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davidschindler

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  1. davidschindler
    That's not a helpful answer, because it depends on your goals and outside options.
  2. davidschindler
    I am a faculty member at Tilburg University. If you do well in the MSc program, you will very likely be admitted to the research master's. We are always keen on keeping our best students! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have further questions.
  3. davidschindler
    As a faculty member at TilburgU, I would recommend that you tailor your cover letter specifically to the interests represented by the faculty members. This should increase your chances. We have the European Banking Center which houses both faculty from Finance, as well as from Econ. Stress that as well. If you have any questions about our program, I'm happy to answer those!
  4. davidschindler
    Apply to programs that put enough weight on the journal quality of your existing publication to compensate for the bad grades. That might mean ruling out at least the Top20/Top30 programs. European programs may be worth trying (the usual names). I'd also recommend you apply to our program at Tilburg University.
  5. davidschindler
    I would also recommend our program at Tilburg U: Research Master in Economics | Tilburg University
  6. davidschindler
    That's incorrect. All of my colleagues are happy to write LORs whenever a student feels like another program is a better fit. We are a friendly department made up of human beings and we want the best success for our students, be that with us or someplace else.
  7. davidschindler
    That's incorrect. Tilburg's ranking is more flexible in the sense that you can decide for example which journals you want to count, if you care about Article Influence Scores, etc. It is important to understand that the Tilburg Ranking is not one ranking, but that you can customize your own ranking. If the ranking doesn't make sense to you, than you probably have chosen the wrong ranking specification and should try again.
  8. davidschindler
    For Tilburg I'd add that we expect graduates of the research master's to continue with the PhD, but of course you don't have to.
  9. davidschindler
    I would recommend applying in Tilburg as well. The program is rigorous and we have placed students in prestigious PhD programs in the past. Feel free to reach out (I'm a faculty member there) if you want more information.
  10. davidschindler
    A few points from my perspective as well: * It is true that salaries in the US are 2x those in Europe (with few exceptions). But it is also true that the cost of living in the US is significantly higher. Having lived in the US and in Europe, my feeling is that there isn't much of a difference in terms of purchasing power parity adjusted consumption possibilities. (Remember, things like child care, health insurance, pensions, education costs are often coming out of your salary in the US, while they are often provided for free in Europe.) * Whether you'll attend SSE or Penn State will significantly influence your likelihood of securing a job in the US. As you can see from Penn State's placement, they don't regularly produce people who place in the top 10 schools (although they sometimes do). If you land at a lower-ranked school in the US, it might actually be better to get a decent job in Europe. This is because the heterogeneity in faculty quality in the US is very large across schools, but small within departments, while in Europe it is often small across schools but can be large within departments. In Europe, there are many places who are extremely good at subfield x, while subfield y is really sub-par. This may seem to rank the European place low on average, but you shouldn't forget that they have top people in one subfield. If that's your subfield, bingo! Penn State is obviously a better choice for you then if you think the risk of your research field changing is large. * This latter point also makes it important to be well informed about the relative strengths and weaknesses of European departments. You can't just simply say, "Oh look, SSE is a good school, I should go there." but you should check out who at SSE is good (and if you're interested in the field) and who is not. For SSE this matters a little less than for lower-ranked schools because they are basically good at almost everything. If you get admitted to Tilburg and need to make a decision between Tilburg and other places, let me know. I'm a faculty member there and happy to provide insights (with the usual disclaimer of course that personal opinions may be biased).
  11. davidschindler
    In these cases, I recommend to reach out directly to the staff of the graduate school (in the case of Tilburg ideally the Director of Graduate Studies) (and not just simply the department). I hope you make it in and join us in Tilburg next fall!
  12. davidschindler
    SSE is an excellent program, but note that all these European programs will likely place you at a European school afterward. If you're interested in staying in the US then a US program should be your primary choice.
  13. davidschindler
    Be aware that many of the master's programs European institutions require are the same as the coursework during the Ph.D. in the US.
