phdenthusiast Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wahasky Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 They are similarly ranked; it's possible someone on here will be able to give specific insight on programs but it's a pretty personal decision. Decide which lines up better with your research interests, has better placement, and is somewhere you'd like to live. Talk to professors and current graduate students to learn more and see how they like the program. If you ask professors at each program (as part of a larger conversation) what they think about your choice they will likely give you honest feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yitz15 Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 I agree with Wahasky! One other thing to think about is location - do you have a preference for Riverside over Missouri? Having things to do around you can make grad school much more enjoyable and imo my preference would be Riverside over Columbia, MO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phdenthusiast Posted April 2, 2021 Author Share Posted April 2, 2021 Thank you! I actually don't have a preference and they were equally good in my list! So just thinking about all the factors right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wahasky Posted April 3, 2021 Share Posted April 3, 2021 Thank you! I actually don't have a preference and they were equally good in my list! So just thinking about all the factors right now You can learn a ton by talking with current grad students, who in my experience will be quite honest. Ask them how happy they are with the program, how supported they feel, what their interactions with faculty are like. If research fit and locational fit are equal, conversations with current students and some faculty you'd be interested in working with are probably the best way to decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songbirdaoe Posted April 5, 2021 Share Posted April 5, 2021 I would pick UCR over Missouri. I am a recent grad of similarly ranked school and had the luxury of meeting some of their students during a conference, I was surprised that they actually seem to have a good deal of support. A batch of them were taking classes at some of the other UC's, because UC had a mechanism to do this and they have a relatively strong placements for their program. They also tend to be stronger in applied fields than Missouri has, and their placement record is better in macro (Missouri's strongest area). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdl7851 Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 I am currently a 1st year at Mizzou. This is the first year with a new PhD program director and he seems to be reforming various aspects of the program (the biggest ones were removing a professor from the micro sequence and putting everyone in my cohort on fellowship). The funding is pretty good, and if you pass quals on the first round the fellowship will continue into the summer (and it seems that we will be on fellowship until we start teaching in our 3rd or 4th year - I believe 4th). The program is definitely focussed on macro. The macro courses are taught in quarters by 4 different macro faculty. I know that quite a few professors (especially macro and econometrics) routinely coauthor papers with students. One professor I am considering working with has coauthored 2 papers with (different) students that were published in Journal of Econometrics (in 2019 and 2021). One thing to note is that because they are somewhat low on faculty, the program currently offer Macroeconomics, Econometrics, and Quantitative Microeconomic Policy Analysis. They used to offer others, but do not currently have enough faculty to teach the other fields (though they did teach a Public Econ sequence this year and said they may teach it again in 22/23 school year). Again, macro and econometric are their thing here. For what it's worth, the two macro professors we have had this semester have both served on the Council of Economic Advisers and are research fellows with the St. Louis Fed. One has done a lot of work with developing policies, and the other has a strong publication record for macro (at least according to RePEc). He is ranked higher for macro than any of the professors at WUSTL (I simply used that as a measure since I am from Missouri and because WUSTL was the highest ranked school I applied to). But again, if you are not interested in macro or econometrics, then you may want to consider Riverside (although I know nothing of that program specifically). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phdenthusiast Posted April 9, 2021 Author Share Posted April 9, 2021 Thank you for all your answers. This really helps. The current first year student at Mizzou: Would you mind getting on a zoom call with me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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