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Hello All, I recently received offers from three MA Econ programs in the US, which are UT Austin, Tufts, and Vanderbilt. They have offered me 35%, 85%, and 100% tuition scholarship, respectively. My top choice is Vanderbilt as I wouldn't have to pay tuition, just the living costs. However, my aim of doing an MA is moving on to a good PhD program, possibly Top 30 in the US. Following is my undergrad math/stats/econ background: 1) Intermediate Macro / Micro: A- / A 2) Econometrics: A+ 3) Calculus 1-3: A 4) Vector Analysis: A (Predicted) 5) Linear Algebra: B 6) Ordinary Differential Equations: B+ 7) Discrete Structures: A+ 8) Mathematical Statistics: A+ 9) Probability Theory: A+ 10) Advanced Calculus I (Analysis I): A (Predicted) 11) Statistical Inference: A (Predicted) 12) Senior Level Regression Analysis: A 13) Senior Level Analysis of Variance and Experimental Design: A (Predicted) GRE: 162V/ 170Q/ 4.5AWA I face two choices. One is to accept the offer from Vanderbilt and do the master's. However, this would not leave much room to take math courses and improve my math background. The best I can do is perform well in my master's level economics courses and do some research. Second option is to defer my offers and instead of minoring in math, which I am currently doing, major in math by extending my bachelors and graduating in May 2022 instead of 2021. The offer from Vanderbilt is very attractive financially, and I would certainly like to take it. However, I am not sure if my math background is strong enough to eventually land me a spot in a Top 30 PhD program in the US. I would like to know the strength of my profile for PhD admissions. Thank You!

Hello, I am quite torn between these two programs, both of which I feel are strong choices with a lot to offer. I figured I'd list out my pros and cons for each school, and see whether or not others had any insights! For context, I am mainly interested in political economics and public economics (although that can always change down the line). I am coming in without a ton of Math, so I would definitely be doing a bit of catching up during the first year (especially since I've been working for a few years since graduating undergrad). I would eventually like to work either in some government or public policy-oriented research position, and if I do go into academia I would see myself working at a small, liberal arts college with a strong emphasis on teaching. VANDERBILT Pros: - Small department, really take a personal interest in their students - Strong Law School/Political Science program (given my interest in political economics/law and economics) - Lots of female faculty members, which is really unique - Hamilton Scholar Award (extra 5000 dollars in addition to the standard stipend) - Nashville is a much more affordable city than Boston University Cons: - Far away from my friends, family and boyfriend (I'd have to fly home, which is less than ideal for me) - Few public transit options in Nashville (which I sorry about since I don't have a car) - Political economics professors do more theoretical work, while I'm interested in more applied/empirical work) - Smaller program means less course offerings, which could be an issue down the line BOSTON UNIVERSITY Pros: - Great location for me, close to friends and family members (also I just love Boston) - Seems as though the faculty and students are all pretty happy with BU and living in Boston, which is important to me - Strong job placement, particularly into positions that I see myself pursuing in the future - Political Economy masters option, which is something that I find very compelling - More course offerings that Vanderbilt (also proximity to Harvard, BC means potentially being able to audit/take courses there as well) Cons: - With a bigger program, I may get less personal attention - Much smaller stipend amount compared to Vanderbilt (especially relative to the cost of living) - Law School/Political Science Department is not as strong as Vanderbilt's - Not many professors who focus specifically in Political Economy (although others who do PE in addition to their main field) If anyone has any advice/insights about these two programs, that would be super helpful in the decision-making process. I am sure I would be happy and successful at either program, which makes the decision even more challenging. Thanks in advance!

​Hello folks. I've been following Urch for a while, but this is my first post. Please allow me to introduce myself a bit. I'm an international applicant, I got a Bachelor in Corporate Finance (outside the U.S.) in 2007 and a masters in Finance (in the U.S) in 2012. After 8 year working experience, I want to change my career path to academic instead of industry. My academic goal is to pursue a PhD in Econ or Finance. Because I'm out of the academic field for quite a long time, I'm supposed to get a Master in Econ before doing a PhD. Recently, I've just got accepted into several Masters' programs including UT-Austin (M.A. Econ with $), Vanderbilt (GPED or Master in Econ Development, no info about funding), UC Santa Cruz (M.S.in Applied Econ and Finance, with fellowship $), and I'm still waiting for USC (M.A. Econ). May I ask for your opinion which program is suitable for me, who have a background in Finance (Assume I got accepted to USC). I'm open to both PhD in Econ and PhD in Finance, though I understand getting an admission into a good PhD Finance program is extremely difficult. My research interest would be Macro, Micro, Econometrics and Corporate Finance. Thank you in advance.

