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Hey man, I am nearly finished with the UCL MSc (cleared exams, working on dissertation now), and yeah I did apply to PhD programs in the US, Europe as well as the UK. Now got rejections from every single uni the the US and Europe, and acceptances from all UK unis I had applied to - subject to achieving a Merit. So if you're planning to apply to PhD programs in the UK, you're all set - it is very likely that you will get a conditional offer given that you'll be doing one of the top Econ programs and have a solid stats background already. Not so sure about Oxbridge though since the programme is really competitive. But you're good to go for LSE (they'll probably ask for a Distinction) and Warwick (Merit) It's a shame US / Europe don't do conditional offers though. Hope this helps. Good luck :)

Thanks a lot for replying, guys! Chateauheart, I just checked the USNWR rankings, However it appears that they have not published rankings beyond the 76th place, yet there are a lot of universities with unpublished ranks. What does that imply? Are they not worth applying to? I apologise, I am an international applicant so I am not quite familiar with the system.

Hi. People here are talking about applying to top ~n~ programs for an Econ PhD. I am kinda confused though - for instance, if a program is ranked 50, does that mean it is ranked 50 in the U.S. or worldwide? Also, please include the link to the rankings you are using. I have been referring to these myself: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.econdept.html I hope they are credible enough to judge the strength of an Economics PhD program. Thank you!

Thanks for your reply. May I ask from where are you pursuing your Master's/PhD then?

Sorry to bump this, but I really need your advice, guys. Any Urch Guru Pundit Swami Sage here to help? :encouragement:

Hi, I shall be joining UCL for MSc Economics this September, and I am expected to go through Pemberton and Rau as preparation for their math camp, which would basically be an intensive two-week ‘refresher’ course. Therefore I am expected to know the material thoroughly before the term starts. The trouble is, I am an overseas student and shipping charges to my country for Pemberton and Rau are way too high. That book is neither available in my local libraries nor as an e-book. I do possess Chiang and Wainwright though, and could manage a copy of Simon and Blume as well. Since I took a gap year I am quite rusty on the math, and so I was planning to begin prepping with the former (C&W). My question is, would this C&W be an appropriate substitute for Pemberton and Rau, or would I need to go through C&W AND S&B both? (I do know that S&B is a very standard book, and I am afraid I wouldn't be able to go through the text in the given time.) Please let me know. Thanks!

Hi there! I am in a position very similar to yours! So did you take up your offer at UCL for MSc Economics, and did you make PhD applications? Please let me know. Thanks, man.

Hi DiddlyDoo, So would you be joining UCL for MSc Economics 2016-17, then? Also, if you have heard back from the programme director or have any more information regarding applying during Term 1 of a UK master's for admission to a US PhD programme, please let me know. Thanks!

I am really stressed out seeing this post. I had posted a similar thread a few days back. Macrojunkie, could you please take a look at this thread where I have posted my profile, and tell me my odds of admission to a top 50-100 US PhD programme, straight after my Master's from UCL? http://www.www.urch.com/forums/phd-economics/157424-applying-us-phd-during-1st-year-uk-masters.html

I am interested to hear what other experienced members on this forum have to say about this post. Anyone? P.S. - I too hold offers for MSc Economics from the same schools, and I am self-funded.

Yeah, that's true. Now the undesirable possibility of having to take a gap year after my MSc is sinking in.

I scored somewhat in mid 70's in Linear Algebra and Calculus. Hmmm, but we covered a fair amount of stuff in my Mathematical Methods paper as well, the most advanced being differential equations (first-order differential equations, integral curve, direction diagram and slope field, qualitative theory and stability) and a whole lot of single and multi-variable optimization. Although the coverage might not have been so in-depth and extensive since we had only two semesters of this paper. Statistical Methods was pretty basic though, included probability theory, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing and a linear regression model which was later covered in-depth in my Econometrics papers. Does this help boost my profile for admission to a 50-100 PhD programme, or would it still be seen as a pretty basic background?

Thanks for your advice! Also, would you mind reviewing my mathematical / quantitative background, and whether it is sufficient enough to directly embark upon a PhD in Economics, assuming I would not have my MSc grades while making an application?

