Pang

Hi, I was wondering how all of you guys are dealing with the school that you rejected asking which alternative you chose. I know in the business world, you never tell but I wasn't sure if that standard still holds in the academia as well. What do you guys think? Thanks.

Hi All- I applied to Phd schools in Economics and got into Columbia MA (got an alternated MA offer instead of Phd) and George Washington's Phd. Both came with no-funding with the latter having possibilities of 2nd year aid in forms of TA and RA assist. My internal debating point is, should I take the MA and reapply for a better school or bite the GWU offer. It's been 3 years since I worked (after my B.S. and this year was my first attempt for Phd) and I am not sure if I want to go through this "uncertain" application process again... Other factors that I am considering are: 1) though most of the people change their topic of interest, my current interest is in applied microeconomics (industrial organization), which is not GWU's thing; 2) GWU did relatively well in placing graduates in IMF and World Bank so I might have some exit options; 3) Having MA diploma might increase getting a better offer during the next cycle but I am not sure to what extent; 4) Columbia itself has a good brand name but the program was around for only 2 years, and thus, I don't have enough benchmarks for the graduate outcomes. To me, one is not dominating the other, which makes me to wonder. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance!