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jrdonsimoni

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Everything posted by jrdonsimoni

  1. While I agree with most of those points, I definitely never experienced #6 above, nor did I see it among the classes I taught there. If anything we were all working together to succeed. We all shared material, we all continually discussed solutions and coursework, and we all helped each other. I know my cohort was a while back today (2014 start, but I never expected things to change like that.
  2. I second Tutonic's assessment. The MSc programmes will be pretty brutal, but they will be necessary for you to showcase your ability to do a PhD. Now, this is taking into consideration your aspiration of one day joining the likes of the IMF (which, by the way, is insanely competitive). If that is the case, I would start now to think about how to best prepare yourself to specialise in monetary economics, international economics, and international finance. If you plan to target the World Bank, then you will want development, health, and/or labour economics (with a strong empirical component). IMF you will also want a strong empirical component to your work, and showcase that you know the theory well too. Check on the IMF EP recruitment webpage, they often indicate which departments in Europe they visit to hold interviews. Some of my friends went for those in Frankfurt, and basically if you are successful there, the next stage will be the (final round) panel interview in Washington (although this may be done remotely nowadays). The reason I say this is because it is very difficult to course correct half way through a PhD if you are doing Game theory or contract theory and suddenly realise you want to do development work. There are also other ways to join the IMF at times. One guy from Frankfurt joined after being at the Bundesbank, basically on a secondment. So, this kind of path is also possible, but not ultra common or reliable. Joining the World Bank might be a tad easier if you are willing not to work in Washington and instead join a regional office. Still tough, but possible. Regarding your more immediate concerns. The Maths courses aren't bad, but the econ courses are not the best. If you can get a strong performance in your MSc, it will compensate somewhat. Actually, in that case Cambridge might be useful. If this is what I think it is, then it is exactly for you. These Diplomas in the UK exist to bridge the gap for non-econ majors to later do an econ MSc. It's basically a lot of Year 2 and Year 3 classes packed into a single year. If you do well there, then you are set for doing an MSc. I would recommend that option if it is not too expensive, because it will be the least brutal in terms of expectations and it will leave you room to get better over that year to be able to get into your best possible shape for an MSc, which will lead to a better performance in a PhD programme later. FYI, there are also plenty of universities that still do standard PhD programmes with no structure coursework, where you just do research for 3-6 years. Notably in France, Germany, and the UK. Can't speak for the rest. So again, my recommendation is Cambridge if you can afford it (I have no idea what the costs are, and also the UK is expensive, and visas aren't cheap), and otherwise Bocconi or BGSE. But these two would be tough, straight out of a non-econ bachelor with ok grades. FYI, in the UK, plenty of universities offer this Diploma that bridges non-econ bachelors and econ msc. It's often not super well advertised, but plenty do it, not just Cambridge.
  3. I frankly dont remember, it was over 5 years ago that I applied. It was a specific research project with Prof. Wakker, that's all I recall. In his email he only mentioned te "department", so nothing about the Tinbergen Institue. I cant say one way or the other.
  4. The MSQ in econ from frankfurt is tough though, fair warning. But rockystone2018 is not wrong that for Macro work, you'll probably be very well served by Frankfurt. Although the current main DSGE guy left for Paris. But plenty of other people are active in research and do place students pretty well eventually. Also, SAFE is rumoured to be getting more funding, so you may actually not struggle too much to find an RA job, unlike previous cohorts.
