orangeMan

have you considered business economics or finance? i think you need bs in econ or closely related subjects like financial econ to do ms and then phd in (pure) econ. but there have been engineers in the past who successfully switched from engineering to business admin (with an emphasis on finance) or business economics (with an emphasis on strategy). merton and porter were engineers weren't they?

Not sure about MBAs, but London Business School offers a masters degree in management. You can apply if you are a Senior and no experience is required. http://www.london.edu/programmes/mastersinmanagement.html But before you apply, check the current students' profiles. http://www.london.edu/programmes/studentambassadors.html

I studied social sciences, e.g., Economics, Business, Finance, etc.

Hi, So I have got a masters degree and just started looking for a job. My undergrad and grad qualifications are from elitist universities. For some reason, employers - even MNEs - seem to think that I should go into research, i.e., a research post in a public company. I often get "yes, your CV is impressive, but you are really not what we are looking for." MNEs do not really want over-qualified and opinionated masters graduates like me for their graduate schemes. SMEs are scared of hiring someone so overqualified and inexperienced (real life work experience). What are my options? Anyone going through similar experience?

I will get a proper and honest job if I am rejected by all.

I have been educated in the UK. This is so true in the UK as well. 5 universities, Cambridge, Imperial, London School of Economics, Oxford and University College London dominate the UK academia.

I am not a specialist in your field, but there should be a standarized test that you can take to prove that you are fit for the graduate program. It is common, more than people think, to switch from natural science to medical science, economics to politics, economics to art history, english to business, etc...

This would be torture in engineering.

Was just wondering, where did you do your undergraduate degree? I have studied in the UK and have never been asked to validate my qualifications. Doesn't the WES evaluation take like 3 months? And there are a number of dissatisfied customers if you read customer reviews.

To add. You need the CAS number by August (the latest) for your visa application. The university starts issuing CAS numbers to admitted students from May (I think). Once the CAS is in, all you need is to show that you have got enough money to live for a year (the tuition fee and the cost of living). Once you get in, do speak with the international office. Just call them. The visa regulations have changed significantly over the last 5 years.

Once you receive a letter or email that your application is complete, it shouldn't take that long. What happens is that (as with the US universities) your application must be checked by the graduate school (this is centralized) before a relevant faculty member can see it and makes the decision. It takes some time for the graduate school to do this. Once this process is complete, your application will be forwarded to a relevant department, some universities use internal computerized system while others still print out your application form and your supporting documents and forward them to a relevant department via internal mail. Once the decision is made, if successful, the program administrator (from your department) emails you. If they need additional information such as they might ask you to do a simple entrance exam, an admission tutor will email you directly. What happens now is that your department processes your file and sends it back to the graduate school that does the final check and sends you an official conditional offer letter. Once you receive it, you have to send the graduate school your original transcript(s) to get an unconditional offer letter. You then need the university to issue the CAS number for your visa application. The international office can't do this if you don't have an unconditional offer letter. Have you asked this question on studentroom.com, UK-based students forum? You can probably find people who are applying to the same program there. Generally speaking, they make the decision within 4 weeks of the receipt of the complete application.

girlfriend

Brad

This sounds exciting! New York New York. Please let us know how this goes. Some departments in MIT do virtual open day (but not open house for shortlisted ones) or so I hear.

To add to Seeking's post above. It is not easy to get into those universities (maybe easier than getting into the most competitive ones in the US) and successfully complete the graduate program. And 3/4 years is such a long time. I can tell you what I think people should consider when thinking about going abroad to study. Please choose your university/institution taking into consideration, a. your GPA: Can you get in? b. the living cost: Can you afford it? London is a very expensive town. With £400 a month, you probably get the smallest room with a single bed in a shared flat/house. c. culture of university: If you go to a less established university abroad, you might be the only American there. Are there societies or clubs that you want to join? d. personality of your supervisor(s): Once accepted, you can call/email them. Do they return your emails within 48 hours? e. what the current students say about your department: How many students per program? How are you going to be assessed? Please read negative reviews. There is no point in reading positive reviews. You can read positive reviews on the university's website.

No sure about the ranking. But http://www.harzing.com/jql.htm is often the benchmark. The impact factor is the most important one. The list confirms what you already know (probably), American Economic Review is one of the most prestigious journal for economists, Academy of Management for management researchers, Journal of Finance for financial economists, etc.

There are some Americans at LSE and UCL during the term time. There should be something like American Society. You should be able to join as an external member.

Use studentroom.com (Google please), UK-based students forum. Create a thread in Sussex University and wait for replies. It shouldn't take that long time. Do not take the comments on the forum at face value. Some people don't really know what they are taking about. I can't tell you about the program, but the university is close to Brighton (if you can wikipedia Brighton), popular seaside town about an hour from London.

Just to add a few things. - there are some PhDs from the 5 universities who can't even get a postdoc fellowship at less established universities. - Oxford PhD (or DPhi) is different from others. There are no taught elements at all. If you fail your a DPhi or MLitt, you fail the whole degree (so you wasted 2 - 3 years). The pass rate is even lower at Oxford (see below). - a UK PhD with MRes or MPhi (1 + 3 year or 2 + 2 at some) allows you to exit the program with a masters degree. Academic career isn't for everyone. You might change your mind. - the pass rate in the UK (those who successfully complete a PhD/those who enter the program) is low. At some university, this is close to 60%! 2 in 5 fail or quit! - PhD programs are less regulated in UK universities, Some supervisors want to see you every week and even help you secure a postdoc position once you complete the program, while others only want to see you once a term (or semester), read your paper from time to time and say "yeah, it's good." No constructive advices!

I can only tell you about the UK/US situation. I think it depends on where you do your PhD and where you do your postdoc fellowship. There are only 5 competitive universities in the UK, Cambridge, Imperial College, London School of Economics, Oxford and University College London. My friend who finished a PhD at Oxford did his fellowship at Stanford (in sciences) and another at Brown (social sciences). Some from London School of Economics (since you are doing Sociology) have received a fellowship offer from respectable US universities. I don't know (or have heard of) anyone who have received the Harvard postdoc (the 3 year thing) from UK schools.

I am not a student at City University London, so I can't tell you about the university or the program, but you can find a lot of information about the university on UK-based forums such as studentroom.com. City University London seems to offer a lot of vocational and specialists programs such as creative writing, actuary, or journalism. It is not considered to be in the same league as University College London, Imperial College London or London School of Economics.

If you are applying for fall 2012 entry, then you should submit your application now. If for fall 2013 entry, then next year. You can always call them and ask.

Government jobs seem hard to come by. If you are under 30 by the time you finish your PhD, consulting might be an option.

I am not an artist myself but one of my close friend is. These schools are supposed to be good (i.e., recognized internationally). Academic programs http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/mfa-fine-art/ http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slade/slade09/gStud/index.php http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/degreeprogrammes/postgraduate/ma/index.shtml Less academic programs http://www.rca.ac.uk/ http://www.csm.arts.ac.uk/courses/ma-fine-art/ http://www.chelsea.arts.ac.uk/courses/coursesbylevel/graduateschoolcourses/mafineart/

In my personal opinion (please don't read too much into it), no, I don't think that matters. For example, http://www.fulbright.co.uk/about/american-participants/postgrad-scholars http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/section/class-of-2011 http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/2011_Winners_Bios.pdf