rouh Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) Hey guys, Long-time lurker, first-time poster here, I'm trying to choose between Duke Econ. masters and UToronto Financial Econ. masters. My undegrad degree is in math+ econ. and my goal is ultimately a phd in economics. So how would you rank these programs according to future phd prospects. Below is what I think as of now: Toronto mfe:Pros: 16 month program, basically their 1 year MA program+ 4 finance courses. Small program, only 25 in class. TAship= ~5K a semester Paid internship for 4 month= ~20K + another possible employment for 8 month before Fall 2016 Cons: No info. on phd placement found online( not even for their MA Econ.) Duke:Pros: 2 year program, focused on economics phd preparation. Duke is better respected(?) Fine phd placement according to their website. Cons: No funds, no TAship, no internship. Any comment is valuable. I appreciate your time. PROFILE: Type of Undergrad: Math and Economics, at Top 3 Canadian school Undergrad GPA: 3.70 Type of Grad:- Grad GPA:- GRE: Q168, V161, AW3.5 Math Courses: Calculus I-IV: A+/A+/A/A. LA I/II: A-/A-. Proofs: A-. ODE:A, PDE:A+. Optimization: A. Group theory:A+. Diff. Geometry: A+, Classic Geometry:A-. Topology: A. Real analysis: B+. Complex analysis: A. Econ Courses (grad-level): none. Econ Courses (undergrad-level): Intro Econ: A+. Intermediate micro: A+. Intermediate macro: A. Stats: B+. Monetary economics: B+. Development economics: A-. Adv. micro: A. Adv. Macro: A-. Econometrics I: A-. Other Courses: a few philosophy and french courses, entirely irrelevant. Letters of Recommendation: 1 Econ prof+ 1 Math prof+ 1 summer internship supervisor. Research Experience: limited to reproduction of an econometrics paper. Edited March 7, 2014 by rouh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyandcredit Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Do you want to specialize in Financial Economics when you do pursue your PhD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Econhead Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Is money of any object (concern) to you? If so, then you should quickly check the cost of duke. I won't guestimate how much, given I know nothing about how they might subsidize the program, other than to say that the program could be "expensive." or, perhaps, i should take the question as a signal that money is of little consequence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouh Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 I honestly don't know, and that's part of the reason I want to do a masters before committing to phd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catrina Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I honestly don't know, and that's part of the reason I want to do a masters before committing to phd. If you want to explore both econ and finance, then the MFE sounds like a good option. I would think that you could probably get at least a partial list of PhD admissions by asking the department. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyandcredit Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Honestly, if you don't know what you want to do, you may just want to take an extra year to dabble in economics and/or finance electives. A good master's program is no joke (even mine was difficult); you have to really want it (and know why you do) if you expect to succeed. You really should post a profile like those found in the Roll Call thread if you want more advice from strangers on the internet. Heck, I don't even know what you majored in, so I just don't know enough about you to offer any advice (which you should take with a grain of salt anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouh Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Is money of any object (concern) to you? If so, then you should quickly check the cost of duke. I won't guestimate how much, given I know nothing about how they might subsidize the program, other than to say that the program could be "expensive." or, perhaps, i should take the question as a signal that money is of little consequence? Thanks for responding. You are right. Duke is more expensive: about 70K in tuition which is subsidized by 4-5K/semester of student jobs (RA, TA, library, etc.). Toronto is 55K for non-Canadians with 4-5K/semester TAship+ 20-30K summer internship. (and it's 8 month shorter) Of course money matters, and I'm trying to subjectively evaluate if the extra cost is worth it or not. But I'm getting the sense that, putting money aside you believe Duke program is strictly better than that of UofT, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouh Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) Honestly, if you don't know what you want to do, you may just want to take an extra year to dabble in economics and/or finance electives. A good master's program is no joke (even mine was difficult); you have to really want it (and know why you do) if you expect to succeed. You really should post a profile like those found in the Roll Call thread if you want more advice from strangers on the internet. Heck, I don't even know what you majored in, so I just don't know enough about you to offer any advice (which you should take with a grain of salt anyway). You are right. I edited my original post and added details. Edited March 7, 2014 by rouh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouh Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 If you want to explore both econ and finance, then the MFE sounds like a good option. I would think that you could probably get at least a partial list of PhD admissions by asking the department. Thanks. I'll try to ask the department and update the community for future reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackKitty Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Hey guys, Long-time lurker, first-time poster here, I'm trying to choose between Duke Econ. masters and UToronto Financial Econ. masters. My undegrad degree is in math+ econ. and my goal is ultimately a phd in economics. So how would you rank these programs according to future phd prospects. Did you also apply to UofT's MA Economics? If you want to eventually do a PhD in Economics, I would suggest UofT MA Econ. It is really the best "stepping stone" program you can get in Canada if you want to get into the "big four" Canadian Eocn PhD programs and top 30 programs in the US. Given your profile, it's very likely that you will be admitted into the Doctoral Stream MA, which offers full funding (about $26,500 last year, covers full tuition and leaves a stipend of 16k). Another advantage of that is you get to take PhD level courses, and if you do well in those courses, you will almost certainly be offered a spot in UofT's own PhD program. The MFE is designed for people wanting to have a career in the finance industry rather than pursing a career in academia. It's more of a professional degree. To be honest I don't think it makes any sense for you to do an MFE especially given that your goal is to do an Econ PhD. Duke MA is way too expensive for what it's worth, and no body really does MA's in the US. So do an MA at one of the "Big Fours" in Canada: UofT, Queen's, Western, UBC, and then apply for a PhD in the US. This way you can avoid incurring any costs and you end up with a much stronger profile too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackKitty Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Also, as an MA student you can take the exact same courses as the MFE's (except the MGT courses in securities and corporate financing, which are courses that do not help you get into a Econ PhD program. Maybe they help a little if you apply to a PhD in Finance). Also the MFE is still too expensive. The paid internship and TAship together don't even cover all your tuition and fees, let alone your living expenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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