  5. Hi there, Well, actually there is a Professor in Darmstadt (one of the three partner universities in the GSEFM, the structured programme in Frankfurt) who speciliases in Economic History, his name is Caspari. His class also gets a fair bit of guest lecturer from good universities (Friedman from Harvard in 2015, and James from Princeton this year). As for development and applied micro, there are professors working on this both in Frankfurt and Mainz (the third partner university in the GSEFM). The placement record, to be honest, varies enormously. Some (few) students place extremely well, as their webdiste likes to boast, but the vast majority places average, or even goes to the private sector (not that I am denigrating the private sector, but just to say not everyone goes to the IMF or Harvard). It is definitely not common place in Frankfurt to go for the MSQ and then apply for a different PhD and since I have never heard of anyone doing it, I can't tell you how professors will react. Although I am fairly sure Professor Binder (the head and founder of the GSEFM) will not be happy and probably should not be your go-to for an LOR later on. I think Barcelona's master is more accustomed to that, but as you say it is only 1 year, meaning you kinda have a year in between where you re not in the programme, but you re not in a PhD either. Since Frankfurt's master will probably never have been heard of in North America, you ll probably need to get a 1.0 to 1.3 for it (thats the top 2 possible grades in Germany), which is very difficult, although achievable if you work very very hard at it. On the plus side, if you re not interested in the PhD in Frankfurt, then you dont have to care about prelims, and need only focus on the midterms and finals for each semester. Which means you would actually have holidays in August/September, unlike the rest of your cohort :) Again, however, I dont know how professors will react to someone wanting just the Master and wishing to pursue a PhD elsewhere, since this is most definitely not the norm.
  6. Well the thing with Europe is that obviously you have a lot of different countries meaning answers to your questions will differ country to country. I mean the question about funding may even change university to university in the same country. Do you have any specific programmes, universities or countries you are eyeing?
  7. Just a quick note on Frankfurt, getting funding is more of a pain than anything, lots and lots of people from my cohort (2014) are still looking for jobs, though a fair few have found jobs as TA/RA, but even then most of them got those jobs in the past couple of months :/ Just a fair warning.
  8. Well, this is tough to say, I mean Oxford and LSE are much more traditional, from a UK perspective, in that they'll really need to see a 'Distinction' to consider admission. Like I said though, Glasgow is a good university, absolutely, and you're doing an MRes, so maybe that could help too, although the programme is quite new. No harm in trying I suppose. As for whether Zurich is easier I really would not think so, when I was talking with the guy from there, he did mention that most of the applications they got were very very similar in terms of profiles and research interests, and that it made it very hard to distinguish between people. The basics are the same as everywhere: make sure to have a high GRE (which you already got, so no problem there), have as strong a letter as possible from hopefully someone who's well published (as reluctant as he was, he did mention honestly that an average letter from someone well-known may get you further than a stellar letter from someone whose research output is completely unknown), and if you can show your capacity for research, then all the better. Again it'll be tough, and they do receive more applications than they can process efficiently, so just make sure you don't end up on the "automatic reject" pile. And for Oxford, true, those two are there I suppose, but it's been a while since I read anything by Crawford or Armstrong. Crawford seems to be writing mostly JEL and JEP articles, so that's not super interesting, and Armstrong just has very different research interests from mine :) however I did just check, and it appears they are both affiliated with All Souls college. Now I don't know if you're aware of this, but All Souls is the most selective and exclusive college at Oxford, now you don't have to be affiliated with it to be supervised by them, but if you try to, it'll be one hell of an uphill battle. From memory they were the most difficult college to get accepted in by leagues. As a general advice, you'll likely be better off somewhere with a strong department in the field you're interested in, than somewhere with only 1 or 2 people, however strong. That's why I'd think Zurich should be better than either Oxford or LSE in that respect, or even EUR. I mean if you can get in and get supervised by those guys, then that's amazing! But it'll be very hard. Good luck to you, and do try to apply to as many programmes as you think are interesting, it's always good to have options, and you never know which ones will accept or reject you in advance. Make sure your LORs are as good as can be and from people with the best possible research output if you can, obviously them knowing you is a necessity, but out of that pool of people, your 2nd or 3rd letter could come from the most well-known or productive of them.
