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UK degrees for US PhD admissions


oribaba

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Hello,

 

I am doing my undergrad in Econ from a good university in the UK. I am planning to do a Master's as well from the UK.

 

I am planning to do a PhD from the US - hopefully from a decent school, if not a top one.

 

How do the US PhD programs view applicants from the UK? Are the UK students naturally at a disadvantage?

 

Thanks

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Not necessarily. Depends on how you do in your program, who you get to write for you, and most importantly, what they write about you.

 

That said, given the focus on mathematics in economics today, most schools tend to prefer students who have more preparation in terms of math courses. This can sometimes translate to a slight, unstated bias against 1-year Master's programs as compared to 2-year programs. Given that 1-year programs are more common in the UK, this might be perceived as a disadvantage.

 

However, note the qualifying assumptions and conditions I used in the previous argument make it a very minor issue. You should do just fine after a Master's from the UK.

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^ To add to that; what I have learned recently is that you should focus more on previous placements out of the program, and the connections your profs have--rather than academic rigor for instance. If the adcoms know that students form your program have been successful in previous cohorts, they are more likely to admit you. This seems to be the case for UK MSc grads, even though they often lack the formal real analysis courses etc.
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  • 2 months later...

Thanks for your replies earlier. I'm back with a more specific question:

 

I have been admitted to M.Sc. in Economics from Warwick (1-year). I perhaps have a chance to switch to M.Res. in Economics (2-years).

 

1. How is Warwick economics perceived when it comes to Ph.D. admissions in the USA?

2. I can defer the Warwick admission and perhaps try to do a Master's from a U.S. university next year. How would that place me versus just going ahead with Warwick?

3. Should I switch to M.Res? It is designed as s pathway to Warwick Ph.D., which will take a further 3 years. Will a switch to M.Res. improve my chances of getting into a good U.S. Ph.D program?

 

Thanks in advance for your pointers.

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In my experience (having gone to Warwick and then applied to the US), many top US universities either don't understand the UK marking system or substantially (and unjustifiably) downweight degrees received at UK universities - for example, they don't realise that 70% is an exceptionally good mark to receive from a UK university.
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@Rohanps,

 

That seems directly relevant to me. Would you mind giving a bit more color your undergrad and the masters? Do you think the US universities recognize Warwick as one of the top UK economics programs? What do they think about Warwick economics masters as a preparation for PhD (apart from the grading issue you mentioned)? What else could one do to convince the US universities? Would you mind sharing some more of your experience?

 

Thanks

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