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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!

Hey everybody, I almost finished my Bachelor's in economics in Maastricht and I am thinking of where to go for Master's program. I definitely want to do something much more technical than in my Bachelor's program; either something like mathematical economics or econometrics (financial econometrics but I am not definitely sure yet). With that I mean that I really want to do more abstract and complicated maths including mathematical proofs, abstract reasoning, etc. I am looking for a top (research) Master's program (2year) and I plan to go to top 20 US school afterwards I know that there are already lots of threads here but I still couldn't find definite answers, especially about the level of tinbergen's advanced econometrics track. GPA: 9/10 GRE quant: 168 What is the best address for Master's program in econometrics (financial econometrics) or mathematical economics in Europe? I applied at LSE, Cambridge, Oxford already. But I am also interested in Bonn, Mannheim, Tinbergen Institute and Tilburg University. What are the chances to go from the German and Dutch unis to top20 grad school in US for PhD in economics? And how technical are these degrees? I heard Bonn and Mannheim are quite good and technical. However, Bonn and Mannheim are both rather weak in Econometrics. Anyone knows more about how good they are in econometrics? I also heard that Tinbergen is very good at econometrics because of its technical and rigorous econometrics track? Anyone has any experience with it? Is it possible to do as "normal" economics graduate to do the "econometrics" track? Or is it too hard? Thank's for your help!!!!

Hello, I've been reading up on people's opinions about various economics masters courses on the forum here but, as I'm in a slightly different position to many, I haven't found quite the perspective I'm looking for. I'm hoping there may be others out there who have been in similar situtations, or can comment on alternative aspects. I'll try not to get too specific though, as I don't want to make this (hopefully useful) thread only applicable to me. I'm also aware that reputations and experiences can change over the years so some advice and opinions, such as personal rankings, from several years ago might no longer be entirely valid. Firstly, I'm not looking to go on and do a PhD in the US. I'm perfectly happy with the UK or continental Europe for any future research opportunities. Secondly, I'm a mature student returning to university education many years after my first undergraduate degree, which means that I have different barriers to cross when getting into a Masters programme (non-standard entry course and explaining why I'm doing this now) - plus I find I care more about quality of life whilst studying (as in a supportive academic environment, good location, etc) than I did when in my early twenties. That said, I want to study somewhere at a high enough level and I know it will be hard work. Living costs aren't a huge problem, but heavy course fees could be. My interest is in development economics, but I want to make sure I'm covering a good amount of general economics with enough quantitative rigour. My relevant background is an undergraduate degree in Maths from a top-tier UK university (alas, I only got a 2(ii)) some years previously, plus I'm now taking a graduate diploma in economics (well-known in the UK as an accelerated degree 'conversion course') on track to come out with a distinction (equivalent to a first). I've been advised by both professors and a post-doc friend to go for 'straight' economics masters (as long as there is at least one development optional course), rather than a development economics masters, since this will be seen as stronger for any potential PhD. N.B. I haven't done the GRE test yet, but I will soon! At the moment, my thoughts are as follows. In the UK: - Oxford MPhil (strong econ and good dev, although two years and expensive if no course funding, also rather hard to get into!) - UCL MSc (good econ, one dev option, just one year so a little more affordable, I think I have a reasonable shot of getting a place) - Essex MSc ?? (a bit of an emergency back-up option perhaps) I've discounted Cambridge, LSE and Warwick for personal reasons, to do with cost, location, timing of dissertation/thesis, etc. In Europe: - Tinbergen Institute (seems to be a rigorous course with some dev options, inexpensive, Amsterdam nice to live, seeming guarantee of PhD place, need to commit to five years there though, quite competitive to get into) - ECARES (similar reasons to TI, although fewer dev options, Brussels nice to live, lesser commitment of two years) I'm not sure about Barcelona GSE (nice location, quite expensive unless course funding is realistic, speedy course like LSE), Stockholm SSE (free, too cold?, not many dev options), Toulouse TSE (bad reputation on the forum), Carlos 3 Madrid (mid-priced I think, but need to take relocation into account). I'd appreciate the views and input of anyone with knowledge of these economics departments so I can try to get a sense of whether I'd have particular issues as a mature student. Or, really, I'm happy to hear everyone's latest views. Many thanks for your help!

Hi guys! I recently received some offers: - Msc Economics from UCL 1yr - Msc Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi 2yr - MPhil Economics from Tinbergen Institute (with direct continuation to PhD) 2yr - Msc Economics from Warwick 1yr I was also considering the Msc in Economics at the University of Turin combined with Collegio Carlo Alberto allievi honours track (2 yr). My goal, enter a top US - EU PhD program. I am leaning towards UCL, but maybe a 2 yr program would suit me better. TI made me a nice offer, but it feels somehow you cannot leave for the PhD, and I do not think I want to take my PhD in the Netherlands. Any advice? Thanks

Hi guys, I've got offers from IUB and TI, but waitlist from BC. My primary interest is in econometrics, esp. financial econometrics. Let's make a comparison: (1) Academic strength: Based on ranking at Econphd-econometrics, TI is better then the rest, comprised of UvA (rank 15), EUR (rank 23), and VU (rank 54), while BC ranks 20, and IUB only ranks 119. link: http://econphd.econwiki.com/rank/reconm.htm. But this ranking is somewhat outdated. Based on IDEAS, the rankings are BC(ranks 28)>TI(ranks 45)>IUB(ranks 54). Taking the flyouts into consideration, I would consider like this: BC>TI>IUB. link:Untitled - Flyout ranking! And, just now, I noticed that in the ranking by Tilburg Economics Ranking (based on 2008-2012), UvA(rank 23)>IUB(rank 42)>BC(rank 61). Based on ranking for authors at IDEAS, TI has Siem Koopman (ranks 61), Herman van Dijk (ranks 99); BC has Arthur Lewbel (ranks 46), Zhijie Xiao (ranks 103), and Christopher F Baum (ranks 125); IUB has Joon Park (ranks 51). Well, let's forget ranking... (2) Location Let's say, U.S. is still the center of academia, you can get the connection of Yale, MIT, WB, IMF, FED, then the whole world...while at TI, it's only possible to get connection in London, ECB... (3) Personal My fiancee is going to MSF at Rochester, so a job is much more possible to expect at Boston, not any cities around Bloomington...So, forget all the above reasons. BC is my best choice!!! huh, what do you guys think?