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Hi, I have been offered admission to the Masters programs at CEMFI and CEU and I have to decide which one of these should I attend. My main concern is the placements of these programs to US and Europe PhD programs. I know some people at CEMFI who are now at top 10 US colleges and the faculty also seems to be great. CEU's placements were also comparable to CEMFI earlier but they seem to be not as good now. However, I have been offered some funding at CEU which makes it the cheaper option. It would be great to hear some opinions regarding the two programs and how they compare against each other. Thanks, in advance!

Hi, I'm creating this thread to exchange information about UC3M and CEMFI. Did anyone receive any news about them? Acceptance, wait list or rejection. Thanks in advance.

Hi All, I've been considering pursuing a masters in economics for some time now, and have identified CEMFI as a solid program. I'm very interested in pursuing a degree in Spain, due to the lowers costs, as well as the opportunity to live in Spain for 2 years. I'm curious to get the group's opinion regarding the competitiveness of my application. My undergraduate degree is certainly relevant, but I am a bit concerned about the less than stelar GPA. My work experience is also relevant, but I'm not so sure that european grad programs place much weight on job experience. My background: 1) 3.4/4 GPA from Texas Tech University - Bachelors degree in Finance 2) 2 Years working for Goldman's fixed income asset management business, as a product management analyst 3) Have not taken the GRE yet, but with 4-5 months of study, can expect to have a competitive score Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks, Sean

Hey everyone, I have been accepted into CEMFI (Msc.) and Toulouse M1 in Econometrics and Statistics. I want to pursue a PhD in economics, either in the US or maybe even continue at these places. I am having trouble deciding where to go. I was therefore looking for some advice in this regard. My research interests are in Econometrics and Applied Microeconomics. Toulouse has given me a fee waiver where as CEMFI has no funding. Toulouse has received some negative reviews on urch so I am confused. On one hand CEMFI is a smaller class with faculty that are very approachable (some have already contacted me and expressed interest). On the other hand, Toulouse is cheaper and also has good placements for its PhD program. Therefore I am very confused about my decision and any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Hello all ! I have been admitted into the M1 program at the Toulouse School of Economics. There have been several negative reviews about the program on this forum in the past. I was wondering whether these still hold true about the program or things have changed for the better. If anyone who is currently in the program or graduated recently could please answer some questions about the program I would be grateful. Thanks in advance! Questions are below: How is the quality of the teaching at Toulouse? Did you find the professors approachable? I have been admitted into the M1 in statistics and Econometrics program. I do not want to completely rule out private sector jobs in data science. In this regard how are the placements into the private sector? I am not an EU citizen so I know it will be hard. Even then, can I at least expect to get an internship between the two years? Or is this too difficult for internationals? How is the M2 program with regards to PhD placements? Overall was your experience positive with the Masters program (there has been an overwhelming negative feedback in the past on urch) Given my other acceptances are Cemfi (unfunded Msc.) BGSE (fee waiver), do you have any recommendations for me? Note: My goal is to do a PhD but I would like to also keep the private sector as an option. My professors at my undergraduate warn about how competitive the job market for academics has become. Therefore I would like to keep private sector roles such as data science as an option. Thank you once again for your help.

I have received an offer for both programs and need to make a decision until next week for the CEMFI offer (cannot be further extended). I already have a MRes in Economics from another university, my main research interests are development, labor, IO and applied micro. Not yet sure I am interested in becoming a tenured professor, I am mainly considering academic positions at international organizations and think tanks (e.g. World Bank Development Research Group). CEMFI (Doctoral track, 5-6 years) - fully funded, generally well endowed - not necessarily the best place for development, but they have good people in different fields, might be able to broaden my horizons and be less specialised, also research interests can change over time - better overall education (more comparable to some US programs), supervision and preparation for the academic job market, professors care a lot about their PhD students - small department, can be both good and bad, as explained above - can tailor the curriculum to my interests, elective classes on topics that I haven't studied before - very good academic placements (in Europe) - very close knit community, both among students and with respect to professors - access to data through the bank of spain, but not much data on developing countries - quality of life in Madrid may be better - locational advantage for me personally (my boyfriend is Spanish, we have many friends there and would be closer to his family) Oxford (DPhil PRS, 4-5 years) - no funding for the first year, not secured for the following years, would have to teach/RA substantially or pay out of own pocket if not offered scholarship subsequently (only around 40% of students are fully funded); in short: it's a pain... - chaotic and I quote "medieval" structures, no cohesive economics department, very dispersed - less thorough coursework, more direct access to research stage - you can be both very independent or very proactive and close to your supervisors as a PhD student - 3-4 professors that work on exactly my topics of interest and are interested in supervising me - data I would need for my current research ideas is available - great for development if I am 100% sure I want to specialise in this area, many seminars/events in this field etc. and other students with the same interests - connections to World Bank/placements in policy-related research sphere, overall prestige/brand name - small city, but special kind of atmosphere, lots of activities for students, did I mention Harry Potter already - my boyfriend won't be able to come with me and find a job, brexit?! I know in the end nobody else can make this decision for me and it mostly depends on my personal preferences and goals, but given this information, I would still be happy to have your advice, as I am having a hard time deciding... Thanks!