  9. I honestly dont anyone who has done that, most people just end up staying in for the PhD at the same university :/ And those programmes that have close ties between their MSc and PhD, like Frankfurt or Mannheim, aren't very keen on students doing that. Now, of course you can do whatever you want, and theres no obligation to stay, but they obviously be very disappointed. In general most peeps choose to stay, also since most guys are german anyhow
  10. Unless you get a distinction from Glasgow, which is a good uni, but still not in the top tiers, you'll struggle a lot to get into Oxford or the LSE (and by struggle, I mean you won't). As for Zurich, they receive over 400 applications every year (was talking to a guy who is on the committee last week), and a fair share of that is for behavioural/experimental. I didn't ask him how many they accepted though (we were talking about research at the time and just digressed). BUT he did mention that all, and I do mean all, students accepted got funding, so that's a plus. Apparently they ve been very successful at courting donors over the past few years. Stockholm is a great school, although I think of them as game theorists more than behavioural/experimental guys, and I know nothing of NHH. Other possibilities are: Konstanz in germany, their focus is mostly experimental though, and they also have a decent macro department apparently. Otherwise, Bonn or Koln would be a great place too for behavioural, with Bonn being SUPER micro-oriented, but generally speaking it is probably the best in Germany as seen by Germans. In Mainz we have only 2 professors doing behavioural stuff: my own supervisor, mostly on the theory side, while Prof. Schunk is more of a classical behavioural economist, working regularly with Ernst Fehr and people in Zurich. In the UK, you have UEA, Nottingham and WBS which should be your obvious top choices for behavioural. Outside of that, Trento in Italy gets good funding for its experimental department, and they are very good at what they do. As for the big names you mentioned earlier, doing behavioural or experimental at Oxford or LSE sounds.... trying to say the least. This is not their specialty at all, and while they ll find you a supervisor, you d be going there for brand name more than research match. Dont apply somewhere you you're going to be mistmatched for your supervisor. That just sounds like a recipe for a sad 4-5yrs. Lastly, I can recommend Erasmus University Rotterdam for behavioural, Prof. Wakker is there and is really really good as you must already know. I'm sure your profile could be of interest there, they usually advertise specific research projects they have, which makes it easier to find a topic. Good luck to you! As a full disclaimer, I did my MSc at Nottingham and am doing my PhD at Mainz, which I both mentioned above, and got accepted at EUR. The rest I was either rejected or never applied there :) good luck!!
  11. Zurich is also very selective, so unless you get a glowing LOR from Gächter or Starmer, or potentially Cubitt or Renner, I dont think so. It wont cost you much to apply though so why not, but I wouldnt keep my hopes up. UEA is pretty good, definitely a solid choice in behavioural/experimental. Im not super familiar with Norwich as a city though, so cant comment on that aspect, but the uni is definitely one of the better ones, especially in our field. PhD students in Germany are usually hired as TA/RAs at, what are called, 50% positions. These are called like that because they are paid at "50% of a full post-doc". The actual amount varies a bit state to state, but it's in the €1.6k range, gross. There are some 75% and also 25% positions and these are then paid accordingly. Inomics is your best resource for those, they'll advertise when something is available in Germany, usually pretty quickly. Also: the traditional phd way in Germany is like in the UK: so just pure research while you usually teach some classes. There are some more structured programmes, Frankfurt, Bielefeld, Mannheim, etc. If you want to have a more solid foundation in theory and economics, I'd definitely advise you to go for those. However, be warned that you genuinely cannot manage a job while studying for the first year exams. These are usually BRUTAL. So unless you have a scholarship, it'd be tough. On the plus side: tuition doesnt cost much in germany, just some admin fees and thats it. BGSE = Pompeu Fabra's + U Autonoma's econ departments together. It's just that they decided to pool resources together to better attract graduate students. Both are very very good universities, if I recall one is more theoretical macro and the other more empirical (cant remember which is which though). Generally I'd advise to look at positions that are already offered, so for Professors who are actively seeking people. It will make it easier to find something to say since they'll often ask you pointed questions if they're interested and ask you for stuff like maybe a brief research proposal. It will vary a lot from Professor to Professor. Good luck mate!
