blueivy

I've spoken with a lot of my profs actually, and get widely varying answers! All of them say that none of these are bad choices, but some prefer UBC (known for better math training), others say toronto is better (more central location), whereas queen's is also recommended (small faculty, good chance for interaction, good training in macro and econometrics). I've also been told that Oxford is a good signal, so basically everyone has told me great things but no one has given me a firm answer on which to not consider. my new funding amount at UBC would be $17,500 award, and I think i'd still be eligible to TA ($12,000). But, UBC has the least flexible program structure which might not work with my needs so I am still waiting to hear back from them on that matter.

I actually didn't get the "highly ranked" email Was it from your department or from the faculty? My department said i am first on the alternate list but I didn't receive an email from them letting me know i was highly ranked, so perhaps I should lose hope that i might get a sshrc that trickles down

has anyone at toronto who was on the alternates list been offered the award yet? I received one at ubc and one at queens but toronto seems to be the better choice for me...but it's a huge difference in funding

I was also just offered a SSHRC grant to UBC, so it would be less expensive now. This makes it harder. The two schools I am now considering (Toronto and Oxford) are the two with the least funding now and so i'm starting to reconsider the others :S

I received an offer from UBC and one from Queen's (alternate for Toronto). I'm going to reject at least one of those though so at least one Queen's or UBC CGS will open up

Offered at UBC, which came out of the blue! No reply yet from Queen's, and UofT said "alternate"---I thought that my program wouldn't even qualify for Toronto (coursework only) so i'm surprised they even offer any

Thank you for the reply. Yes the financial aspect is a big deal. I calculated my costs (projecting that i may need to take an extra semester due to health issues) and UBC would end up around $36,000, and oxford around $70,000. UofT and Queen's seem to be much more manageable, but I wonder if the projected earnings from Oxford (better placements/connections with my field) might make up for that. And no I didn't do my bachelor's at Toronto, though I might consider doing my PhD there.

Thank you! It makes deciding that much harder though. I'd probably choose Oxford if it wasn't for the incredibly steep price (estimated around 70-80 grand). stuck now between toronto and queen's mostly

oh also forgot to answer your question on cambridge. cambridge was for the development studies mphil and i don't think i'd want to spend that much money on that. the oxford msc econ for development would at least be more employable.

I already did ask the canadian schools for more time They extended my deadline from march 22 to march 31, but they said they can't extend the offers much longer. And i'm not really expecting the clarendon to be honest, but even just a smaller award would be enough for me to go. i've decided that if i get funding of at least 10,000 pounds i'll do it. problem is that the awards aren't given out until april or may

I guess my biggest worry is whether the Oxford MSc would be considered rigorous enough for admission to a PhD program in Economics in Canada. they only offer micro, macro, and metrics and the rest are more political economy courses. i wonder if that is enough for a canadian phd admission

i think the april 15th deadline is for admissions and not funding. i think if i delayed my decision past the deadline they gave me they might still admit me but withdraw my funding offer. Also, these are canadian schools---none of them have mentioned or seem to follow the april 15th deadline. should i even bring that up with them?

i'm not qualified to comment on this with certainty (am currently deciding between MA econ offers myself), but i didn't even bother applying to Mcgill for Economics. UBC is generally considered either 1st or 2nd in Canada for Econ, whereas McGill doesn't even break the top 6 (UBC, Toronto, Queen's, Montreal, UWO, SFU). McGill may have a better overall reputation so if it was in the top 3 canadian schools it would be worth considering, but anyone in the field would tell you that it is not considered 1st tier for canadian econ programs. everyone i spoke to when applying to grad schools said to just ignore mcgill econ and focus on the top 4

received admission to UBC, Toronto, and Queen's for Economics. Generous funding from Toronto (reg stream) and Queen's (offered doctoral), a smaller package of mostly TAing from UBC. Having an impossible time deciding. Why do they want us to reply so soon?? (March 31st) Some international programs haven't even made their offers yet! I only found out i got into one of my programs at Oxford yesterday

I was also accepted to Christ's College in Cambridge! Cambridge seems to be much faster at notifying applicants than Oxford has been...I received my admission offer in late January/early February and my college offer in late February. Oxford has only just let me know about my admission three days ago (end of March) and colleges probably won't notify until April at the earliest. I just wish they'd declare the funding earlier....Canadian schools require an accept by April 1st and I'm stuck trying to figure out whether i should just accept the canadian schools and forget oxford, or to decline the canuck schools and risk having a zero-funded oxford degree that i'd be in deep, deep debt for.