Dear Startz, thanks for replying. Do you think it would be a good idea to directly e-mail the schools (department or admissions committee?) and ask them if they have made offers of admissions to candidates having a similar academic background i.e. three-year undergrad, and PhD application made during the first term of a 1-year UK MSc, without grades? Also, I feel quite heartbroken hearing of such low chances. My bachelor's is from one of the top 10 institutes in my country. Honestly I was hoping that an MSc from UCL would quite boost my chances in the US 50-100 schools, despite no grades, as it would perhaps signal that I have been a good student since I managed to get into UCL in the first place. I see that you have been around this forum for a while. Do you know any other users with the same experiences?

Hi. I am looking for programs ranked 50 - 100, such as UConn, Wyoming, UDel My undergraduate record is pretty decent, around 73% aggregate. However I have been warned to not try and convert this into a US GPA equivalent. GRE 163Q, 159V My letters will come from 2 undergrad profs (one econometrics and one macro) and 1 from another institution for whom I worked as an RA. I scored the highest in my econometrics paper, so I am assured of a strong recco from that professor. RA one would be decent enough too. However I shall definitely try to get one letter from my profs at UCL, but I agree- that would be difficult. I am typing on my phone right now which is pretty slow, so its difficult for me to copy paste my profile in the standard format. I shall definitely do that in a couple of hours. Apologies. I am quite disturbed to know that conditional offers are not made. Do you think I would have better chances at obtaining admission since I am not too ambitious about my choice of schools?

Hi guys, I am from India and I have completed my undergraduate degree in Economics. I wanted to go for a US PhD eventually but unfortunately I was ineligible to apply as most of the schools did not recognise my three-year undergraduate degree (awarded by Indian institutions) Therefore I decided to go for a master's, and I have been accepted to UCL for MSc Economics for the academic year 2016/17, beginning September :apple: However, UK master's are only for one year, and UCL has its term exams between April - June (2017), whereas most US schools' application deadlines would be around Dec 2016 / Jan 2017. As a result I would not have any transcripts from my master's... will that prove detrimental to my application, since most schools ask for hardcore math courses, whereas I have taken only the following during my bachelor's? Introductory Micro, Intermediate Micro - I, Intermediate Micro - II Introductory Macro, Intermediate Macro - I, Intermediate Macro - II Statistical Methods in Economics - I and II Mathematical Methods in Economics - I and II Introductory Econometrics, Applied Econometrics Linear Algebra and Calculus Please let me know your thoughts. I fear doing a master's in this case would be futile as I would be making an application based solely on the grades of my undergraduate degree. Of course, I would have a list of courses and their outlines that I shall be studying during my MSc - will that be helpful at all? If my marks are not available, do US universities make conditional offers of admission where they might ask me to achieve a certain average in my MSc? I really do not wish to take a gap year after my 1-yr MSc to get all scores and then apply... :dejected: Waiting for your advice and suggestions. Thanks!

Hi! Thanks for replying. Sorry, I don't really understand what you mean by a Math Camp. Are you, perhaps, talking about the 2-3 week intensive refresher course?

I have taken up my offer at UCL for MSc Economics 2016/17 and I am hoping to proceed with a PhD there itself. However that requires a distinction in master’s, which I collect is really hard to achieve. I have already completed my undergrad and I want to use the time before September 2016 to work on my math/stats skills which are getting rusty. Honestly, I am also pretty intimidated by reviews by friends who are doing this programme currently at UCL and are destroyed by its mathematical nature. Any advice on what material I should cover would be greatly appreciated! I have taken papers in statistics, mathematics, econometrics and linear algebra etc but I don’t remember a lot of the material covered, and since I’ve got plenty of time- I don’t mind going over things from a scratch, especially in linear algebra which I am not good at. I have a decent base in statistics and econometrics though (hypothesis testing, statistical inference, multiple regression, etc) Please let me know which books and authors you recommend for preparing for this course. Also, how incredibly difficult is it actually to get a distinction? I desperately want to do well in this course and proceed with a PhD without moving to a different university. Desperately, haha. :P P.S. - I am an international student.