jvdw9

Hi all, I've been lucky enough to receive offers from both NYU and UPenn and I'm trying to decide between these two programs. My research interests lie in macroeconomics in general, and more specifically labor, growth, public finance, and development. Both places have stellar faculty, although on this point I'm leaning slightly towards UPenn since I really like the work of guys like Akcigit and Greenwood. But only slightly. I think my decision will come down to department atmosphere and how well I might feel supported by faculty, as well as by fellow students, at each program. I think this is really important in your day to day experience, especially if you're in this for the next 5 years. From what I've heard NYU is great in this sense, as the professors seem to be quite invested in advising and placement, and although each student naturally wants to be the best of his/her cohort, the competition seems to take place on friendly and healthy grounds. On the other hand, I've read a lot about UPenn's supposedly high attrition rate and cutthroat atmosphere and I was wondering how true this might be, any UPenn students out there? Also, does anybody know what faculty interaction and the general department's atmosphere is like there? Do professors care about students? Thanks!