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Hello, I've been given offers to three Canadian programs and one UK program (I was also accepted to a different program at Cambridge at Christ's College but will be turning it down). I am trying to figure out which program will give me the best chance to get into a top PhD program, but would also perhaps stand well as a terminal degree if I do not end up pursuing a PhD (personal health problems might make that difficult or delayed). I would appreciate insight from any fellow applicants, alum, or even people within the field. My offers: 1) Oxford MSc Economics for Development - No funding, quite pricey - Structure: courses in economic theory (micro/macro split) and econometrics, tutorials in related areas like poverty, development, inequality, etc. with a final 10,000 page extended essay 2) UBC MA Economics - 12K TAship offered and 1K fellowship/RA - Structure: first semester of intense core theory (micro, macro, metrics, mathematics), second semester electives (e.g. labour, environment, etc.). Third semester of research seminar (project for a class rather than independent research, no individual supervision). Probably the most intense program of the 4 3) UofT MA Economics - Regular (non-doctoral) stream, 8K TAship and 10K award - Structure: 8 months of courses, 3 core (micro, macro, metrics) and 5 electives. No research option 4) Queen's MA Economics - 8K TAship and 11K award offered, been advised that my SSHRC application ($22,500) will likely be approved (in that case I would have to turn down the 11K award) - Structure: first semester micro, metrics, and two others, second semester macro and three others. Option to take a spring course instead of 4 in first term. Summer research essay, supervision by professor - Problem: Does not offer courses in my fields of interest (development, labour, environment, health) My details: - Canadian undergrad from a top Canadian school - GRE: 170/163/6.0 - Interest in development economics and looking at the labour, environment, health, gender, technology side of economic analysis (not interested in finance, banking, etc.) - Unsure about pursuing a PhD in Economics but definitely want to keep it in the cards. Possiblity that this might be a terminal degree, however, and I have to account for that. - Might need to take a reduced course load (2 or 3 classes/term rather than 4) due to medical issues Oxford's program had until now been my top choice for its blending of economics and development, connections with development institutions, and Oxford's good name (which would be more important if this will be my terminal degree, which might be the case). My main concerns with the program is that 1) it might not be considered rigorous enough for an Econ PhD in Canada if it only covers micro/macro/metrics and the rest is more political economy rather than economic analysis, and 2) the price, of course. I would have to entirely self-fund through savings, loans, lines of credit, etc. In Canada, UBC and UofT seem to be the most reputable in economics (Queens in third), though all three seem to focus very little on applied econ and focus almost entirely on core theory. This would be great for PhD programs (though i have been advised that the non-doctoral stream at Toronto is not considered rigorous enough), but for a terminal degree I wonder if a more applied one from a bigger name school (Oxford) would be more valuable, especially if i intend to work or study internationally. I've been told varying advice on which program is considered better/the best. UofT Doctoral stream gets high praise but its regular stream doesn't (though the only difference would be two courses out of eight). UBC's program is generally well regarded, but the course structure is so rigid that if i were to take extra time it would take me 24 months to complete (compared with Queens' 12 months, Oxford's 9 months, UofT's 16 months). I've also been told it is very theoretical and wouldn't be the most useful for an applied degree. Queen's would be great in terms of its flexibility, its funding, the research grant, the individual supervision, etc. but it is the least reputable school out of all of these (Oxford obviously a top 3 international school and Toronto and UBC top 30. Queen's is in the top 300) which wouldn't matter as much in Canada but might make a difference internationally, I worry. I would have selected it normally but i found out that they won't even offer electives in the areas i am interested in and so potential connections to development work (JPAL, development placements, etc.) would be quite low. I also don't know how many of their faculty are research faculty, which could make a big difference for PhD placements in terms of LoRs If you were in my shoes, which option would you pick? I'm inclined towards the Oxford MSc but I'm worrying that because it is a more applied degree rather than a core theory degree it may jeopardize my PhD options. But having the Oxford name would only help, I imagine, in pursuing work if that is what I choose to do. For American and UK schools it may not matter as much since they do direct admits from bachelor's degrees, but for Canadian PhD programs (UofT, UBC) which only accept candidates with a masters in economics, i don't know if the MSc would have enough economic analysis/rigour as the others would. But it would be the most interesting program for me, most relevant to my interests, and is very well connected to industry from what I hear (but if you have heard otherwise please correct me, i don't want to operate on incorrect assumptions!) Thank you
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I just finished my third year of undergrad at a reputable Canadian university. I plan on applying to Canadian MA (Economics) programs next year, with the intentions of then applying to top-30 PhD programs in the US the year following. After conducting preliminary research, I really like Western's (PhD-Stream) MA program. However, I am somewhat concerned about this program because many online sources state not to apply to Western unless you intend on doing a PhD there. If I were to enroll in Western's MA program over another "Big 4" MA, would I be at a disadvantage when applying to US PhD programs? My thoughts are that a Western MA would actually look stronger than the other MAs, since Western offers a PhD-Stream level of difficulty... Is my logic here flawed or accurate? It seems that most applicants apply to Queen's, U of T, and UBC over Western. Yet, Western's class size is smaller than the other three, which should actually make it easier to get LoR's when applying to PhD programs, thus making Western's MA a (seemingly) more attractive program. Not sure if I have overlooked anything regarding the PhD-Stream component that everyone else seemed to catch. I just can't understand why this would deter most applicants from applying to Western. Additionally, can anyone confirm that Western's MA is one-year in length? It says on their website that it's one-year, but I recently read a post on here that says it's actually two years. Thanks for your feedback!
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Hi guys, I have been accepted into Queen's MA and Toronto's regular stream MA (waitlisted for the DS) with similar funding options because a lot of it comes from an outside source. I was wondering if any of you knew which school I should attend knowing that my main criteria is placement for Ph.D. I know that Toronto generally seems to be considered a better ranked department at least for Ph.D studies but I don't really care about what department produces the most research, just the one that is a better stepping stone for top Ph.D programs. On that front, Queen's seems to have done better in the past few years from what I have read. Can anyone help me with this? Has Toronto placed regular stream students in good Ph.D programs in the past years? Also, I am waiting on UBC's decision. If I was to be accepted, would you recommend going there over the other 2, again based on placement? Thanks.
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Hi all, I have an offer from Queen’s starting May 2011 and need to respond in the next 3 days. I am struggling to understand if Queen’s would be the right fit for me. I am looking at Canadian MBA’s only Below is my background: Undergraduate from Canada – BSc – Biochemistry GPA approx 3.0 3.5 yrs post undergrad work experience in IT sales and sales management (mainly Canada and one year in India) GMAT 700 Looking to get into Consulting after MBA. Ivey is looking to be another good option, but is it worth to wait one more year and apply to Ivey, or the difference between these two schools isn’t that much to wait one more year? I look forward to your thoughts Rahul Oberoi
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