I’m planning on majoring in economics, I have big ambitions on going to get a masters in economics at Oxford or London school of economics. However I want a school that’ll give me a better opportunity or maintain a 3.8+ gpa. Oxford and LSE are selective. Is it true that state schools are rather not as rigorous as private universities? If it is then fuck that, I’m going to penn state or ASU and main a 4.0!
With your attitude, you will not get into grad studies at Oxford or LSE regardless of where you go for undergrad.
@tomofboston all jokes aside, is it true that state schools are less rigorous? at the end of the day I’ll probably end up in a private uni.
It can be true. I’m assuming you are comparing it to Note Dame, ivies, Stanford, etc. But Penn State as far as a public school is prestigious in its own right.
The course of study for a given major is largely the same from one school to another. In fact, if anything you may find things much harder at certain schools who are trying to raise their rankings.
It’s the quality of the other students you will be studying with that varies. And you will be competing with those other students, especially when graded on a curve.
Let me point out that an undergraduate degree in economics will leave you woefully unprepared for a graduate economics program unless you combine this with a very strong math background. To be competitive at top 10 economic graduate programs you’ll need the equivalent of a BS in math( graduate studies option). You’ll need to maintain that 3.8+ gpa while taking real and complex analysis. Without the math analysis background you won’t be competitive with the other top applicants and graduate econometrics will be nearly impossible even if you do manage to get in.
SCbob is quite right. My husband is a Chicago economist and so we are surrounded by academic and professional economists, and the value of a deep mathematics background is the one and only thing they all agree on.
No, it is NOT true that “state schools are less rigorous” than private ones. It depends on the individual schools you’re comparing, obviously.
OP, you’ll need to shoot for top grades in the most rigorous quantitative program to which you can gain admission, be it public or private.
Re Penn State, it is not for slackers of any stripe.
@LucieTheLakie Some state schools aren’t as rigorous as say NYU or Syracuse. Since I’m going for a MSc in Finance at Oxford I will probably major in Economics at LMU or Elon, where grade inflation is high. I need to go somewhere in which gives me the best opportunity to maintain a 4.0 GPA. I got accepted to NYU and Cornell, but I can’t have competition as I need the best GPA possible for Oxford.
@NyulsBae don’t you think that Oxford is aware of grade inflation and rigor? So your 4.0 at a school with high grade inflation will not look as impressive as a 4.0 at a school without such a trend, correct? Program rigor surely counts…and purposely choosing a school because it’s easier may not work out for you in the long run. Not to mention, Oxford is extremely rigorous…so how do you expect to get through that program if your UG preparation was “easy”.
Not to mention…Oxford surely has seen this strategy before. They know all of the tricks. As @LucieTheLakie said, your strategy (if indeed you are serious about Oxford or other elite programs) should be to attend the school with the most rigorous curriculum and do well. Doing well in an ‘easy’ curriculum won’t get you into Oxford.
@NyulsBae, you stated the following in another thread:
So, what are we talking about here? Are you transferring from UCLA (a FANTASTIC public school by anyone’s account) to Syracuse or NYU or are you a high school student just posing hypotheticals?
Syracuse is “rigorous” by whose standards? LMU … Is that Loyola Marymount? Elon?
Just go to the top school you can afford, major in something quantitative, and graduate at the top of your class. And re Penn State, if you’re truly Oxford or LSE material, you should be able to get admitted to Schreyer. What are your stats, BTW?
@LucieTheLakie I do go to UCLA, but I’m thinking about transferring to penn state.
And I also needed to know that info because I take one of the easiest majors out there…anthro…and plan on getting a masters in finance or econ
Now I see you wrote this in early December in another thread:
Stop wasting people’s time here and get your story straight. It doesn’t take a degree from Oxford to know how to check a member’s posting history. And with an SAT of 1800 and an 89 GPA, you’d be lucky to get into Penn State. Why are you misrepresenting yourself here?
I’m very confused… on one thread you wrote that you’re a junior and now you’re saying you’ve gotten into NYU and Cornell as a transfer student currently attending UCLA? Time travel must be sick.