Calamari2013

Another aspect to consider is the kind of jobs you will be looking at post graduation. NYU surely seems attractive and if you were keen to work in the financial services sector, I would tell you to go for it. But you mentioned development economics so if you provide us with more specific info (consulting, NGOs, etc...) perhaps we can advise better. anyway, congratulations on securing those offers.

well-said and very wise to view this issue from the international student's perspective. thanks for that you are right to say that promises are just promises at this time, and there is nothing concrete. In fact, my partner said yesterday that should michigan state have wanted me to join their program by all means, they could have given me a better offer, perhaps something more concrete than just assurances...however they did not. His statement makes sense in a way...oh well.

You've certainly made some valid points here. uc davis would make a great choice and obviously they are high in the agricultural economics rankings... it's just that I've got some concerns. First, getting TAs in other departments will release some of the financial burden but it will not provide me with the research experience I need to build my profile for a potential PhD. Second, even if I could defer for one year and get a job in a bank, I doubt I could save so much given that two years at uc davis for an international student would be somewhere around $95,000. I have already tried to find out more information about current MS students from davis but very few and I mean, very very few do seem to be in roles related to their fields of interest. These considerations have made me realise that uc davis might not be the best option for me at this time, unfortunately...

Thank you and I wish you too good luck! The irony here is that I was pretty confident I would get a fully funded offer from michigan state as my research interests were a perfect fit to the faculty there. but uiuc came from nowhere with this cheeky offer on the other hand I feel that michigan has let me down... unless a miracle happens, I will most likely accept the UIUC offer and try to make the best of it. thanks for your advice.

I have thought of letting both uc davis and michigan state know about the UIUC offer and see what they answer. Do you think it's okay to mention the name of the university that gave me the offer? Will it cause any issues? If I take UIUC, I will need to email the rest of the schools anyhow to decline their offers. At the same time I need to think of a positive way to put it across to them as I surely do not wish to burn any bridges. One day I may apply for a PhD at these same universities

I agree with you, the only thing that worries me is how this decision will affect my PhD prospects later on.. Even though UIUC still ranks high overall in agricultural economics, all the other programs that have accepted me seem to rank higher. Not sure how relevant this aspect is...

Hi all I've applied for an ARE master's degree at UC Davis, Univ of Wisconsin Madison, Michigan State University, UIUC and University of Maryland. So far I have received offers from the first four programs and I am yet to hear back from the Univ of Maryland. I find it hard to choose a program and thought someone could help...here is what I've got. 1) UC Davis - I have received an offer with a tiny fellowship that is negligible when you calculate the costs of the entire program. Being an international student, the non-resident tuition at UC Davis is a killer and from my research, getting a relevant RA position at the master's level seems doubtful. UC Davis is actually my top choice but sadly it looks elusive to me. 2) Michigan State - This would be my second choice as they are strong in development and have interesting projects apart from teaching - the faculty seem quite interested in my profile and keen to have me join their master's program; however, there is nothing concrete on the funding yet; I received assurance on multiple occasions from the department that given my background and previous experience I would make a strong candidate for a research assistantship once I join the program. The question is whether I can rely on promises... what if nothing comes up ultimately? 3) Wisconsin-Madison - I've been told there is very little funding available and none for master's students at this time. The overall cost of the program is about 90k-95k for two years, really impossible for me to afford without getting a loan. Taking loans is not quite an option for me however. Hence I have written it off, WM is clearly out of my reach at this time. 4) UIUC - I have received full funding here that is nicely outlined in the offer letter - basically it contains details of the professor I will be supporting in research activities and it seems that this professor shares some of my research interests (to some extent) and has a PhD from ARE Berkeley (if that helps). My offer comes with a tuition waiver plus a generous monthly stipend. Even though I rank UIUC lower than Michigan State in terms of my research interests, I must say the offer does look amazing. The thought of doing a master's program (which is still close to my aspirations) debt-free in this troubled world makes me ecstatic and I feel very tempted to take it. However, I am not sure whether this degree will help advance my future goals... Now, my goals--- I am looking to specialise in the economics of small farms and want to build a development-related career (financing of smallholder farmers, food security issues, etc). I am interested in development consulting or an IO- post graduation but if things go well during my master's, I will be looking to pursue an ARE PhD in the medium term. I plan to focus on building a strong profile to have a good shot at places like UC Davis, Berkeley, Maryland and Michigan State among others. The main things I am looking for in a master's degree are 1) RA opportunities related to my field, 2) funding opportunities, 3)rigorous coursework,4) strong PhD placement record (the above names in particular) and 5) good job prospects post graduation (keep in mind that I'm an international student and should I not get something in the US, I will either return to Europe or go elsewhere, thus my master's degree has to be marketable enough outside the US). I do not really care about location... What do you think, which program should I go for? So far I have been leaning toward Michigan State on the basis of the promises made by the department but now, given UIUC's offer, I am wondering whether it is worth giving up this amazing opportunity in order to join Michigan... What do you guys think? Any thoughts/opinions are welcome...thanks!

