre-hospital care systems throughout North and South America. I would love to tailor my masters degree towards international developmental economics, similar to my undergrad.
I am in a spot where I am following my girlfriend to law school, and we are more than likely ending up in NYC. I am pending an NYU decision on my masters app (though it seems unlikely given that most acceptances seem to have gone out), but I have received a NSSR acceptance to their masters program with a very generous scholarship. I had two professors who received their PhDs from there, so I am somewhat familiar with the school's teachings, however, I am unfamiliar with how the school is viewed in academia. I have checked online, but other than a few old forums with charged opinions 7+ years ago, I can't find any thoughts or inputs on attaining a masters from this program. What is the New School's reputation?

[zshfryoh1]

For what you want to do an MPH or an MBA concentrating in healthcare management or perhaps an MPA in development would all be more useful than an MA in econ from any school. An MA in econ is usually an industry oriented MA in economic/econometric analysis. This might be useful if you want to use your MA together with your MD for research work in global health, but not for the more practical development and management stuff you describe yourself as being interested in. If you look at the econ forum we nearly always advise people interested in the practical side of development to go an MPA program over an econ program (whether MA or PhD).

A lot of med schools have a joint MD/MPH or MD/MBA program and you might want to look at those, though if you are not applying to med schools just yet this might not be practical for you. The NYU MPH in Global health would have been right up your alley but unfortunately, the deadline for fall matriculation has passed. There may be other programs in the NY area whose deadlines have not yet passed. CUNY SPH, Columbia SPH and Rutgers SPH all have very good MPH programs. Mt Sinai, NYMC and SUNY Downstate all have pretty good MPH programs. I don't know of any other decent ones in the NY metro area (Stony Brook is a bit far).

Most of the posts knocking the New School (a number of which were by me) were knocking the PhD program or using their MA as a stepping stone to an econ PhD. For that path the program is not good. For what you want, to use the MA as a terminal degree playing a secondary role to your primary terminal degree (MD) it would be fine, especially if you are partially funded, though as I mentioned above, I am not sure an MA econ is the best degree for what you want to do.

[iwannaask]

Thanks for the response. I actually have applied to, and been accepted into, NYU's Global Health MPH program for this fall, as that was alternate route I was considering. Deadline to accept or enroll is April 18th for me. I have (so far) decided on a masters in economics as it would present me as a more unique candidate for medical schools. I came to this conclusion after speaking several physicians on admission committees. They informed me they would take a second glance at someone with an average (for them) MCAT score and a masters in a subject that is not directly related to Medicine, as nearly half of their applicants have MPHs. At the end of the day, what will matter most is my MCAT and GPA, and I feel as long as I do well with my masters program, that will benefit my GPA.

At the end of the day, I am not fully committed to a PhD in economics, which is why I want to pursue a masters. . If I do not do well on my entry exam for med school, a masters in economics is still useful for either a PhD or a JD. I do want to stress, I feel equally torn between all three fields (medicine, law, economics), but given my recent work in EMS I want to see if I am cut out for medicine. I am very fortunate that I have been given a large scholarship from the NSSR, so the degree is actually less expensive than if I went to an in-state program. The one thing I am concerned about is getting into a PhD program outside the heterodox community if I complete a masters at the NSSR.