The Student Room Group

Msc Economics at Queen Mary

Hi everyone, I wanted to know how good is the teaching in Msc Economics at QMUL and the job prospects of graduates from this course.
Can someone also tell me how tough is the Msc Economics course? I am studying Economics at Keele. I have taken modules in Advanced Micro and Macroeconomics and Applied Econometrics. Will I be able to integrate well into the course and pass with distinction? I am expected to pass with a high first btw.
Reply 1
Not sure what you're taught during your undergrad advanced courses. Graduate level micro and macro are much more math-intensive than undergrad level courses. If you were taught topics like New Keynesian, Ramsey, choices under uncertainty etc. with uses of differential equations, probability theories etc., and find it quite manageable, you'll likely do pretty well in graduate Econ courses.
If your advanced modules weren't the real advanced ones, you could have a look at Romer's Advanced Macroeconomics, and Varian's Microeconomic Analysis and you'll know what you're up against.
Reply 2
Original post by rbinzhu
Not sure what you're taught during your undergrad advanced courses. Graduate level micro and macro are much more math-intensive than undergrad level courses. If you were taught topics like New Keynesian, Ramsey, choices under uncertainty etc. with uses of differential equations, probability theories etc., and find it quite manageable, you'll likely do pretty well in graduate Econ courses.
If your advanced modules weren't the real advanced ones, you could have a look at Romer's Advanced Macroeconomics, and Varian's Microeconomic Analysis and you'll know what you're up against.

Thanks, I have done New Keynesian and uncertainty with probability, but not using differential equations. So far my undergrad avergae is at 78%, so I believe I have adapted well to my course so far.
How is the job prospects of graduates from the Msc Economics course from QMUL? I'm planning on working as an economist in the private sector, such as jobs in Macroeconomic think tanks, competition law or economic research consultancy.
Reply 3
Original post by oooshiii
Thanks, I have done New Keynesian and uncertainty with probability, but not using differential equations. So far my undergrad avergae is at 78%, so I believe I have adapted well to my course so far.
How is the job prospects of graduates from the Msc Economics course from QMUL? I'm planning on working as an economist in the private sector, such as jobs in Macroeconomic think tanks, competition law or economic research consultancy.

Tbh, I'm not from QMUL and couldn't say much about its placements. But it is definitely one of the most hardcore Econ MSc in UK (only behind Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick imo). It sounds like you're really into Econ research. Why not do a PhD? Msc is sufficient, but usually economist positions prefer PhDs.
But if you insist on working after the MSc, I think your priority is to ensure your research interest, and try to opt for related modules and maybe do a disso on the topic. From what I heard recently, there are more positions for health, energy, and environment economics than other fields, especially for Msc.
Reply 4
Original post by rbinzhu
Tbh, I'm not from QMUL and couldn't say much about its placements. But it is definitely one of the most hardcore Econ MSc in UK (only behind Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick imo). It sounds like you're really into Econ research. Why not do a PhD? Msc is sufficient, but usually economist positions prefer PhDs.
But if you insist on working after the MSc, I think your priority is to ensure your research interest, and try to opt for related modules and maybe do a disso on the topic. From what I heard recently, there are more positions for health, energy, and environment economics than other fields, especially for Msc.

Thanks for the advice! :smile:
I've done my MSc and am currently doing my MRes Economics (1st year of PhD) so feel free to ask any questions.

What I would say is that what one of the other posters is true in that graduate level economics does sometimes feel like a different kettle of fish compared to undergrad. QMUL is definitely solid at graduate level, personally I'd put the master's behind Nottingham and Exeter's MRes course (QMUL>Exeter's MSc Economics courses) but it's probably top10 in the UK. Perhaps we can better advise if you talk about the level of courses you studied

It all really hinges on what you've been taught at undergrad level because saying you've done adv micro/macro doesn't signal anything as modules differ in difficulty across universities. In my experience, students generally found a few things difficult. Firstly, the growth theory side of macroeconomics can be quite difficult with the differential equations, Hamiltonians and bellman equations. For econometrics, you need to be very comfortable with matrix algebra as generally graduate level econometrics is taught entirely in matrix algebra, most the decent unis teach econometrics in matrix algebra at undergrad level too but just thought you should be aware because I'm unsure how advanced Keele's modules actually are. Microeconomics feels quite dominated by things like Bayesian Nash equilibriums and mechanism design more generally.

Ultimately, graduate level economics is often a lot more theoretical than undergrad, but this depends on the MSc. What I would say is that it's a bit odd to have potential careers as macro at a think tank and competition law as one is macro and one is micro, often people pick one or the other based on their interests.
(edited 2 years ago)

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending