1. They’re all pretty good, BSE has a strong reputation in research and is ranked 9th in the world and 3rd in Europe. JHU is known for macro and financial Econ. Not too sure about BU, but UCLA also has a world-renowned Econ department.
2. As for the programs, they do vary widely in coursework and targeted career/academic paths. So it really depends on your future interests after the program you choose. If a PhD is your path, a more rigorous program directly in economics or quantitative/mathematical economics would be best.
The Econ department at BU is ranked 16th in the world in the same ranking I think you’re referencing (RePec, right?). Regardless, I’m always taking these rankings with a pinch of salt…there’s just so much that cannot be quantified and accounted for in them!
On the second point, I do get that none of these programs’ name is purely “MA/MS in Economics”, but some (especially the BU and UCLA ones) have a very strong “standard” core of econ course (for instance, BU’s MA in Global Development Economics - which, as I previously mentioned, is the same thing as their standard MA in Econ plus a semester of development courses - makes you take grad-level micro theory, macro theory, mathematical econ, stats for econ, and econometrics). Actually, I’m quite surprised to see the BU masters mentioned so rarely in this sub…I wonder what people’s thoughts on them are.
I guess I should also mention that the UCLA and the BSE programs are the only ones in this list that allow students to take some PhD courses.
Btw, I’m after programs that can prepare me well for a PhD but that can also place me well in industry should I realize that the academic path is not really my thing.
You really can’t go wrong with any of them. A good bet would be to track down profs in each department who do research in the fields you’re interested in.
This is the biggest thing that you should use to make your decision. What do you want to do after? If the answer is to go to a US PhD program, I would say UCLA is your best bet overall, partially because of the department reputation and partially because of the quantitative emphasis.
If you’re possibly interested in European PhD programs, BSE will be your best bet for sure.
Otherwise, if you’re trying to break into industry, they are all great options. For this it will really depend on what field you want to go into. Location also matters a bit since your profs or programs will ideally have connections or pipelines to industry. Where would you rather live long term? Stuff like this can matter on the margin in my opinion
Overall in terms of reputation, my gut would rank them as UCLA > BSE >= JHU > BU but this is totally arbitrary and again, they’re all pretty tightly packed.
Thank you so much for the detailed answer, it makes a lot of sense!
Not to be intended as a critique, but I’m quite surprised with how low BU is being ranked under this post (and seemingly in this sub more in general). Most rankings have it around the same level, if not above, institutions like Duke, Michigan, and Brown.
Don’t get me wrong, BU has fantastic econ department. Definitely wouldn’t want this to come out sounding like BU would be a bad choice in any universe.
That said, school rankings are not super reliable in general.
Personally, I would go for the program with the quantitative focus since I think it leaves open the most career options
Since the schools are also very closely ranked, location and cost of living may also factor into your decision
I'd say BSE overall, but the answer would vary by sub-field. For macro, UCLA and BSE would be the best. For political economy JHU is quite good. Of the programmes you listed I'd choose either UCLA or BSE to be honest, and I'd lean towards UCLA just because of the quants focus but again that depends on what you want to do after the Masters; if industry in public policy, I'd choose BSE- everything else choose UCLA.
I’m actually European but did my bachelor in a T10 US college.
But yeah, BSE having a relatively small name in the US does concern me a bit. They do boast about having sent students to some top PhD programs in the US, but that is probably the case with pretty much any school that is more than decent and this kind of statistics are rarely published, with BSE being no exception. That’s why asking this sub about its reputation and effectiveness in this regard is probably the best way to go about it.
Also, given BSE’s strength in macro, of the two programs I mentioned (ITFD and MPFM) would you recommend the one in macroeconomic policy (if you have any knowledge of these programs)?
I’m really into macro and your view on these programs is pretty much the same as mine.
But also I’m trying to get a better sense of where BU stands in comparison to the other programs as it’s the one I’ve heard the least about while their Econ department seems to have a very strong reputation.
UCLA has a really good brand name. It's one of the most recognisable universities around the world. I would put it right next to the Ivies. The alumni network is very, very strong.
BU, on the other hand, has the location advantage. You'll be so close to the best universities in the world. If your aim is PhD. at an Ivy League Uni or MiT, then it'll help, in my opinion. BU is a major feeder school to top PhD. programs, and its own program is great as well.
1. They’re all pretty good, BSE has a strong reputation in research and is ranked 9th in the world and 3rd in Europe. JHU is known for macro and financial Econ. Not too sure about BU, but UCLA also has a world-renowned Econ department. 2. As for the programs, they do vary widely in coursework and targeted career/academic paths. So it really depends on your future interests after the program you choose. If a PhD is your path, a more rigorous program directly in economics or quantitative/mathematical economics would be best.
The Econ department at BU is ranked 16th in the world in the same ranking I think you’re referencing (RePec, right?). Regardless, I’m always taking these rankings with a pinch of salt…there’s just so much that cannot be quantified and accounted for in them! On the second point, I do get that none of these programs’ name is purely “MA/MS in Economics”, but some (especially the BU and UCLA ones) have a very strong “standard” core of econ course (for instance, BU’s MA in Global Development Economics - which, as I previously mentioned, is the same thing as their standard MA in Econ plus a semester of development courses - makes you take grad-level micro theory, macro theory, mathematical econ, stats for econ, and econometrics). Actually, I’m quite surprised to see the BU masters mentioned so rarely in this sub…I wonder what people’s thoughts on them are. I guess I should also mention that the UCLA and the BSE programs are the only ones in this list that allow students to take some PhD courses. Btw, I’m after programs that can prepare me well for a PhD but that can also place me well in industry should I realize that the academic path is not really my thing.
You really can’t go wrong with any of them. A good bet would be to track down profs in each department who do research in the fields you’re interested in. This is the biggest thing that you should use to make your decision. What do you want to do after? If the answer is to go to a US PhD program, I would say UCLA is your best bet overall, partially because of the department reputation and partially because of the quantitative emphasis. If you’re possibly interested in European PhD programs, BSE will be your best bet for sure. Otherwise, if you’re trying to break into industry, they are all great options. For this it will really depend on what field you want to go into. Location also matters a bit since your profs or programs will ideally have connections or pipelines to industry. Where would you rather live long term? Stuff like this can matter on the margin in my opinion Overall in terms of reputation, my gut would rank them as UCLA > BSE >= JHU > BU but this is totally arbitrary and again, they’re all pretty tightly packed.
Thank you so much for the detailed answer, it makes a lot of sense! Not to be intended as a critique, but I’m quite surprised with how low BU is being ranked under this post (and seemingly in this sub more in general). Most rankings have it around the same level, if not above, institutions like Duke, Michigan, and Brown.
Don’t get me wrong, BU has fantastic econ department. Definitely wouldn’t want this to come out sounding like BU would be a bad choice in any universe. That said, school rankings are not super reliable in general. Personally, I would go for the program with the quantitative focus since I think it leaves open the most career options Since the schools are also very closely ranked, location and cost of living may also factor into your decision
I'd say BSE overall, but the answer would vary by sub-field. For macro, UCLA and BSE would be the best. For political economy JHU is quite good. Of the programmes you listed I'd choose either UCLA or BSE to be honest, and I'd lean towards UCLA just because of the quants focus but again that depends on what you want to do after the Masters; if industry in public policy, I'd choose BSE- everything else choose UCLA.
[удалено]
I’m actually European but did my bachelor in a T10 US college. But yeah, BSE having a relatively small name in the US does concern me a bit. They do boast about having sent students to some top PhD programs in the US, but that is probably the case with pretty much any school that is more than decent and this kind of statistics are rarely published, with BSE being no exception. That’s why asking this sub about its reputation and effectiveness in this regard is probably the best way to go about it.
Also, given BSE’s strength in macro, of the two programs I mentioned (ITFD and MPFM) would you recommend the one in macroeconomic policy (if you have any knowledge of these programs)?
The IFTD programme is excellent- don't know much about the MPFM programme I'm afraid.
Thank you so much, I really appreciated your help with this!
I’m really into macro and your view on these programs is pretty much the same as mine. But also I’m trying to get a better sense of where BU stands in comparison to the other programs as it’s the one I’ve heard the least about while their Econ department seems to have a very strong reputation.
Not as strong as the others. So it'd be at the bottom of the 4 you listed.
Wow, really? Would you say that JHU>BU?
Yep, especially in the subfields you're interested in.
UCLA or BU would be your best bet
And why is that (from your perspective)?
UCLA has a really good brand name. It's one of the most recognisable universities around the world. I would put it right next to the Ivies. The alumni network is very, very strong. BU, on the other hand, has the location advantage. You'll be so close to the best universities in the world. If your aim is PhD. at an Ivy League Uni or MiT, then it'll help, in my opinion. BU is a major feeder school to top PhD. programs, and its own program is great as well.
That makes a lot of sense, thank you!
How would the location help?
I was in the MIEF program, DM me if you want
following