  12. I also got my MSc in Behavioural Econ from Notts, and I had a mid to high Merit. LSE, Oxbridge and UCL are 100% out of the question Im afraid. Warwick too. UEA as you know now has NIBS set up with Notts and Warwick Business School, so maybe you could try out with these ones, ask Prof. Starmer, he s the guy responsible for it I think. EUR could be a possibility, but it is also quite competitive, maybe look for specific research projects. Otherwise Konstanz in Germany would be another interesting pick, though they specifically focus on Experimental economics, more than theoretical behavioural economics. So if you fall on the experimental/empirical side of this, you'd be fine there too. Köln (or Cologne) could also be a viable choice, though they dont do as much behavioural as Konstanz. Here in Mainz we have a couple of professors who work in that field, one from a theoretical side, the other more from an empirical and more traditional side, with a kink of public policy. But why not just stay at Nottingham? It is a very good university for behavioural and experimental. And the campus is great and the city too :) Lastly, Trento in Northern Italy also has a very good experimental department, and like all experimental departments, they do a little behavioural too :)
  13. I honestly never met anyone from Essex, or who would have chosen Essex over any of the universities you mentioned. Queen Mary is quite good definitely, and Bristol would be up there with Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh or York for me. Nottingham is also quite good at time series econometrics and development economics (this last one I take on faith fro my friends who knew better). As for the share of people choosing to do a PhD, its a personal choice you know, most people want to just work as soon as possible I reckon. Bologna's placement seems pretty good to be honest, and Ive also heard that from other people on this forum and in my current programme, and Italy is a beautiful country too. However if you want to go to Italy, you can also look into Trento and Rome which have really good universities too. And obviously EUI in Florence (although I think they just do PhDs... not sure about that). Given the programmes you listed above I'd probably pick between Queen Mary and Southampton (because Econ and Econometrics sounds good on your application), but this is only what I would do, so dont take it to mean the others are bad, this would be my personal choices, given the set you gave. You have to accept that people interested in a doctorate are a minority (by definition), but MRes programmes should do a pretty good job at prepping you for one.
  14. Well, for Nottingham if you're looking at placements from MSc students into PhD programmes, the truth is that few choose to do that (in my year [2013] we were about 6-8 I think, out of 137), and most guys chose to stay in Nottingham because they were there for Behavioural/Experimental economics in the first place, and it s a very good uni for those fields. To place in Europe, excluding the UK, then quite frankly it won't matter too much whether you come from Bristol, Notts, Essex or Southampton. Most people outside of the UK either won't know where those cities are or how good the universities are, unless they are known in a given field (e.g. Notts being known in Behavioural/Experimental, Manchester in econometrics, etc.). I did get accepted at Goethe university, and EUR, and a friend of mine was accepted at Mannheim, but thats all I know for placements outside of the UK. So as far as choosing a place is concerned, I'd push for Nottingham (I did my MSc there), it's a very friendly city/campus and I really liked the faculty and made some really great friends too (which perhaps has influenced my opinion of the whole thing too :) ). Southampton is a very nice harbour city, and it s a pretty good uni in the UK, although for economics I would place them behind Notts. Essex I dont know much about it (all I know is I dont like the region, but thats got nothing to do with the uni so.. your call). And Bristol is a nice city, a pretty good uni once again, but behind Notts in econ, definitely, although not by a huge margin if Im being honest. Bologna, I dont know anything about it, just that Ive heard very positive feedback from people here (on the forum) and friends who studied in Italy, but thats all really.
  15. For industry placements, Warwick is also very good, it's one of those names every potential employer will know in the UK, however this doesnt mean that Bristol isnt, it is also quite a good uni, but it does not have the same reputation as Warcks. However, coming out of Bristol shouldnt put you at too much of a disadvantage at all, it is a good uni, and a solid econ department, though nothing too fancy either. Practically speaking, Warcks would give you an edge, even for non-academic placements, but like I said, Bristol will still allow you to apply for the better jobs out there without being immediately disregarded.
  16. Oh ok my bad, only speed-read through your prep, my bad! so you got full calc + lin algebra then? What does full calc. entail exactly? Im asking because most of the time in Europe econ programmes do some maths, but it s rarely so well-defined and well-divided like Calc 1, Calc 2, etc. However in general with a solid calculus preparation and linear algebra you should be good for most macro/metrics oriented programmes. Micro-based ones might be keen on seeing some topology or previous proof-based micro courses.
  17. Im pretty sure LSE won't be looking too favourably on a light mathematical preparation, dont really know about the others.
