Review of London School of Economics’ Masters in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from a 2019- 2020 graduate-Part 2
Check out the first part:
2.My own experience
Why did I do EME-I had just completed my masters and started working .I wanted to do a Phd and applied to Phd in mathematics at LSE .LSE application allows you to fill out a second option and I filled out EME as my friend was also applying for the same program. I did not care much about the program initially but I did not get selected for Phd and instead got into EME and that too with a fully funded scholarship from Britis Council .This MSc program had an offer to proceed towards Phd and also had a record of sending many students to famous Phd programs .Moreover ,the tag of LSE also attracted me and hence I decided to take up the offer.
Good thing about EME-Access to some renowned names in economics and a very intelligent cohort which motivates to push yourself. The LSE +EME tag has opened a few doors for me which otherwise would not have been possible if I had not done this masters.
Bad Thing about EME-I am not from economics background but there was no support to fill that gap and I had to get the necessary knowledge by myself to actually be able to understand the material.
Would I do it again — I am only able to do a PhD in economics because of EME .So yes-if I get a scholarship again, I would have done it again. But if I did not get a scholarship I would not do this program but find some other way of achieving my dream to get a Phd.
Should you do a EME-If you want an industry job ,then no. If you come from Harvard, maybe no. But if you come from a developing country- from not so world famous college and want to get into Phd in economics, then maybe yes! Honestly,I don't like to advice people because each person has their own goals, expectations and journey!
3.Other’s experience who attended 2019–20 EME
To get some more diversified view ,I asked some of my friends and classmates on their experience about EME.I had also given a brief background for you to understand their motivation to do EME and also what they are doing after the program. This would help you contextualize their experience. I have listed their names in an alphabetic manner with no particular preference.
Anton Reinicke
(Anton holds offer for economics PhD from UCL ,UBC, Toronto, Zurich, Boston University. He is working as a Pre Doctoral Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and also as a short term consultant at World Bank .Before LSE EME,he has worked at KfW at South Africa and as a research manager at Center for Evaluation and Development in Germany . He holds a bachelors degree in economics from Mannheim ,one of the most prestigious economics department of Germany.)
Good thing about EME: a good thing for me was clearly the name “LSE” and also “EME”. I know for a fact that I could have gotten a similarity good education in Germany for free, but of course, you pay for the brand value and that does really pay off. There were many other good things, of course. London is great, LSE has a really vibrant research community (that is in fact much better than most German places, but you get to enjoy that only so much as a master student. Also, the class was really nice I thought. No heavy competition, most people were very supportive :).
Bad thing about EME:A bad thing: well for I think it is the fact that unless you push really hard, nobody cares about you. I get it and its fine, its like that in many places (work and study I guess), but I don‘t really enjoy it . the quality of teaching is sometimes below what you would (and should, given you pay 30k) expect. Crowded campus and library (but I guess that is London). And, very EME specific: don‘t have wring expectations. Yes, EME can help you get a good PhD or Pre doc, but its certainly no guarantee. You have to be good already and still work super hard (I guess we all know that by now but I thought that in the beginning, people like Tai and also the EME website sometimes gave the impression it would be a no brainer that most people would end up in top ten PhD ).
Would I do it again: Yes. But I only recommend if: you want to a PhD or a job that uses a lot of stats. Otherwise, if you want to do econ consulting or investment banking, and you are not really into math, do econ. Its more interesting, more relevant for sure. And while EME has some brand value for PhD, I don‘t think it has for anything else. Also: I learned nothing really valuable for anything but economics, so if you do anything else than economics, I don‘t think the „extra math“ from EME is useful in any way.
Anqi Shan
(Anqi is presently working at Compass Lexicon , one of the leading economic consultancies ,specializing in Competition Practice in Spain. He has also previously interned there for 6 months. He also holds experiences as a research assistant at CEMFI and UAB ,both top economics departments in Spain. He holds a bachelor degree in economics from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid , ranked as a top university in Spain, where he was in the top 1% of his cohort .He has also spent a year in Fudan University (where he studied Chinese economy) and another year in University of California, Davis where he was in the deans list for all three semesters.)
Good thing about EME: It’s a great intellectual challenge
Bad thing about EME:It’s not a relevant intelectual challenge
Would I do it again: Probably Not.
Deniz Atalar
(Deniz is presently pursuing her DPhil in Economics at Cambridge She has previously worked as a summer research assistant at MIT for two consecutive years to Daron Acemoglu one of the most famous and cited economists in world .While at LSE ,as part of requirement for International Economics she wrote two excellent essay papers and a thesis , a herculean task in one year. She has a Bachelors in Economics from Bilkent University, one of the top three universities for economics in Turkey.)
Good thing about EME: the network opportunity is great
Bad thing about EME: Its only 1 year so its difficult to get to know a professor on a personal level.
Would I do it again: I would do it again but with a different approach.
Gerard Martín Escofe
(Gerard is presently working at Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREi) as a research assistant for multiple professors in Spain including Victoria Vanasco and Vladimir Asriyan and working in theoretical macrofinance.He is interested in macro and growth. He previously had a bachelors degree from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona where he holds the highest academic grades in his cohort .He also holds a master 1 economics degree from Toulouse School of Economics where he holds the second highest academic grades).
Good thing about EME: Competent professors and time to study.
Bad thing about EME: Hidalgo’s econometric analysis.Also too short lectures/seminars.
Would I do it again: Yes I will do it again.
Harry Li
(Harry is presently working at Bank of England in Financial Stability, Strategy and Risk (FSSR) where he is involved in lots of cool projects like OLG DGSE model for housing market.He was also previously a postgraduate intern at BoE .He has previously done BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics at London School of Economics.)
Good thing about EME: Given that I wanted to do a masters, this is the best option as it is most rigorous and has the best prestige. I learnt some useful stuff, am currently working on OLG DSGE model, so found the technical foundation for DSGEs in advanced macro useful. And in general, the more technical, the better (for me). It makes reading and understanding research papers much easier. Also enjoyed having the option to do electives to focus study on personal areas of interest.
Bad thing about EME:I am not saying it’s perfect — far from it! Of course there are many reasons why it could be better, but overall I think it was okay.
Would I do it again: I don’t think there was a better option for me in hindsight.
Lakshita Sharma
Lakshita hold offer for PhD in economics at Cornell University .She is presently working as a research assistant at Indian Statistical Institute for Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy project with Prof. Farzana Afridi (ISID), Prof. Amrita Dhillon (Kings College London) and Prof. Sanchari Roy (Kings College London).She has also previously worked as a research intern at Reserve Bank of India. She holds a BSc in Statistics from Lady Sr Ram College , one of the best colleges in India and a masters degree in economics at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.
Good thing about EME:It gives you an insight about the kind of rigor one should expect while entering PhD.
Bad thing about EME:It is trying to cover too much in a short span of time. and hence not focusing on the concepts in depth.
Would I do it again: It’s a mixed feeling! Its a 70 percent- yes and 30 percent-no.
Yu-Shiou (Willy) Lin
Yu or as we know him as Willy is presently working as a predoctoral research assistant for Chicago Booth for the microeconomics research group where he is already involved in research projects in both micro and finance. He has a Bachelors degree in Finance and Mathematics from National Taiwan University which is the most prestigious university in Taiwan. He has also worked as a research assistant in the same university for a year and a half .
Good thing about EME: Reputation wise still holds an advantage to other master program.
Bad thing about EME: Fundamental value not matching its price, not worth it honestly.
Would I do it again: I guess if I knew about predoctoral positions before LSE EME , I would try that first instead of a master program.
William Liu
William is presently working as a research assistant at Harvard Business School under Navid Mojir, for quantitative marketing where he is studying the impact of relationships on B2B pricing and is also involved in applying deep learning techniques to economic data.He has interest in pursuing a PhD in econometrics. He has previously done BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics at London School of Economics.
Good thing about EME: MSc EME has the highest standards and provides the best education out of all available masters programmes for economics, with 1st year PhD and a little bit of 2nd year PhD material
Bad thing about EME: How you get that education — the teaching is either very good or very bad since the explanation/teaching given may not be in-depth enough. The course relies a lot on self-study
Would I do it again: Yes ,as I wish to pursue PhD and ironically, the poor teaching might even be good preparation for a PhD.
Below are two people who requested for anonymity
Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake has an offer for a Phd in a top 10 economics department .He is presently working as a pre-doctoral research assistant under the same department for a very famous labour economist .He has a non economics background, studying a very technical subject in a top European School where he also took economics courses.
Good thing about EME: Simply put, the course is an excellent signal to have when applying to pre-docs and PhD programs.
Bad thing about EME: It’s difficult to go straight from EME to PhD programs because you won’t have any grades until late February (except EC451). Also don’t expect a whole lot of attention from professors. Specifically to people coming from Engineering/Math/Physics/CS: I wouldn’t recommend this course unless they’ve taken some Econ. Specifically it’s important to have taken Econometrics. Having taken some game theory can be helpful. Intermediate macro won’t help much.
Would I do it again:Yes!
Ed Sheraan
Ed Sheraan is presently working as a research assistant at one of the prestigious universities in the world which touches one side of the Atlantic ocean which almost every educated person in the world has heard of -for a superstar economist .He also has previously been a research assistant for a university-almost equally famous on the same side of the Atlantic .He holds an undergraduate degree from an university which again almost every educated person in the world has heard of on the opposite side of the Atlantic ocean.
(I accidently deleted his message while trying to copy the answer -I did not want to bother Ed Sheraan as he is busy solving big economics problems( and maybe is in a bar as the club isn’t the best place to find a lover,So the bar is where he goes,he and his friends at the table doing shots .Drinking fast and then they talks slow,JK :)).So I have written whatever I recall)
Good thing about EME:Its at LSE which is in London and hence I was able to enjoy London.
Bad thing about EME: (I don't remember)
Would I do it again: Depends on how my applications for Phds go.
The End!
