RemiDav

I agree that the more math/stats/proba, the better, however, think strategically: it is better to take 1 math course / session and get an A than to take 2 simultaneously and get B's. No research experience is not a problem to apply for a MA. I think that top grades in rigorous courses are more important now.

In the field of discrete choice, behavioral econ, neuro-econ ... we see a lot of overlap with mathematical psychology in the literature. I cannot tell you for admission potential, I'll leave that to more experienced people (I don't know US schools that well). However, it looks very sane (even promising) in terms of research outcomes. You might consider doing a PhD in a business school (In Toronto 3/4 of the behavioral economists and choice theorists are in the marketing department at the business school). You might also look at Europe: aka cheap PhDs (excluding UK) and several schools very open to behavioral/neuro econ. Moreover, they might care a bit less about the name of your current university (but they might ask you to do an M.A.).

Woops, sorry for that.

Some people were pretty fast with European schools. I will just add Zurich then with the deadline in July: UZH - Universit?t Z?rich - Application Periods (bottom of the page)

I have the same profile: Not good grades in B.Sc. -> MBA (Qualitative) -> 3 Advanced econ B.A. courses as an independant srudent (U Concordia, Montreal) -> M.Sc. Econ (U Montreal) -> Ph.D. Toronto. So there is hope. Note that to get in Toronto I got A+ in every courses in Montreal. The Masters adcom rejected me in the canadian big 4. U Montreal asked me to redo the bachelor Micro 2, Macro 2 and Metrics. They waved this requirement when they saw that I got A+ in Micro 3 / Macro 3 / Metrics as an independant student in Concordia. So if you want to get in a Masters, my advice for you is to do Advanced Undergrad Micro/Macro/Metrics/Math courses as an independant student. If you get A's everywhere, there is no reason that an Adcom would reject you for a Master.

I thought the Master degrees in the US were mostly terminal degrees that were not focused on research. I am sure that with quantitative training you'll look sexy for a policy-related department anyway, but is a US master the best choice ? This I can't tell.

You might want to check that: Queen's announces Canada's first graduate diploma in risk policy and regulation | Queen's University News Centre Queen's announces Canada's first graduate diploma in risk policy and regulation|

You already have a good profile. Why don't you apply to both PhD's and MA's ? You'll be able to see where you can get in withyour current profile. Both Canadian MA's (Toronto, UBC, Queen's) and european M.A./M.Sc (LSE, Toulouse, Zurich, ....) would do that well.

i would also drop, especially for a top 5, you'd prefer not to have any "stain" on your profile.

Toronto just offered me admission (arg, so late). I already accepted Queen's, what should I do ? *Panic*

UWO MA might guarantee a place in their PhD, but UofT & UBC MA's might be better to have a chance to get in a top 10 PhD. Am I wrong ?

Seems like Coffeehouse and the others already said most of the things I wanted to say. I agree with the fact that I you want to go to the US for a PhD, UBC is the one. For Canada, it doesn't matter if you are a top student. Now, for the industry, SFU has 2 of the most famous people in the world doing computational economics. (Richard Glen Harris, top 3 & Jasmina Arifovic, top 31 on Repec). Computational economics is something that is a lot more marketable in the industry than the usual economics you learn in an MA. Mix it with some time series and Bayesian and you are good to go for several sector (silicon valley, finance, amazon, walmart ...) Note: il could also be usefull for a PhD. So SFU could be the best choice in some cases.

They were saying that they would send offers between mid march and early may. «We have received all documents in support of your application - no further documents are required at this time. Admission and funding decisions will be made the mid-March/early-May period. »

You might want to check the Swiss Finance Institute, the swiss universities and some of the french schools (Toulouse School of Economics)

Thanks a lot for the details. I probably did not hit 30 posts yet indeed.