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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.

Hello Urch, I want to apply for a Ph.D. program this year, but I have a lot of concerns regarding my chances due to my low profile. At the beginning of this year, I finished my master degree, and I was very excited to get a Ph.D. But after I read several profiles evaluation topics on this forum, I'm concluding that it would be almost impossible to get into any Ph.D. in the US or Europe. But I really want to get some opinions to move forward (to apply or to give up). My Profile: Type of Undergrad: Public Federal University in South America in Business Administration. But, unfortunately, my university is almost unknown outside my country. In the positive side, the public federal universities are the best Unis in my country. Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): Planning to take the GRE in July 2019. Undergrad GPA: 3,12 (7,8/10 in my country). Type of Grad: Master at the same university in Business Administration (Corporate Finance Track). Graduate GPA: 3,4 (8,5/10 in my country). Research Experience: My MSc in Business was research oriented. So I have almost seven research papers/working papers: A paper published in a peer review national accounting journal; A paper published in the most recognized national business congress. Two papers in the most recognized national accounting congress. Two papers in the best finance congress and one working papers that I have to finish. They are all in my SSRN.com. I think I can submit two of them to an international journal at the end of this semester. Teaching Experience: A semester as a teacher assistant (Corporate Finance class). Work Experience: Internship in a public audit office. Finance courses (Undergrad-level): Financial Management I and II, Financial Mathematics; Finance courses (Grad-level): Strategic Planning and Control, Asset Valuation and Corporate Finance. Econ Courses (Undergrad-level): Business Economics. Math/Statistics (Undergrad-level): Introduction to calculus; Applied Quantitative and Qualitative Methods; Statistics for Business Research; Math/ Statistics (Grad-level): Quantitative Research I and II (Those classes covered subjects such as exploratory analysis, univariate and multivariate hypothesis, cross-sections and panel data analysis). I did a lot of accounting classes, but I don’t see how these classes will help me in Finance… LOR: I have 3 letters of recommendation, but all of these letters are from professors in my country: A LOR from my master supervisor (he is a decent researcher in my country), other LOR from the professor who accepted me as a teacher assistant and another LOR from a professor who is the chief of my university applied social science department. My question is: Since the GRE and the research papers are the only variables that I can improve right now, let’s suppose I can get a good GRE (>90% for Q and V), what do you recommend? Should I apply for a Ph.D. or a MPhil? I know that I have a bad GPA, a poor econ-related number of classes, a bad work experience, and that I’m from an unknown university/ country. But I have a decent research background and my plan is to work with empirical corporate finance research Also, due to the exchange rate conversion, I can’t apply for dozens of programs, so I have to choose carefully (10 or 12 programs) and I have to get financial aid too, since I’m not rich (all my savings are divided by 5 due to exchange rate conversion). I was thinking about the programs in Europe, because the majority of them offer financial aid: UC3M, HDHEC, ESSEC, IESE, ESSAD, HEC Lausanne (Léman, Lugano or Zurich), St. Gallen, CBS, Mannheim, and Frankfurt, or in Canada: Alberta, Queens, Toronto or McGill. I’m accepting more suggestions since some of those universities are the ones that I find because they have professors who publish papers that I used to read. Should I give up? I really have good chances to enter in the best Ph.D. programs in my country, where I can get financial aid, an incentive to do a fellowship in some USA or UK university and apply for good job market positions here. I do not need to do the GRE/GMAT here since our universities usually put more weight in research experience and interviews. So, I really need some advice to move forward. Because, if I don’t have any chances to get a Ph.D. or MPhil, I will not expend my time (I’m studying 4-5 hours to take the GRE every day) and savings trying to do something impossible or something that I can’t pay for. Any help will be appreciated!

Final Year undergraduate in the UK with interest of undertaking a masters degree with the intention of finally applying to top 15 American PhD programs. I've gone through loads of previous posts considering these options, but would like a newly refreshed and up-to-date perspective. Note: LSE EME was my first and most preferred option over the other 3, but for the purposes of this post (ignoring LSE EME); for purposes of top 15 American PhD which masters programs would be best? LSE MSc Econ vs Cambridge MPhil Economics Research vs Oxford MPhil Econ?

I'm graduating from UC Davis with a 3.4 GPA, majoring in economics and international relations. My upper division GPA and the GPA for my last two years are around 3.6. I had mild depression in my first two years after my grandfather passed away, which explains my GPA, sort of. I have three solid recommendations from 3 full economics professors, one for whom I have been a research assistant. My GRE is 160V/160Q (planning to re-take but not hopeful). What would be the chance for me to be accepted for Oxford MPhil Economics or Cambridge MPhil Economics? Their entry requirements are 3.7 and 3.6 respectively. If it's virtually impossible for me to be accepted, I don't think I will apply. But I've been told by admissions officers from both Oxford and Cambridge that other aspects of my application will be considered. I get the feeling that Oxbridge takes the GPA extremely seriously. I was rejected by Oxford's PPE because I didn't meet the A-level conditional offer. Please be frank thanks. Should I or should I not apply?

Hi All, Please let me know if anyone got offer from ERIM (Netherlands) or got an interview invitation from the institute for their MPhil in Business program. I got an interview scheduled on 5th, so needed some suggestions on how to approach it. Thanks,

Hi All, Please let me know if anyone got offer from ERIM (Netherlands) or got an interview invitation from the institute for their MPhil in Business program. I got an interview scheduled on 5th, so needed some suggestions on how to approach it. Thanks,

If you had to choose between Oxford MPhil and Cambridge MPhil, which one would you choose? Also, please share your opinions regarding PhD placement and employment after graduation from any of these two programs. And, lastly, any other opinions about these programs are most welcome.

Hello, I have an offer for the MPhil in Economics at Oxford but want to change to the MSc in Economics for Development. Due to a recent existential crisis, I'm not sure I want to become an economist or stay in academia -and due to the change of the MPhil program and the fact that I didn't get ESRC funding, I'd prefer to do the MSc in Economics for Development. Does anyone know whether it is possible to switch from the MPhil to the MSc? I assume that entry to the former is harder because the program is more rigorous but on the other hand they are run by different departments and obviously the MSc in Economics for Development also receives a lot of applications.. The application deadlines have already past. Has anyone heard of people who have switched from the MPhil to the MSc? Thanks