Kekonomist Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 I have been accepted to MSc in Economics programmes at Warwick, Barcelona GSE and QEM erasmus mundus (one semester in bielefeld university and 3 semesters in Sorbonne). I have also waitlisted by APE programme at Paris School of Economics and I'm waiting for results from Bonn Graduate School of Economics. I would like to pursue a PhD in economics at a top 20 economics department probably in the US and my main academic interests are microeconomics (mainly decision theory, industrial organisation and game theory) and labour economics. Can you please rank the schools that I mentioned above ( Warwick, Barcelona GSE, QEM, PSE and Bonn) considering my interests and goals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 Hi Kekonomist, Congratulations on your acceptances! I'm sorry I don't have any useful advice for you (I'm also in the application/decision making process) but wanted to post since I'm having a similar choice of schools: Warwick/BGSE and also waitlisted at PSE (but for PPD). I'm not sure if this would factor into your decision, but I just got an email by Warwick responding to my request for RA roles and apparently once we enrol we can apply for one of the following jobs: (1) Admistrative Assistant (2) Research: Data Work (3) Research: Analytical Work or (4) Teaching Administration. Best of luck and crossing fingers we get off the PSE waitlist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDQuanta Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 I would vote for Barcelona GSE. However, I feel these programs are on par. Instead of their ranking, I encourage you to look for program with: 1. Financial aid 2. Faculties in your field of interest (potential LOR writers) You will spend couple years with it, so these are things to focus more than the ranking. If they are on par again, choose it based on your other preferences such as location, cost of living, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rohanps Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 DDQuanta has it spot on. For your interests, either BGSE or PSE are probably best (although I understand that BGSE might be a very marginally better route for a PhD in the US, but that is only a tiny difference there). Both are excellent places to stay, although if it's any relevance, the cost of living in Barcelona is much cheaper than it is in Paris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kekonomist Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 Hi Kekonomist, Congratulations on your acceptances! I'm sorry I don't have any useful advice for you (I'm also in the application/decision making process) but wanted to post since I'm having a similar choice of schools: Warwick/BGSE and also waitlisted at PSE (but for PPD). I'm not sure if this would factor into your decision, but I just got an email by Warwick responding to my request for RA roles and apparently once we enrol we can apply for one of the following jobs: (1) Admistrative Assistant (2) Research: Data Work (3) Research: Analytical Work or (4) Teaching Administration. Best of luck and crossing fingers we get off the PSE waitlist! Thank you for your reply cookiemonster! First of all, congratulations for your acceptances, too! Have you been also accepted in MSc Economics programme? I didn't know that MSc students in the UK can do a research or teaching job. I am going to send an e-mail as well. Thanks for sharing about Warwick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kekonomist Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 I would vote for Barcelona GSE. However, I feel these programs are on par. Instead of their ranking, I encourage you to look for program with: 1. Financial aid 2. Faculties in your field of interest (potential LOR writers) You will spend couple years with it, so these are things to focus more than the ranking. If they are on par again, choose it based on your other preferences such as location, cost of living, etc. I also think that the quality of these programmes are pretty similar, so a choice based of financial aid and field of interest make sense. In the UK, it is almost impossible to get financial aid if you are not from a commonwealth country. Also, tuition fee of most of the schools is pretty expensive for non-EU students. PSE and Bonn are almost for free. However, curently I have no appectence from these two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kekonomist Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 DDQuanta has it spot on. For your interests, either BGSE or PSE are probably best (although I understand that BGSE might be a very marginally better route for a PhD in the US, but that is only a tiny difference there). Both are excellent places to stay, although if it's any relevance, the cost of living in Barcelona is much cheaper than it is in Paris. Thanks for your reply. I also think that BGSE and PSE are a little bit better than the other three. Although cost of living in Barcelona pretty less than that in Paris, BGSE's tuition fee is €16.000 and PSE requires only €500 as tuition fee. BGSE's programme is for 9 months, but PSE's programme is for 2 years. Consequently, the total cost of both programmes is almost same for me. I am going to lose 1 year if I choose PSE over BGSE, but probably I will be more ready for PhD thanks to the extra 1 year in Paris. I am really indifferent between these two programmes and need help to choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
economist94 Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Considering that the cost is similar then your choice depends on your research interests. If you like macro then BGSE hands down. If not, go for PSE. However, an important fact is that PSE is a two-year program, which means that you will get to know your professors much better than BGSE and thus you may take stronger letters of recommendation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kekonomist Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 Considering that the cost is similar then your choice depends on your research interests. If you like macro then BGSE hands down. If not, go for PSE. However, an important fact is that PSE is a two-year program, which means that you will get to know your professors much better than BGSE and thus you may take stronger letters of recommendation My current interest is micro, so PSE sounds better. According to repec top instutitions list PSE is better than BGSE in micro and worse than it in macro, which supports your recommendation. Thanks for your help! Probably, I am going to choose PSE over BGSE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kekonomist Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 Considering that the cost is similar then your choice depends on your research interests. If you like macro then BGSE hands down. If not, go for PSE. However, an important fact is that PSE is a two-year program, which means that you will get to know your professors much better than BGSE and thus you may take stronger letters of recommendation My current interest is micro, so PSE sounds better. According to repec top instutitions list PSE is better than BGSE in micro and worse than it in macro, which supports your recommendation. Thanks for your help! Probably, I am going to choose PSE over BGSE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiemonster Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Hi Kekonomist! Yes, MS Econ. I've been working closely with the Warwick student support coordinator for my region (North America) to find external financial support or RA work. She was the one who contacted the Econ department and let me know about the above opportunities. They're really nice and a big help, so if you can find the student support coordinator for your region, they'll advocate for you and update you when rounds of scholarships relevant to your situation come out! Also, I was wondering if you've had any update regarding the waitlist at PSE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kekonomist Posted April 28, 2017 Author Share Posted April 28, 2017 Hi Kekonomist! Yes, MS Econ. I've been working closely with the Warwick student support coordinator for my region (North America) to find external financial support or RA work. She was the one who contacted the Econ department and let me know about the above opportunities. They're really nice and a big help, so if you can find the student support coordinator for your region, they'll advocate for you and update you when rounds of scholarships relevant to your situation come out! Also, I was wondering if you've had any update regarding the waitlist at PSE? 3 days ago, Warwick's student coordinator of my region also contacted me. I think I am going to request information about external scholarships as well. They seem to me quite helpful, too. No update from PSE yet. I think they even can accept off the waitlist in June. I seached PSE on thegradcafe and found that there were many applicants who was accepted off the waitlist, which is encouraging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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