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I understand this question might depend on discipline, but I was wondering what the attrition rates are like at PhD Programs in Finance. Having spent all the effort trying to get into a PhD program, this is something I didn't really consider. I am assuming attrition is not as bad as econ. Does anyone have any insights?

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!

Hello, I have heard contradictory stories about UCLA. I would appreciate if any of you could help me with these 3 questions: 1. Completion rates? How many people fail the comps? (quantiative methods new comp?) 2. Environment in the department? Cooperation among the students? 3. Average monthly living expenses? If you can help me answering one or more questions, thank you in advance!

I just finished the UCSD flyout and wanted to start a thread for attendees to post their impressions and things they learned. Here are some of mine: 1) There was an impressively cooperative/colleagial atmosphere, both among students and between students and profs. 2) They have really expanded their development program in recent years, both in dedicated faculty and other faculty with development interests. 3) No one seemed overly down about the financial health of the department or the ability to keep junior or senior faculty. 4) I think overall attrition is about 1/3 (if anyone has better info, please correct!), but across the board people said it was really never due to failed comps. Apparently most people pass by the second try, but they are very accommodating of people who want to continue. 5) Development, environment, and conflict seem to be some of the better-funded topics at the moment (I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I heard about). There are also options for working with profs at Rady and IRPS. 6) They are working on a placement list that shows the primary and additional fields associated with placements. 7) There is probably some room to negotiate funding if you present your other offers. 8) Grad students said that TA work is generally light, especially for 1st years, and most thought the stipend is livable. 9) The grad student housing most available is the furnished "single grad housing" on campus or 1 Miramar nearby. The others seem to have long waits. Most students live in grad student housing their first year. 10) Two of my favorite presentations were Berman and Andreoni. I left wanting to do behavioral lab work and conflict. :) 11) They said there is a fairly even split between people taking five and six years to finish. 12) There's obviously a major selection issue with which grad students show up for recruitment activities, but everyone I talked to seemed really happy with the program. And the weather, of course. I'll add more as it comes to mind, and hopefully others will add more substantial comments on research and profs they talked to.