Profile for oxford msc economics for development and cambridge mphil in economics

You will need excellent recommendations from your economics professors and a good personal statement. To get a better understanding of your standing, talk to your economics professors and see what they suggest and whether they will support your application to the various programs you mentioned. Regarding the academics, Coursera courses will not fill the gap and they likely will not be helpful for admissions to economics programs. However, they might give you the statistical background you need to take courses such as advanced econometrics at the undergraduate level where you need a good statistical background. By the way, LSE summer school offers real analysis and advanced econometrics. Both of these courses or something similar would give you good preparation for the rigor of the academic programs you mentioned.

Reply 2

Research assistant experience is usually not needed for masters programs so I would not worry about that. However, that is a good way to get excellent recommendations from your econ professors. More importantly, though, you want to make sure you are ready for the rigor of the programs. You did not mention the GRE, but certainly you'll need an excellent quantitative score.

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 3

OP

Original post by SS378

You will need excellent recommendations from your economics professors and a good personal statement. To get a better understanding of your standing, talk to your economics professors and see what they suggest and whether they will support your application to the various programs you mentioned. Regarding the academics, Coursera courses will not fill the gap and they likely will not be helpful for admissions to economics programs. However, they might give you the statistical background you need to take courses such as advanced econometrics at the undergraduate level where you need a good statistical background. By the way, LSE summer school offers real analysis and advanced econometrics. Both of these courses or something similar would give you good preparation for the rigor of the academic programs you mentioned.

i may not be able to afford the summer schools though so that might be an issue

Reply 4

OP

Original post by SS378

Research assistant experience is usually not needed for masters programs so I would not worry about that. However, that is a good way to get excellent recommendations from your econ professors. More importantly, though, you want to make sure you are ready for the rigor of the programs. You did not mention the GRE, but certainly you'll need an excellent quantitative score.

Actually, I haven't given my GRE yet because Im still in the process of planning out funding...if I am to get a good GRE score do I have a chance of getting admitted, preferably with a scholarship from at least one of the colleges in Cambridge?

Reply 5

OP

Original post by rhea007

Actually, I haven't given my GRE yet because Im still in the process of planning out funding...if I am to get a good GRE score do I have a chance of getting admitted, preferably with a scholarship from at least one of the colleges in Cambridge?

also, is there anything else I can do to enhance my profile and make it stronger?

Reply 6

Original post by rhea007

i may not be able to afford the summer schools though so that might be an issue

I understand that issue very well.

Reply 7

Original post by rhea007

Actually, I haven't given my GRE yet because Im still in the process of planning out funding...if I am to get a good GRE score do I have a chance of getting admitted, preferably with a scholarship from at least one of the colleges in Cambridge?

You want to do your best preparation for the GRE. You will need a quant score ideally 169/170 to have the best chance of getting admitted and being recommended for scholarships. You do not want the GRE score to be your weak link in the application.

Reply 8

Original post by rhea007

also, is there anything else I can do to enhance my profile and make it stronger?

Make sure you have strong reference letters from economics professors who have PhDs. Also, I'd talk to your letter writers about your plans. See what they recommend and ask them where else they think you should apply.

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 9

I don't know about Oxford, but when you apply to Cambridge, in the application (or in the admissions pages somewhere) there is a scholarship search function. Make sure you check scholarships carefully and select all that apply to you. Each year in Cambridge some students receive full funding for the masters program. Also look at the requirements for the Gates Cambridge scholarship, it's full funding.

Reply 10

OP