Hi everyone. Long time reader; first time poster. I am applying to phD programs right now for next fall. I am looking for prestige, job/teaching oppurtunites upon graduation, money (cheap programs 3.5 or heavily subsidised), and I want to avoid the cold weather (I.E. Ann Arbor is out of the question). Which schools should I be looking at/setting my hopes on. GPA: 3.5 (T40 university) - Math and Economics double major GRE: 760Q; 580V Schools I have applied to: Rice Texas Vanderbilt Georgetown Ohio State Duke UNC BU Northwestern UVA USC UCLA UC-Berkeley UPenn :( Thanks!?!?!??!?!?

Has anyone heard? Post stats please.

Ok, I am going to do one of these. The pool of wisdom on this site is too valuable not to tap into. I want to study monetary/macro, and I have been accepted to Indiana, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Michigan State, and Iowa State, and I have been waitlisted at WUSTL. I really just want to get thoughts on the quality of each of these departments, specifically in monetary/macro (location is not an issue for me among these). My thoughts as of now: IU - great in macro, good program overall WUSTL - a little lower ranked but trending upward, strong in monetary Vanderbilt - positive trend, solid program Purdue - weak in macro, but they have Camera who is doing cool work in experimental monetary Iowa State - lower-ranked, but decent in monetary MSU - very strong in econometrics, weaker in macro Thanks for your thoughts!

Decision Time, Schools and Choices, and Planning for the PhD, Advice / HELP Hey everyone, as a reader of this forum, I have utilized it in the past for my planning regarding PhD admissions for economic programs, and right now, I am transferring schools (undergraduate) and looking to make the right choice for attaining my goals in graduate school. Ultimately, I am shooting for a Top 5 school and realistically wanting to gain admission to those in the Top 15. At the present, I am graduating my sophomore year of college, and I will be transferring to a 4-year school. My reason for transferring is that I graduated from Northern Virginia Community College (with a 4.0 GPA), and I need to transfer to get my degree. Relative to economics and math, I have completed 200 level Micro and Macro as well as Calc I, Calc II, Vector Calc (Calc 3), Lin Alg, Intro Stat, and Diff Equations, all with A's. I plan to pursue a double major in mathematics and economics in order to receive the rigorous math preparation for an economics PhD. Additionally, I would like to take some introductory graduate level economics courses to be competitive for top tier schools. I'd like to work extremely hard to finish my next two years with 4.0 and if not then hopefully a 3.8-3.9. By dilemma is in choosing the best school from my choices. Ignoring for a moment the differences in price, funding, and college environment, which school will be best with respect to the following: · the availability of upper level mathematics and economics courses, · availability of professors (notable or otherwise those willing to work with me so I can attain excellent LORs), · ease of graduating with a high GPA (the school doesn’t have issues with GPA deflation) · the overall undergraduate ranking and reputation of each school · the departmental rankings of each school in mathematics and economics · the graduate rankings of each school in mathematics and economics My choices of admitted schools and some of my thoughts wrt each school are as follows: · Vanderbilt University: o U.S. News Ranked 17 in overall undergraduate education o Fair availability of upper level math, but not to the same extent as NYU of UW-Madison o Professors are supposed to be readily available and willing to work with students on projects and research o Ranked significantly lower in undergraduate mathematics according to Gourmand Report Rankings o Ranked much lower in grad math at #51 by U.S. News o Ranked at #34 for Graduate economics programs o Concerns over reported grade deflation at Vanderbilt and difficulty or likely impossibility of graduating with the GPA I want · NYU o U.S. News Ranked 32 in undergraduate education o Exceptional availability of upper division math and econ courses o Wondering if professors are as approachable and willing to work with students? o Undergraduate ranking of Math department by Gourmand among the very best in the nation o Grad school rankings by U.S. news put NYU in the top 5 for analysis and top spot for applied mathematics o U.S. News puts NYU overall at #10 for grad math rankings o Ranked at #12 for Econ Grad program by U.S. News o Unknown about the difficulty of maintaining a high GPA? · University of Wisconsin Madison o U.S. News Ranked 39 in undergraduate education o Exceptional availability of upper division math and econ courses o Thinking that given the school’s size and environment, there will be good professors to work with for LORs o Undergraduate ranking of Math department by Gourmand among the best in the nation but not as high as NYU but in the top tier o Grad school rankings by U.S. news put UW-Madison at #10 in Analysis and #16 Overall o #14 in Grad Econ overall by U.S. News o Suspect that getting the GPA I want will be easier than at either Vanderbilt or NYU · College of William and Mary o #33 overall in undergraduate education o Not really considering due to the lack of availability in upper division mathematics and introductory graduate economics courses I guess the issue I’m really struggling with is the idea of going to a collectively lower ranked school over Vanderbilt. Similarly, I know that NYU and Wisconsin have better math and economics departments and will probably be easier on my GPA. Would top graduate schools rather see a top GPA from Wisconsin or NYU over a lower GPA from a reputedly more rigorous school (even if the departments aren’t as well recognized)? Or am I better off period where I can graduate with the highest GPA? Also, would making close connections with professors at either NYU or Madison be as feasible as at Vanderbilt and would those connections help with graduate admissions to those schools’ economics programs? While I’d ultimately like to get to a top 5, I’d be perfectly happy with NYU or Madison’s grad program so I’m wondering if going there would provide an inside edge with admission and funding, assuming I meet all the other criteria. I know this was a long post, but thank you to anyone who reads this and offers advice!

