Mature student looking at Economics Masters in UK/Europe

[taketwo]

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!

[Kaysa]

You should get advice from Europeans, not us. We don't know how it works in Europe.

[jrdonsimoni]

Oxford is indeed a very good department in dev econ, not sure about the others, I had some friends who specialised in development, but I never got into it.

 

If you re already in the UK I'd say that staying there is the simplest thing really. Depending on how good your diploma is I dont see any reason why you shouldnt be admissible to any of those unis.

 

One thing though, I do agree with your profs and friend, getting a straight up MSc in Econ containing some dev courses is probably the best course of action. Nottingham has a decent masters in that view, you could also choose to stay there for your phd, though we're not very big on Dev Econ, but some of our students did get to do pretty good jobs afterwards (ODI fellowship, econ consulting in london) but no phds that I know of in that field.

 

Also, Manchester might be another interesting destination, I heard their programme was actually quite good at MSc level. I think either of those 2 should be valid secondary choices behind Oxford and UCL in the UK. As for the rest of europe I have no clue (Maybe the Paris School of Economics? you might want to have a look into that).

[taketwo]

Thank you, jrdonsimoni, for your very good suggestions. I have looked at the courses at both Nottingham and Manchester and they have some interesting options, as well as a solid reputation. There even appears to be one academic I hadn't come across before who has areas of interest that overlap with my particular topic(s) of choice. Someone for me to check out.

 

I'm sorry, Kaysa, if I misunderstood this forum in general. I searched for general information to see if it was solely for the US and I couldn't find anything, so I presumed it would be an open forum, albeit with many more posters from there than the UK and Europe.

 

Regarding the continental European universities and institutions, I've read a fair number of posts and opinions about the Tinbergen Institute on here but very little appears about ECARES, so I don't suppose anyone out there might have something to add on that topic?

[jrdonsimoni]

Ive never heard of anyone coming from the ECARES programme back in the UK but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Im guessing it must be a small programme (might be wrong).

 

All I can tell about Notts and development is that my friends studying it really liked the modules, also about Notts, you can just take do MSc Economics and then choose 2 development modules as options in your 2nd semester. You'd have to do one of either Adv. Micro. or Adv. Macro. (the latter fitting quite nicely with the rest I guess, and the professor is really good for it I heard), and one adv. econometrics module, those are a bit tough, but they re generally worth it.

 

As a disclaimer I did my MSc in Notts, so I am biased, but it s a great campus, very good faculty and very accessible. Good city, and the seminars often welcome some very interesting people.

 

The PhD there takes about 4 years (despite the 3 advertised) and there were about 5-7 students who chose to do that after our MSc. But Im no Development expert, so I wouldnt know where is best, so I should thinkg that Oxford and UCL might be better options in that respect for a PhD.

[taketwo]

Thank you again, jrdonsimoni, for your comments. I have taken on board your Nottingham bias (!) but it's still useful info.

[Faj Gha]

hi

could you please help me to edit my post i tried to rewrite but it seems noway is it possible foe us to edited what we have written few weeks ago?? please it is urgent