I applied to the MPhil Economics and MSc Economics for Development, and have been accepted for the MSc. No details on funding yet though and the timeline is really not working out for my other programs. I've been asked to reply by March 31st or April 2nd by my other schools (Canadian) and I don't want to turn them down and then find out I can't afford Oxford after all, but at the same time i don't want to accept one of the Canadian schools and then find out I actually could have afforded Oxford. Such a tough dilemma, I don't understand why Oxford and Cambridge (accepted there as well) are able to give me such a long time to respond while the Canadian schools want responses in two weeks or less. Anyone else in a similar position?

Hello everyone, I'm having a really impossible time deciding between my different graduate offers and I'd really appreciate insight or advice or guidance from anyone. I've received acceptances to most of the schools to which I've applied, but i'm down to 4 schools now and I can't narrow them down any further (I have decided to turn down Cambridge for their MPhil Development Studies). I am waiting on one more program still but the deadlines for accepting three of them are this week, with the earliest being March 31st (Tuesday!!) Right now the offers I'm considering: 1) Oxford MSc Economics for Development - No funding, quite pricey - Structure: courses in economic theory (micro/macro split) and econometrics, tutorials in related areas like poverty, development, inequality, etc. with a final 10,000 page extended essay 2) UBC MA Economics - moderate funding in the form of combined TAship and fellowship/RA - Structure: first semester of intense core theory (micro, macro, metrics, mathematics), second semester electives (e.g. labour, environment, etc.). Third semester of research seminar (project for a class rather than independent research, no individual supervision). Probably the most intense program of the 4 3) UofT MA Economics - Regular (non-doctoral) stream, some funding as a TA plus a moderate award - Structure: 8 months of courses, 3 core (micro, macro, metrics) and 5 electives. No research option 4) Queen's MA Economics - some funding as a TA plus a moderate award, been advised that my SSHRC application will likely be approved (in that case I would have to turn down the award) - Structure: first semester micro, metrics, and two others, second semester macro and three others. Option to take a spring course instead of 4 in first term. Summer research essay, supervision by professor - Problem: Does not offer courses in my fields of interest (development, labour, environment, health) My details: - North American undergrad from a good school - Good GRE scores, above 85th percentile - Interest in development economics and looking at the labour, environment, health, gender, technology side of economic analysis (not interested in finance, banking, etc.) - Unsure about pursuing a PhD in Economics but definitely want to keep it in the cards. Possiblity that this might be a terminal degree, however, and I have to account for that. - Might need to take a reduced course load (2 or 3 classes/term rather than 4) due to medical issues Oxford's program had until now been my top choice for its blending of economics and development, connections with development institutions, and Oxford's good name (which would be more important if this will be my terminal degree, which might be the case). My main concerns with the program is that 1) it might not be considered rigorous enough for an Econ PhD in Canada if it only covers micro/macro/metrics and the rest is more political economy rather than economic analysis, and 2) the price, of course. I would have to entirely self-fund through savings, loans, lines of credit, etc. In Canada, UBC and UofT seem to be the most reputable in economics (Queens in third), though all three seem to focus very little on applied econ and focus almost entirely on core theory. This would be great for PhD programs (though i have been advised that the non-doctoral stream at Toronto is not considered rigorous enough), but for a terminal degree I wonder if a more applied one from a bigger name school (Oxford) would be more valuable, especially if i intend to work or study internationally. I've been told varying advice on which program is considered better/the best. UofT Doctoral stream gets high praise but its regular stream doesn't (though the only difference would be two courses out of eight). UBC's program is generally well regarded, but the course structure is so rigid that if i were to take extra time (e.g. reduce my courseload) it would take me 24 months to complete (compared with Queens' 12 months, Oxford's 9 months, UofT's 16 months). I've also been told it is very theoretical and wouldn't be the most useful for an applied degree. Queen's would be great in terms of its flexibility, its funding, the research grant, the individual supervision, etc. but it is the least reputable school out of all of these (Oxford obviously a top 3 international school and Toronto and UBC top 30. Queen's is in the top 300) which wouldn't matter as much in Canada but might make a difference internationally, I worry. I would have selected it normally but i found out that they won't even offer electives in the areas i am interested in and so potential connections to development work (JPAL, development placements, etc.) would be quite low. I also don't know how many of their faculty are research faculty, which could make a big difference for PhD placements. If you were in my shoes, which option would you pick? I'm inclined towards the Oxford MSc but I'm worrying that because it is a more applied degree rather than a core theory degree it may jeopardize my PhD options. But having the Oxford name would only help, I imagine, in pursuing work if that is what I choose to do. Thank you

This is an old thread but i am going through the exact same schools right now for decisions. if you are still here, which of the schools did you end up choosing? Would you mind letting me know how your experience was?