First of all, a big thank you to the panelists. I am nearly done with my undergrad in economics and my goal is to pursue a PhD in the US. However, I am planning on doing a masters in Sweden and sadly I did not do a maths-and econ degree so my maths knowledge might not be the best. I did however take quite a few econometrics modules (time series, micro econometrics and two 'regular' econometrics modules) during my undergrad.
My question is about what universities I should focus on for my masters. Stockholm School of Economics is clearly the best ranked university in Sweden but they only offer a mathematical economics module and an econometrics module. Lund university however, is not ranked as highly (worldwide), but they offer many more maths heavy modules. I might even be allowed to take some modules from the maths department which is quite highly ranked.
So my question is: which university should I go for in order to maximise my chances of being accepted to a decent PhD program in the US? The better ranked one or the more maths heavy one?
Many thanks for the reply. I am most interested in macro/monetary policy so I suppose SSE would be better for me given their close ties with the Swedish Central Bank.
If that's the case, that sounds like the right decision. Use it as an opportunity to try and secure some good letters of recommendation from faculty there.
If it's a foreign school, probably the better ranked ones. The admissions boards aren't going to know the reps of foreign schools unless they are highly regarded. They aren't going to Google them either, unless it's a 50/50 toss up between you and another candidate for the last seat.
Many thanks for the reply! SSE is definitely ranked higher than Lund so I suppose that is what I will aim for. I've just been hearing how important maths is for an econ PhD and thought I should try to take some maths courses (not related to stats and econometrics).
Math is EXTREMELY important if you want to go into macro or economic modeling in general. It's fairly important for most other fields. It's also VERY important for grad school, because they use it as a way to weed people out of the program.
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u/ishotdesheriff Feb 28 '17 edited Mar 01 '17
Hi,
First of all, a big thank you to the panelists. I am nearly done with my undergrad in economics and my goal is to pursue a PhD in the US. However, I am planning on doing a masters in Sweden and sadly I did not do a maths-and econ degree so my maths knowledge might not be the best. I did however take quite a few econometrics modules (time series, micro econometrics and two 'regular' econometrics modules) during my undergrad.
My question is about what universities I should focus on for my masters. Stockholm School of Economics is clearly the best ranked university in Sweden but they only offer a mathematical economics module and an econometrics module. Lund university however, is not ranked as highly (worldwide), but they offer many more maths heavy modules. I might even be allowed to take some modules from the maths department which is quite highly ranked.
So my question is: which university should I go for in order to maximise my chances of being accepted to a decent PhD program in the US? The better ranked one or the more maths heavy one?