USC MA in Economics

[paradigm]

Greetings All,

 

I am very interested in pursuing an MA in Economics. I was recently admitted to Johns Hopkins' Applied Economics program and am considering matriculating there, but I'm now interested in applying to several additional MA programs, as I'd like to pursue a more 'academic' MA experience and less of a 'part-time' one.

 

I'm considering applying to the following schools: USC, Brown, Rice, Michigan, WUSTL, UC Santa Cruz, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Does anybody have any experience either attending or applying to any of the following programs? Specifically, I'm interested in each program's selectivity and criteria for admission (any info on whether certain portions of one's application -- i.e., GRE score, GPA, etc. -- are more important than others would be great).

 

Also, if anyone can comment on the student bodies of any of these programs, that would be excellent as well. Are most MA in Econ students former PhD candidates who've decided against finishing their PhD? Or is there a significant amount of folks like myself who are primarily interested in getting their MA and then evaluating their career/academic path?

 

Thanks in advance for the insights.

[baj393]

Check out Duke's MA program. I'm there right now and highly recommend it.

Great school with great classes and great PhD placement.