  14. davidschindler
    First of all, none of what you asked can easily be generalized across all of Europe. But let me try to be as general as possible. 1) It depends very much on the program, in the good programs in Europe there is not much difference. Lower ranked programs usually let students research 'something' without steering them towards asking better questions. 2) Even if you want to stay in Europe it may matter, but only for very few select schools. And of course it depends on which institution you do your PhD at. 3) Not universally true, but good Europeanprograms look at your potential reflected by academic achievement, content of letters and your written statement. 4) Again depends where you come from. I would say mostly yes. 5) Strongly depends. In Tilburg (where I'm a faculty member), we have very students per adviser and I at least try to meet with students frequently and advance their projects. Other good places in Europe will do the same. Not so good places might use PhD students to just do work for the advisers. 6) If somewhat successful so far help, otherwise hinder. 7) Funding at EU programs is often more generous than in the US as you often get a 'researcher salary'. 8) I strongly suggest you also look at Bonn, Munich, Amsterdam and Tilburg. Happy to chat about the benefits of Tilburg.
  15. davidschindler
    Adcoms will take different grading standard into account, so you shouldn't worry too much about your grade. Make sure your letters (especially from grad program) are stellar.
  16. davidschindler
    In Europe it's not very uncommon to change programs. Better ranked programs (such as the ones you are targeting) will usually require you to re-do all the coursework though. I suggest to add a few more to the list though, to make sure that the idiosyncrasies in your profile don't hurt you. One place that I can particularly recommend is Tilburg, as I work there. Happy to chat, if you're interested to hear more.
  17. davidschindler
    Given your interests and the fact that you apply also in Europe, I would also recommend to apply in Tilburg (I'm a faculty members there and think that your interests would be a good match).
  18. davidschindler
    Doesn't hurt to apply to top 50 programs while at the same time focusing on European master's programs with PhD track.
  19. davidschindler
    There are many great programs in Europe and Canada that you may find interesting. If you're interested in continuing to do a PhD, I would also have a look at the research master's program in Tilburg. I'm a faculty member there, so if you have any specific questions about the program, I'm happy to answer your questions.
  20. davidschindler
    If the grades you describe as B/C-ish are in fact 2.3,2.7,3.0 on the German grading scale then I guess your chances are rather low to get into decent programs. Given your research interests, you might find a better match at a business school than at an econ department. My advice would be to work hard and try to excel in your master's, then apply to grad programs that fit your interests and not narrow yourself to UK/Canada.
  21. davidschindler
    Letters are one of the most important factors in admission decisions. If a program admits you to the PhD (and thereby invests in you) and then finds out you only wanted to the coursework in the first place and apply elsewhere, good luck getting those letters...
  22. davidschindler
    I tried to post a detailed reply several times, but apparently my answer wasn't approved. Bottomline: Check rankings (e.g. Repec) for good European departments and identify departments that are strong in the field.
  23. davidschindler
    There are many reasonably good departments in Europe that one could target. As a rule of thumb, I'd look at the RePeC Ranking by country (Economics Rankings | IDEAS/RePEc), exclude all schools that are considered top worldwide and you should have a good starting point. Then check all departments if they have decent faculty in your area. A few good departments in Europe, in no particular order: Toulouse, Barcelona, UC3M, Paris School of Economics, LSE, UCL, Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, KU Leuven, Tilburg, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Bonn, Munich, Mannheim, Zurich, Bocconi, Copenhagen, Stockholm School of Economics, IIES Stockholm, Bergen, Central European University. If you want to communicate outside of the classroom without having to learn a new language, UK, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have an absolute advantage as English is spoken by virtually everyone.
  24. davidschindler
    This may be outside of what you're interested in, but if you have a relatively good idea of what research you find interesting and think it's unlikely you end up in a top North American program, I'd recommend to look at European programs too (also in terms of master's). The reason is that European faculty quality varies much more within departments than across departments (like in North America). So you could easily find a place that is doing horrible in macroeconomics, but has leading scholars in econometrics. The nice by-product is that in many European countries higher ed is (almost) free. Make sure to pick a program though that allows you to transition back to North American grad programs if that's what you want!
  25. davidschindler
    Hi Rosa, I can't provide you with first-hand info on BGSE, but I'm a faculty member at Tilburg U. If you want some more information on Tilburg (including pro's and con's), I'm happy to chat. In this case, send me a pm or email. Best, David
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