jellicle

Yep, SFU seems to be a good choice for me considering the curriculum, placements and funding.

Thanks MountainEcon, your suggestion is really helpful. I have emailed to the Graduate Chair at SFU and what he told me is basically the same as what you posted. It is indeed a small program and roughly 1/3 of their students choose to apply for a PhD. Of course, the placements from previous years are decent. Plus, they have three options to complete the degree, - either taking courses, complete a master project, or write a thesis in which case the program could extended for additional months. As for BGSE, I think it's more of a stepping stone for those who have excelled in rigorous undergrad program. So surviving in BGSE is a lot more uncertain in terms of my own case.

Thanks for the advice sulebrahim, I looked through the placements of SFU before and they are decent. But my concern is that I am not sure what are my chances of getting into a TOP 50 PhD program in the US in SFU MA compared with attending BGSE instead. Or to put it another way, does Simon Fraser have a tradition of sending their master students to the US Econ departments? Much as funding would give me less financial burden, money doesn't matter that much in my consideration.

Thanks for helping me evaluate my profile guys. My questions are that which program would strengthen my backgrounds for PhD application and do I need to retake my GRE? So here it goes : Type of Undergrad: Top Chinese University (100 - 200 by QS world ranking ), Econ Major. Undergrad GPA: 3.72/4 (Major) 3.65 (Overall, including liberal arts electives) GRE: Q167 V161 AWA 3.5 (Do I need to retake the GRE) TOEFL: 107 Math Courses: Calculus I & II ( both B), Linear Algebra (A+), Probability Theory and Statistics (B), Statistics (A+) Currently taking: Python programming. Econ Courses: Micro & Macro (both A+), Intermediate Micro & Intermediate Macro (both A-), Econometrics & Intermediate Econometrics (A+), Game Theory (A), Industrial Organization (A), Political Economics (A+), Regional Economics (A+), International trade (A), Money and Banking (B), Investment (A), Anti-trust Economics (A+) Research Experience: one-year part-time RA for an AP on labor and health econ (basically all data processing); currently working on the bachelor's thesis. Teaching Experience: none Research Interests: Primary: Applied Micro, Labor, Development, Health Secondary: Empirical IO and Environment

So the dilemma is more like whether to choose competing in a rigorous program (BGSE) or an average program (Simon Fraser)... While the upper bound of BGSE could be top grad programs in the US, the MA placement of SFU is still uncertain. I plan is that if I go with SFU, then I might considering doing an extra master to fill up my gap year, so would doing an extra master strengthen my background? Would top master programs such as oxford, cambridge and etc. admit students from 2nd-tiered Canadian masters?

Currently I have BGSE Econ master (no funding) and MA Econ at Simon Fraser ($17100), both are one-year program but the latter program includes a MA thesis. Does anyone has any suggestions about which program suits better for PhD pursuit, such as teacher-student relation, level of coursework and etc.? Thanks guys.

Still awaiting for the admission answer...

I have seen acceptances posted on gradcafe. Still waiting for their decisions.:cold: