Need help in selecting among Canadian PhD programs

[lzey]

Hi all, I know this is kinda :oops: since most of you guys are getting offers from Top schools but this is the best I can get so far. I've got offers with funding from University of Alberta, University of Waterloo and University of Guelph for their PhD in Economics program. Their deadlines are all in this week but I am having a hard time in selecting among them. Please help me out on this. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

[aricyo]

I'm not an Econ major so I don't think I can comment on the qualities of these three programs.

Overall, UofA and U Waterloo are far better than Guelph (to be honest, I don't even know where it's located)

U Waterloo is in London (a really small city though not far away from Toronto, about 2 hour drive). I've heard

life is just boring there. UofA is in Edmonton (a major city here). It's certainly a small one compared with,

say, Vancouver and Seattle. But.. at least you will have a life. Though many students don't like Edm at

all.

[fchow]

It really depends on what program you want to specialize in. Each department has their own specialty.

In terms of overall rankings on econ departments, all three are similarly ranked, although U of Guelph does come out ahead. Check out http://ideas.repec.org/top/top.canada.html for more rankings. Messing around their website will also give you rankings in specific disciplines, but these programs not being in the top may not show up on the list.

I would say do your research and learn about the specific specialties in each program and see there are any professors you would like to work with. I hope this post is in time for your deadlines.

[Minnesotan]

I'm not an Econ major so I don't think I can comment on the qualities of these three programs.

Overall, UofA and U Waterloo are far better than Guelph (to be honest, I don't even know where it's located)

U Waterloo is in London (a really small city though not far away from Toronto, about 2 hour drive). I've heard

life is just boring there. UofA is in Edmonton (a major city here). It's certainly a small one compared with,

say, Vancouver and Seattle. But.. at least you will have a life. Though many students don't like Edm at

all.

Ermm... U of Waterloo is in the Kitchener/Waterloo area, about 1.5 hours drive SW of Toronto. It is the University of Western Ontario that is in London (which is not that small), a little more than 2 hours SW of Toronto. Guelph is in the city of Guelph, located in between Waterloo and Toronto. York and UofT are in Toronto. All of which are respectable schools within two hours' drive of one another.

It's a good thing this isn't the Geography forum, or you all should be ashamed. =)