Hi everybody, I am an Economics student from Turkey and I have been accepted to CEMFI with a tuition waiver, however, I haven't received a stipend. It would be extremely hard for my parents and me to cover the living expenses for two years. Do you know any scholarships that are offered to Non-EU students to study in Spain? Or can you give me some advice about funding? Thank you

Hi - I am trying to decide between the PhD at PSE (APE + doctoral program) and the PhD program at Cemfi. Both are meant to be good for Masters, but I want to stay to write my PhD thesis. I am interested in labor and microeconometrics - both programs are strong in these areas. I have heard that Cemfi has better training (comparable to a good US PhD), while PSE is taught at the level of a traditional Masters (so I will be at a disadvantage coursework-wise). On the other hand, I think PSE might have a better name, and better for placements outside of Europe. Would anyone have any thoughts?

Hey guys, I know, my post looks a lot like others but there are some specifities to my case that pushed me to create my own post. I've read basically every old posts regarding European masters and I am still left uncertain as to my choice. It was pointless applying to EME as my maths background is not adequate, yet, I have received offers from several programs and having eliminated the others, I'm left with CEMFI and LSE Economics masters. I was admitted to CEMFI without funding, nor tuition waiver, otherwise I would have chosen CEMFI straight away, saving this forum from my post. My end goal is a top PhD program but the thing is, as I come from a rather low family income, I would have to take a loan for either programs, which I would have to reimburse right after the master. It means I'll have to work for 1 to 2 years after the master at CEMFI and 2 to 3 years after LSE's (estimated on the wages of my high-income home country, Switzerland). First of all, am I right to think that, from the PhD perspective, CEMFI's program is better in terms of preparation and doesn't come far in terms of reputation ? I am more worried about the job market CEMFI is a small institution and less known to the public, so I am wondering whether the CEMFI is good if you intend to work ? Or would I be better off going to LSE, work say 2 years in industry and 1 year as RA? Maybe some people that have been to the CEMFI and have seen classmates going to the industry could help me there ? The fact that CEMFI would cost me about 20'000$ less, has a small incoming class, researchers that look concerned about their master's student and has a two year program make me favor it. Yet, I cannot deny that LSE's MSc Econ teachers have a stellar CV and be taught by some of them would probably be a thrilling experience and the institution has a strong brand name.

Hi everyone, I have received MPhil/PhD offers from Tinbergen institute(MPhil/PhD) and CEMFI(Master of PhD track),both with full fundings(10000 Euro per year and tuition waiver for CEMFI, 1060 Euro per month and tuition waiver for TI). The deadline is coming, while I still lack of decision power. Considering my personal time cost, for any of the two institutes, I would probably choose to stay and continue to pursue PhD in TI or CEMFI. In my opinion, CEMFI has a subtle but strong specilized faculty. More importantly, the professors here are so nice and frequently contact with you, even Arellano himself. However, though the number of PhD students is not large, during master period, CEMFI seems to admit too many Asian/Chinese students, at least 10 this year, which will probably lead to severe competitions on grades and resources. On the other hand, Tinbergen has faculites with wide range of fields and the number of Asian is much smaller. I think that my interests are labor, education and applied econometrics.Does anyone have any advice or information about these two institutes especially for Asian? Thanks a lot for help guys!

Hello All ! I am from Bangladesh with BS in Economics (CGPA 3.61/4) and MS in Economics with Thesis (CGPA 3.87/4) from NSU (top private university in my country). My GRE score is Q 167, V 162 AWA 4.0 and TOEFL score is 114. I have about 1.5 years of experience in working as an Associate at a consulting firm. We work for World Bank, IFC, GiZ, GE, JICA among others. Some of the work has been quantitative, policy analysis and monitoring and evaluation. Also, I have published several articles in newspapers. Additionally I am a CFA level 2 candidate. The key weakness I have are Fails in Applied math 1, Applied Stat 1 and Basic Econometrics in undergraduate. This is because I did not know (honestly and sadly did not care back then) about course dropping process. I had A`s in Applied Math 2 before failing in Applied Math 1. I also took Cal I-Cal V (All As), third year stats and real Analysis (Bs), graduate quantitative courses with good grades. I am expecting very good references - from very senior faculty (Dean or higher post) and my current employer (An ex-professor, very accomplished in government and policy) and department chair. They all know me very well and will write excellent recommendations. I will eventually go for a PhD but want to do masters from a more 'global' university to update my profile and thereby increase chances for a good PhD. I would love if someone can comment on my chances for Masters (preferably with funding) at some European universities - namely Tilburg / CEMFI (are they taking intakes now?) / University of Amsterdam / Maastricht / Stockholm School of Economics / Uppsala / Aarhus / LM University at Munich. Moreover, suggestions are welcome. I know my profile has many flaws. So please do not restrain in criticism.

I'm afraid of TOEFL score might not arrive on time. The deadline for applications is Feb 15 :upset::upset::upset: and I sent the report yesterday :cold:

Hello everyone, What would be a good TOEFL score to get accepted at a Master in Europe? (I´m very interested in CEMFI) Thank you!