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Hi everyone. I am going to graduate in economics and finance at Bocconi University in July. I have received an offer from LSE EME and Oxford MPhil in Economics. My objective is to get to a top 20 PhD in U.S., or to continue to the Mres-PhD in Economics at LSE. My main areas of interest are political economy, macro and monetary economics. I have read that EME has much more connections with US economics departments. However, I am unsure whether or not I will be able to perform well in this master. As a matter of fact, during my bachelor I have covered advanced topics in econometrics, but I do not have an outstanding background in mathematics (I have covered mainly constrained and unconstrained optimization, linear algebra and integral mathematics). Moreover, EME is a 1-year programme, and I currently have only 2 good reference letters, so I would like to understand if it's possible to obtain one during EME's first semester. Relative to Oxford, I have been told that the Mphil in Economics , despite being a rigorous programme, does not require a student to have such a solid background in Maths. However, I have heard of few students who were able to be admitted to high ranked phd after the MPhil. It would be really helpful to hear from someone who has attended one of these programmes.

Hi there, I am presently contemplating an offer from LSE for their MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics (EME) programme, which comes along with a conditional offer to the MRes/PhD programme should a distinction be attained for the EME programme. I would like to seek some advice on the following please: How is the quality of the course instruction/teaching for the EME programme? I have heard relatively negative feedback pertaining the MSc Economics programme in terms of the lack of guidance/support but would appreciate if views on the EME programme could be provided (and whether the lack of guidance/support is generally what one should expect in postgraduate programmes). Over the past few years, what has been the proportion of EME students attaining a distinction? Appreciate the advice!

Hi, I was wondering if anyone was familiar with these two programmes at the LSE? I had two main questions (I'm an undergraduate hoping to apply to these programmes later this year): 1) Is the difference between the MSc Econ and MSc EME very significant in terms of technical material. For example, you can choose the same optional module in both courses but the core micro, macro and econometrics courses are different. I've heard EC484 Econometric Analysis is particularly challenging, but are any of the other courses (micro or macro) that different from the MSc Econ ones? 2) LSE's current policy is that students who get a Distinction in either the MSc Econ or MSc EME are permitted to continue directly to the PhD. Is anyone aware of the situation with regards to funding for this? Does a separate funding application need to be made? And is the continuation to the PhD with guaranteed funding or not? If not, does rank compared to your cohort in the MSc influence your chance of securing funding? Many thanks in advance!

Apologies, please delete this thread.

I am a rookie in this forum, and I want to ask something about Econ master. I'd heard that the LSE EME dominate all others, but in terms of US Phd application in the futurem how to rank these programs? LSE EME LSE Msc Economics Oxford Mphil Sciences Po. (I like Mayer and Chaney lol.) Duke MAE or MAPE Pennstate MAE Chicago MAPSS BGSE Or other programs? Thank you!

Hi All, I have been offered a place for the EME MSc at LSE. I'm planning on deferring the offer until next year and plan to work/prepare before the course begins. I have an undergraduate degree from a Russel Group University with good marks but didn't take much Econometric Theory (although did take relatively difficult micro/macro sequences). I have searched the forum and seen that there have been threads discussing the programme, however, these seem to be slightly outdated. And so I wanted to ask what mathematics and statistics/econometrics would you recommend I look at to prepare for the course? My current background is perhaps the equivalent of an American sequence of Calc1-3, Linear Algebra, Econometrics (intermediate).

Hi all. :encouragement: Summarizing information on various forums and programme websites, I have basically narrowed down my targets to these 3 programmes. LSE EME and Oxford MPhil have long been regarded as having the best placement record to PhD programmes, but as I observe MAPSS's placement is also excellent. So I would like to ask for some more opinions: if I wish to enter top 10 programmes in Econ/Finance, which programme would be the best for me? My research interest is in Macro/Finance. I know they are all good in their placements. But if I only aim for top programmes, how top (in terms of ranking) in my cohort in each master's do I have to be in order to enter top 10 PhD? This piece of information is essential but unfortunately not easily gathered. For your reference, this is the placement information: MAPSS: PhD Placement | MAPSS | The University of Chicago Oxford: Limited information can be found on MPhil in Economics | University of Oxford LSE EME: Overall placement of LSE EME+Econ can found on Career and PhD destinations Of course, any input about the 3 programmes is also welcomed!!! Thanks for your help.

