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Barcelona BGSE or Tilburg


nak

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Hello! I am really confused about my admissions so if anyone could give some advice I would appreciate it. I have been accepted to Barcelona GSE MSc in Economics (full tuition) and also Msc in Economics in Tilburg. I am in interested in Microeconomics and Industrial Organization and I would like to continue for a phd after my master degree. So, even though I was very glad about the acceptance in Barcelona GSE I am considering four things:

 

1) the 12,000 euros seem a lot. Is BGSE so good to deserve it or is it pretty much the same as Tilburg so it won't make any difference?

 

2) I've read that BGSE is good in Macroeconomics which is not my field of interest and Tilburg seems to be better in Microeconomics. On the other hand BGSE has a very good reputation and place a lot of its students to good phd programs.

 

3) I have only a few days before give an answer to BGSE. I am waiting a reply from Amsterdam, York, Edinburgh and Louvain (Master in Economis in all of them). Do you consider one of those would it be better? I am not sure if it is better to wait or accept the offer in so little time. without having news from the other master programs.

 

4) If I go to BGSE do I need to proceed to a MPhil/MRes before a Phd as it is an only-1year program? This part really confuses me and I don't understand if I must continue to another 2-year program or I could be accepted to a phd program right after or I must do something for a year (research?). If the first happens maybe a two-year program like Master in Economics with focus in Research in Louvain seems better as I save one year (time really matters for me).

 

I would be grateful If you could give me some answers to any of my questions! Thank you in advance fellow economists! :)

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I'm bit confused here. Are you in research (2 years) or normal master (1 year) at Tilburg? In my opinion there is a big difference especially if you want to do a PhD.

 

You may apply to PhD during one year master but you will be assessed based mainly on your undergraduate performance.

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Just to clarify... You're aiming for european PhDs, right? I infer this from the fact that you seem to want to move directly to the research phase after this masters. If this is the case, I would suggest you choose an MRes, as this is commonly the first two years or so of european PhDs (correct me if I'm wrong). I would say BGSE's MSc Econ is better as preparation towards an american style 5-year PhD, though this is just my opinion.
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Marmot it's an MSc (1 year) in Tilburg. If I go to Tilburg I will definitely need to do another 2 years for MRes but so is for BGSE apparently.. So that is why I am asking if one of the two has a better reputation especially in Industrial Organization.

 

Yes, that makes sense (about the PhD after one year master based on undergraduate performance). You are right it would be difficult to consider my performance on the master degree since I would have barely done the first exam period before applying.

 

Ecoetz yes a european PhD. From your answer I think I got the answer I needed for one of my questions.

 

Thank you both for your answers!

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Ecoetz yes a european PhD. From your answer I think I got the answer I needed for one of my questions.

 

nak, this is just my impression of these programs in particular as a route towards a PhD based on my own experience and what I know about american vs european PhDs. I only applied to american PhDs myself without doing a masters first, so don't make any decisions based just on my impressions, lol! I just get the feeling that BGSE's MSc Econ (which I know a bit more about than Tilburg's) is not intended to be, on its own, the coursework part of a european PhD. Again, this is only my intuition.

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I was in a similar situation as you - accepted MRes Tilburg (partially funded), at CEMFI (fully funded) and MSc BGSE(full waiver + yet unknown scholarship), all economics. I have been wondering a long time about those and I eventually turned Tilburg down. Today I emailed Antonio Ciccone from BGSE about some further details and here is what he replied about a prospective second year of studies in BGSE:

While the MAS program will be discontinued, there is now a 1-year Master of Research program that allows students to follow all PhD courses (which was not the case with the MAS) and has a lower tuition fee than the MAS.

 

Funding of the second year is based on the performance in the MSc Economics. In a typical year, 12-15 students get funded in form of a teaching or research assistantship.

I also asked him whether one can leave after the first year of PhD towards some other program:

Yes, there is always a group of students that take this course and this is absolutely fine from our program's point of view.

Student that come to the BGSE/UPF with the goal of doing a PhD elsewhere usually do that with a goal of eventually entering the top PhD programs in the US. Most students going to the UK from the BGSE/UPF go there because they are not admitted to the UPF PhD (there has been at least one exception as far as I know, a student who left for the LSE).

 

I hope that gives you some clue, but indeed I think a MSc in Tilburg does not provide any bright chances of a future top US PhD.

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