I can talk about London but I reckon Geneva may be similar. When I did my undergrad in the centre of London, I initially paid about £600 for a tiny, really tiny room in the dorm (no meals included). Sharing a flat will not necesarily be cheaper but you will probably get more space. In my last year I rented a tiny 1-bed flat (zone 4, so pretty far from the centre) for £800 plus utility bills because I was working alongside coursework. Depending on which zone you choose to live, transportation expenses per month can be up to £200 if you live in zone 4 and it gets a bit less the closer to zone 1 you get, but it will still be exorbitant, I'm afraid. The great thing about living in London, I believe, is that cities like Geneva do not seem expensive anymore, or even big cities in the US appear so much more affordable.

This is so true! Apart from that, many jobs in development tend to be contract-based and budget-constrained. I once volunteered in a small NGO office during my undergraduate degree. One of the few paid employees over there told me that she had actually volunteered for a few years before she could finally get paid for her work. And even then her contracts would be for just 6 -12 months and sometimes they would not get extended due to lack of funds. I reckon things could be different in bigger organisations...

I applied to UC Davis, Univ of Wisconsin-Madison, Univ of Maryland, Michigan State Univ and UIUC. In Europe I am considering the PPD program from Paris School of Economics, the agricultural econ at Univ of Bonn and probably the development economics program from Univ of Goettingen. So far I've got an offer from Wisconsin -Madison and i am excited as their program is ranked 4th in the US and it's one of the best in the world. Sadly, no funding, it seems the dept is going through a hard year. What programs did u apply for?

I've received an offer letter recently but it pales in comparison to yours well-done! You must be a special candidate, no doubt.

I've been following this thread with lots of interest because I am also keen on a career in international development mainly econ dev. Even though I am not targetting the same programs (I am looking at grad programs in economics/agricultural economics), I am also torn between US and European schools. Being European myself, I thought European schools would be a better fit (as most of the people here have articulated, they are cheaper and besides, I would not be restricted to on-campus jobs as I would be should I choose to attend an American school). However, I need a program that will make me more employable internationally and somehow I am yet to find persuasive evidence that the European schools in my field can achieve that. On the other hand, the US schools I applied to seem to really know what they are doing - most of the faculty in the US I researched also work as consultants with big names such as World Bank, UNDP, FAO, IFPRI and I reckon it will be easier to use the network in order to find meaningful employment down the line. I personally have applied to both US and European programs and I am going through a major dilemma. I know someone, a former classmate who did her masters in development at the LSE and a couple of years down the line she is, to my knowledge, still volunteering in a developing country trying to set her foot in the door, so to say. Last time I talked to her, she seemed disappointed with the post-LSE prospects. By no means I am looking to discourage people here but I thought I would give my 2 cents in the US-European school debate. I find it very interesting and whatever I have written above can be, I am sure, argued pro and against.

I suggest you check Univ of Bonn, Mannheim and Goettingen (the latter offers a masters program in dev econ) oh sorry, it seems u want to do a BSc not a grad program. Not sure if there are good undergraduate programs in english over there...

i can help if u're still interested.