My end goal is to complete a PhD in a top 10 school in the US. I've just finished my undergrad at a UK top 3 school in economics and management with first class honours and have offers from LSE EME and almost full funding for the Cambridge MPhil. I'm considering whether to do the EME, as there seems to be general consensus that it is great for PhD admissions, or the Cambridge MPhil first, and then the EME after that. The reason for the latter choice is that I'm not 100% sure my maths is strong enough to score well on the EME, and therefore have good enough results to apply for PhDs. If I do the Cambridge MPhil first, I will have plenty more time to prepare for the difficulty of the EME. Has anyone heard of people doing two masters like this? Would I just be wasting a year by doing 2 similar programs? Would I be better off using one of those years to do full-time research in prep for my PhD applications? Thanks!

As the title suggests, I am interested in finding out how difficult the EME program is at LSE. I have done my research and used the search function to look for past discussions on this topic. While there are posters who say that the EME is so tough that about a third of the class fail their finals, they don't quite go into the details of why the course is so difficult. I would really appreciate it if you all could weigh in and let me know what you think about the following questions. What is the math background of the average student in the 1 year long EME program? This information would be helpful for me because it could help me get an idea of the types of students I will be competing with. Do I have sufficient math experience to do well in the program? I want to make sure that I am not entering a program that uses concepts from advanced classes that I have not taken such as Real Analysis, Measure Theory, Topology etc. I have taken ODE, PDE, Lin Algebra, Probability Theory, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis, Number Theory and Calc I-III. In addition, I have taken Econometrics and Advanced Econometrics and have been exposed to using linear algebra to derive the OLS estimators, etc. I received As in all the classes mentioned except Calc III and Number Theory (Got B+s in them). I was taking a look at the classes that students in the 2 year version of the EME take in their preliminary year. The first year of the 2 year long EME is meant to equip students without a strong math/econ background with the required knowledge for the actual year of the EME program. I thought it would be helpful to look at the classes that LSE prescribes in the 1st year because it could reveal what LSE believes to be essential knowledge for successful completion of the core EME courses in the 2nd year. The website states that 1st year students can take Probability, Distribution Theory & inference, Further Mathematical Methods, Microeconomics, Microeconomic principles II, and Economic Theory and its applications. These classes look like the standard Linear Algebra, Calc I-III, ODE, economic theory and econometrics sequence that a Mathematical Economics student in the US would take in their sophomore or junior year. They don't seem to cover upper level topics such as RA, Abstract Algebra, Topology, Math Stats, and Measure Theory. Since these first year classes are meant to equip students with the necessary mathematical and economic tools for the core EME classes, can I assume that the EME core courses do not, in fact, require exposure to upper level proof based classes such as RA and Measure Theory? If the LSE only equips its 1st year EME students with what many URCHers would consider basic level math knowledge in the first year, why are there so many posts here stating that the EME course is the toughest thing out there. It must either be the case that the classes that LSE puts its 1st year students through is not adequate preparation for the core EME courses and that the 1st years who move on to the 2nd year are all of a sudden expected to understand proofs and concepts that they have never been exposed to, or that the 1st year courses are adequate and that the people who have posted here did not have good exposure to Linear Algebra, Calculus, etc. I find it hard to believe that the latter is the case so maybe LSE does in fact under prepare its 1st year students. What are your thoughts on this? If the EME does use upper level math concepts in their classes, how are these concepts used? Are they presented in a hand-wavy fashion such that students only need to understand the concepts from a high level without getting down and dirty with the proofs, or are students actually expected to produce rigorous proofs akin to the proofs one might write in a RA class? Thank you in advance to everyone who can help me with this. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hi all, I have been admitted to the Econometrics and Mathematical Economics program at LSE, the masters program at UBC and the masters (regular stream) at U of T. Since I've been reading through the forum posts on these schools, I've decided to crowdsource some input from you all to see what your thoughts are on these options. From what I have read and heard, the EME program at LSE would be the hardest of the three in terms of course work and may also be the most reputable from the perspective of PhD adcoms. I am well aware of the differences in costs of the programs. Ignoring the cost differences, what are your thoughts on the relative strengths of the programs if my goal is to get into a top PhD program? Specifically, I am interested in the difficulty of the coursework, how easy it is to get quality letters of recommendation from professors, program reputation, preparation for a PhD, and the likelihood of getting into a top PhD program. Thanks.