  18. Firstly, well done, those are all good unis in the UK. Now I'd have to say that obviously Warwick is the better one, and then Manchester. I don't know Bristol's MRes, only its MSc programme, which I know to be decent. Manchester is particularly good at econometrics, macro too I believe. Warwick is there in micro, econometrics and macro not so much. They also have a decent behavioural econ group there, though those guys are at the business school mostly. Edinburgh is a beautiful city, but not sure I would pick it for an MSc over your current 3 admits. SSE is obviously an excellent choice, particularly good at micro (and game theory especially). Outside Europe, I'll let others comment :) Again congrats on your admits and good luck for the future.
  19. Not that I remember, hell I work at a Chair now and I dont speak German. If you can convey the strong intention of learning German I m sure it helps, but that doesnt mean you have to go through with said intention (I know I havent).
  20. Thats pretty much it, I dont remember how cointegration applied, but when I did I had to choose an institute, and then undergo a short interview/review process. However I decided not to pursue them afterwards, so I'm not sure how the final stages of the application are (given I focused on other unis later on). Im replying here because Im not sure cointegration still comes here, I know the guy from our Masters, and Im pretty sure he s 100% focused on his phd these days :)
  21. personally I like the introductory textbook by Joel Watson, not bad at all
  22. Short answer is Yes. Masters in the UK are 1-year long (9 months in some cases), and they inevitably include (the overwhelming majority does) a thesis at the end regardless. If you re at a thoughtful uni, they ll encourage to start thinking about your research idea early on (say Feb/March for an August/Sept. deadline). Otherwise they'll drop kick you in June, with 3 months for: idea generation, supervisor meetings, write up and submission. In fairness an MSc thesis is easier than a PhD one (obviously), and a lot of the time your initial idea will be too big for an MSc-level thesis. So that you'd have scope to pursue the idea further in a PhD later on. Now, if you talk with professors early on about your ambitions about doing a PhD, and have at the very least a solid idea of your preferred field (e.g. business cycle theory, development microeconomics, time series econometrics), then you should be alright in most cases. The problem comes with regards to funding, they usually want you to have a project, which presupposes some knowledge of the relevant literature and enough background in economics to not sound too naive (conversely being too detailed will likely come off as overconfidence). Now knowing what you want to focus on early on is good (at the very least know whether you'll want to focus on labour, development, trade or game theory for example), and talk to the relevant professors after your first classes (emailing prior to arriving will get you nowhere [i've had experience with that..]), and try to keep a regular contact (asking them about their research is always a nice segue), but bottom line is, you will need to have some sort of idea early on, and a clear one by the time you apply. In the UK lots of people take a year in between finishing MSc and starting their PhD (unless they have a crystal clear research project or are applying to a predefined funded-project), which can help in solidifying your ideas. I did it, lots of people from my class did it, and I've seen other examples at a few universities there too. Also, for 1+3 scholarships I'm pretty sure you need to have some idea already (although Im not sure there, I may be wrong, I never applied for it and didnt ask my friends who had it).
  23. most students in any given master in the UK will be looking for graduate jobs rather than phd admissions, although a bunch will of course. Typically these tend to rank around the top 20% at least, though there are exceptions. It's like anything else really, if you work hard and prepare well for your exams you ll get good grades, and the better ranked the programme, the more difficult (somewhat), with LSE's EME and Oxford's MPhil really being hard (from what Ive heard). The rest is feasible and manageable wherever you go, you might just need to work a little harder at UCL or Warwick than at Bristol or Manchester, but overall you'll still have to work quite a bit. Reaching 60% is not difficult in the UK, but the slope to reach 70% is a lot steeper in terms of difficulty. Its just the way it is, the difficulty ramps up when you approach 70%, doesnt mean it s impossible just a bit harder.
  24. The "1+3" system in the UK means that conditional on obtaining a certain grade (either overall, or on coursework and thesis), you will be automatically admitted into the PhD programme. Now from experience most of the time this "certain grade" is ca. 63-65% which would rank the top... say 15-18% of the class. Very feasible in most programmes.
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