@education leadership: a realistic and honest approach to the GRE. Thanks and good luck with your applications.

hi. same background, would u be interested in swapping sops?

I've got a 5.5 and like yourself I am not an English native speaker. Actually I did not get the chance to write a single practice essay as I put in all my prep time in the other two sections. the morning before the exam I spent about half an hour in total reading on the structure of the Argument essays. Btw, for this I used the Manhattan Guide to writing essays and found it very good. Anyway, I think background knowledge is particularly important for Issue essays. As the previous post pointed out, it's impossible to prepare for the Issue essay as if it were an exam. It takes a relatively long time to accumulate knowledge and this knowledge is essential to do well because the more relevant examples you can employ in your Issue essay on the exam day, the better your score tends to be. Of course, apart from good examples, one also needs to have a solid, clear structure, to connect ideas and make the paragraphs flow from start to end. I believe some people naturally find it easier while others need sustained practice. But it can be done. If I were you, I would go about it systematically ( check the Manhattan guide, their suggestions are generally helpful). If you write a practice essay and need feedback, send me a PM. Good luck.

Hey, I can do it. I've got an econ background too and this may help to some extent.

correct, the slope formula is y2-y1/x2-x1. but the result is still the same -3/5. do not give up, do you have a threshold for the GRE scores where you are applying? Some universities look at your application holistically and do not care so much about your individual scores. Have you tried enrolling in a GRE prep course? Having a tutor that can guide you during your preparation is important for many people. Well, it would not work for those under budget constraints. Also have you tried the magoosh services? their charge for the premium service is $99 I think but they've got some really good videos that you can use to learn the concepts. They also have 500+ practice questions for each quant and verbal and each question is accompanied by a video explanation which is mostly clear and simple. It seems they've got a solid record of helping people raise their scores.

Hi I am not sure whether you are looking for explanations/tips to these problems, nevertheless, here are my tips. a) applying a religiously correct manner of solving this problem will take you ages and time is a luxury on the GRE. What I would do here is simply look for values that can indicate a 3-4-5 triangle. (you are told that you have a right triangle, right?) Start with the given choices and test them for this relationship, it turns out that AB = 12 (thus x=10 and plug this value to find the other sides), AC = 9 and BC= 15. They hold the 3-4-5 condition as (12)^2 + (9)^2 = (15)^2. here you just need to know the formula for the area of a circle: pi x radius^2. Plug the given value in and you will get pi x 25/9. That's answer c. c) again here you need the formula for slope: m = y1-y2/x1-x2, I think that this gives -3/5. Answer a. Sorry, I do not mean to discourage you but the actual exam may, in my opinion and based on my recent experience, throw at you questions far harder than this. Try to master the formulae before taking the exam; it seems to me that there is a good scope for improvement here. And try to practice a few hours every day, the Manhattan 5Lb book has tonnes of practice questions of varied difficulty. Good luck.

if you still need someone to review your essay, send me a pm. good luck

Hi all that's a question I would like to ask those of you who are applying for an economics-related degree (preferably masters but not necessarily) and are now in the process of writing/revising your SOPs. how technical are those paragraphs that discuss your academic research interests - do you go into numbers/percentages, research results, etc..? does the principle "the more technical, the more persuasive" apply here? and second, when you discuss your career goals post-graduation, how concrete is that? Do you go as far as to write that you will be applying for role A in organisation B? looking forward to your thoughts

I have been under the impression that this is not the norm... Anyway, I am applying for 4-5 programs and one of my recommenders already told me that he would write one letter that he will submit to all programs. Personally I know it does not sound too "personalised" but frankly I dont think it would be reasonable to expect these guys to write 5 somewhat different references... The good news is that I am applying for the same program everywhere and thus I hope it wont make a major difference - any ideas?

Is it not possible to just take copies of your certified translation? I thought it's the same as handling an original document like your degree certificate for example. You have 1 original and that's it...it gets confusing, I feel...

But wait, i still dont get this... To apply in the first instance, I am asked to upload a scanned copy of everything...so where does the certificed copy of the translation fit in here? I understand that if you are given admission, i think you need to show them in person upon enrollment...