Decision Time, Schools and Choices, and Planning for the PhD, Advice / HELP Hey everyone, as a reader of this forum, I have utilized it in the past for my planning regarding PhD admissions for economic programs, and right now, I am transferring schools (undergraduate) and looking to make the right choice for attaining my goals in graduate school. Ultimately, I am shooting for a Top 5 school and realistically wanting to gain admission to those in the Top 15. At the present, I am graduating my sophomore year of college, and I will be transferring to a 4-year school. My reason for transferring is that I graduated from Northern Virginia Community College (with a 4.0 GPA), and I need to transfer to get my degree. Relative to economics and math, I have completed 200 level Micro and Macro as well as Calc I, Calc II, Vector Calc (Calc 3), Lin Alg, Intro Stat, and Diff Equations, all with A's. I plan to pursue a double major in mathematics and economics in order to receive the rigorous math preparation for an economics PhD. Additionally, I would like to take some introductory graduate level economics courses to be competitive for top tier schools. I'd like to work extremely hard to finish my next two years with 4.0 and if not then hopefully a 3.8-3.9. By dilemma is in choosing the best school from my choices. Ignoring for a moment the differences in price, funding, and college environment, which school will be best with respect to the following: · the availability of upper level mathematics and economics courses, · availability of professors (notable or otherwise those willing to work with me so I can attain excellent LORs), · ease of graduating with a high GPA (the school doesn’t have issues with GPA deflation) · the overall undergraduate ranking and reputation of each school · the departmental rankings of each school in mathematics and economics · the graduate rankings of each school in mathematics and economics My choices of admitted schools and some of my thoughts wrt each school are as follows: · Vanderbilt University: o U.S. News Ranked 17 in overall undergraduate education o Fair availability of upper level math, but not to the same extent as NYU of UW-Madison o Professors are supposed to be readily available and willing to work with students on projects and research o Ranked significantly lower in undergraduate mathematics according to Gourmand Report Rankings o Ranked much lower in grad math at #51 by U.S. News o Ranked at #34 for Graduate economics programs o Concerns over reported grade deflation at Vanderbilt and difficulty or likely impossibility of graduating with the GPA I want · NYU o U.S. News Ranked 32 in undergraduate education o Exceptional availability of upper division math and econ courses o Wondering if professors are as approachable and willing to work with students? o Undergraduate ranking of Math department by Gourmand among the very best in the nation o Grad school rankings by U.S. news put NYU in the top 5 for analysis and top spot for applied mathematics o U.S. News puts NYU overall at #10 for grad math rankings o Ranked at #12 for Econ Grad program by U.S. News o Unknown about the difficulty of maintaining a high GPA? · University of Wisconsin Madison o U.S. News Ranked 39 in undergraduate education o Exceptional availability of upper division math and econ courses o Thinking that given the school’s size and environment, there will be good professors to work with for LORs o Undergraduate ranking of Math department by Gourmand among the best in the nation but not as high as NYU but in the top tier o Grad school rankings by U.S. news put UW-Madison at #10 in Analysis and #16 Overall o #14 in Grad Econ overall by U.S. News o Suspect that getting the GPA I want will be easier than at either Vanderbilt or NYU · College of William and Mary o #33 overall in undergraduate education o Not really considering due to the lack of availability in upper division mathematics and introductory graduate economics courses I guess the issue I’m really struggling with is the idea of going to a collectively lower ranked school over Vanderbilt. Similarly, I know that NYU and Wisconsin have better math and economics departments and will probably be easier on my GPA. Would top graduate schools rather see a top GPA from Wisconsin or NYU over a lower GPA from a reputedly more rigorous school (even if the departments aren’t as well recognized)? Or am I better off period where I can graduate with the highest GPA? Also, would making close connections with professors at either NYU or Madison be as feasible as at Vanderbilt and would those connections help with graduate admissions to those schools’ economics programs? While I’d ultimately like to get to a top 5, I’d be perfectly happy with NYU or Madison’s grad program so I’m wondering if going there would provide an inside edge with admission and funding, assuming I meet all the other criteria. I know this was a long post, but thank you to anyone who reads this and offers advice!