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Hey Heron, thanks for you advice! I see your point. But I guess my case is conditional firmly on the field, which was the reason I changed the major after the college.

Hi zgsp, it is a pity we cannot be classmates. Personally I enjoy life and the way students are treated in Europe, I will take the offer from Zurich. Anyway, good luck with your final decision and everything!

Thanks for sharing the story @to2012! I have the same impression from the on site interview at Zurich. I just feel uncertain about the claim that people with general career goal in academia should choose the institution in US rather than the one in other place, and I am also not sure about the marginal value of having coursework again in a better program with the cost of going to the market two years later. Any thoughts?

Thanks @chateauheart! I never thought about such decentralization. Instead, lots of people keep telling me that if I had chance to US then I should definitely go there. The implicitly assumption seems to be that networks (even if decentralized) will help a lot when phds are on the job market, because faculties in US generally know/recognize each other better than people from other continents.

Hey guys, I need (again after two years) some advice to choose best strategy at this stage and appreciate any of your comments a lot! My interest is experimental and behavioral economics. I have funded offers of phD program at Tilburg University (without coursework anymore), was admitted to University of Zurich (likely to get funding but have not received formal offer yet), and on the waiting list of UCSD. The issue is I am asked to reply the Tilburg offer before April 1, so it seems I have to make one decision: should I leave Tilburg or not? Stay: 1. I am now applying one research grant jointly with my supervisor using a proposal for phD with at least three sub-topics to be done, and we are now at the final round. Money does not play a big role since it is around 33% more than department funding. If I choose to stay, it seems the research in phD phase can be clearly guided and well developed. 2. It is nice working with my supervisor. Other professors and fellow classmates are also nice and collaborative. 3. No more coursework! 4. Cheaper than Zurich and treat students better (higher salary and lower teaching load) than UCSD. 5. Emotional attachment... Leave: 1. Obviously, UCSD>Zurich>Tilburg. 2. Uncertainty about Tilburg's financial problems and professors' leave. 3. Bad food & weather...ok I am not serious... Next stage (or maybe it is not needed in the end), should I go to Zurich or UCSD, i.e. Europe or US? (note: I am international so do not have location preference/constraint, but I do enjoy life in Europe.) Zurich: 1. Collaborative atmosphere among fellow students and professors. 2. Smaller size of each cohort => high faculty/phd ratio. Generally more close supervision from supervisors. 3. More funding with lower teaching load. 4. Possibility to waive first year core courses, but not second year field courses (not settled yet). 5. Experiment Top 1 in Europe with a lot of funding, where many great experimentalists locate at. 6. Ambitious hires/hire plan. 7. Why not? Emm...a bit inconvenience in life if I cannot speak German. UCSD: 1. The above 123, I guess it is the opposite? 2. Impossible to waive courses, starting from courses and qualifies again. 3. US15 with more connections in academic center, better placement maybe? 4. English-friendly. Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks to everyone who helps!

I have the similar situation except my other choice is an Europe top 1 in my field. Look forward to others' opinion...I guess it might be helpful if you change the title of this post into tradeoff of program rank between RA/TA duty thing...which is more clear for people that are not that into micro in general.

Insider here: never come to Tilburg with interest in macro. Macro people were leaving, both professors and students. Even the macro course sequence had to be changed a lot because of lecturer's leaving. Also, the macro resources are quite limited (seminar, etc.) compared to other fields such as applied micro, experimental, metrics, etc. Regarding to macro-related guys, I think there might be only two in development/environment and one in monetary.

I just updated the thread. Any other suggestions? What about placement?

Good news! Funding does not bother any more. Thank you to2012.

Looks like the admission mail I received is exactly the same as your initial one. Now it cannot be more clear with your clarification lol. Many thx!

OK I see. It was a pity that Duffy did not come. I remember he has a similar focus like Duwfenberg has. That efforts matter a lot and I hope Arizona won't let its strong fields stay quiet too long. Thank you very much and wait for your PM. :)

So you mean Dufwenberg will probably stay in Bocconi and not return? That is not a good news for me, though I know Arizona did lose some great experimental guys...Do they make any plans to prevent the decline of experimental econ?

Thx! Do you know anything else about funding in Arizona?

yeah, quite similar..:orange: Thx for the info!

oh I know the guy. He is the person I really want to work with. Do you know what the questions are? Won't he return this year or the next year?