ashasuresh

Hi, I have an admit from the 1 year master in economics from universidad carlos 3 madrid. I am unable to figure out if it leads to the 2nd year of the PhD program from the website. repeated emails to admissions, department director went unanswered. Is there anyone here who has done that masters or can tell me if and what is the route to the PhD program there? regards, XYZ

Is 33 too late to start a PhD? Does it seriously impact chances of a decent placement? Are there any people here who know of people starting PhD in their 30s?

In money terms, I am really trying to compare the salary of a partner at lets say mckinsey or a tenured prof at top 25 school( business school). I am more than willing to take the 5 years of stipend. Its a small sacrifice for life. What would an economist (tenured prof) make at lets say ( harvard and UCLA and USC) ..just want to get an idea! Is there money to be made by way of consulting? Lastly, do think tanks like RAND, Brookings, Institute of fiscal studies(UK), BIS, etc hire PhDs? I know IMF and world bank do.

Thank you everyone for your responses. I guess I should have been more precise with my question. Nevertheless, it sparked a nice conversation. My dilemma really is this: I am truly excited by academia. I love everything it has to offer but there are reasons which as I learn more about the realities of the field are now scaring me a bit. I am just going to put down my top 5 reasons for doing/not doing a phd in decreasing order of importance and may be people here can see whether they agree with me or not. Doing a PhD: 1) variety of problems to be solved in economics, an area I love. 2) extended holiday each year..I am assuming a college curriculum allows 2-3 months of leave spread over the year compared to a measly 2-3 weeks in the private sector. This gives me the option of working or not in the holidays giving me more control over my time. 3) write books and make good money from them. 4) meet extremely smart, intelligent people throughout who are also passionate about what you do. 5) stay on a campus and feel young right through old age. NOT do a PhD. 1) Even if one makes it to a top 20 school for PhD, the margin or error in terms of getting a good placement is so low that it is scary. Using an analogy, even if one topped undergrad, it isn't unreasonable to assume one may not land a great job in the private sector. The sheer paucity of even decent academic placements is baffling and really scary. Where is the safety net if one doesn't land a job? 2) Salaries very low compared to the private sector. I say low only because if you worked as hard in the private sector, one would earn a million dollars a year. 3) Post doc seems like a necessity for most people. Marriage, kids etc will have to be postponed quite a bit. 4) If academia is also highly politicised like the private sector, will I really get to speak my mind? Its going to be suffocating if I cannot despite having worked so hard. 5) A lot of Econ PhDs go to business schools to teach. If I had wanted to do business, I would have done an MBA instead. What the point then?

Hi, I am in the middle of a serious dilemma. I love economics and am excited about an academic life. However I am not sure and get tempted by the top dollars in the private sector. What are the top 5 reasons why one should do a Phd and top 5 reasons why one should not? I am hoping your responses will help me make an informed decision. cheers

Hi everyone, Just wondering how difficult is getting into the University College London MSc economics? Where is the MSc ranked within UK? LSE, cambridge and oxford are the best obviously but somehow everyone I know seems to choose warwick after that. Although UCL has a much better economics department. Whats the catch?