MA Econ from either Rice or Vandy...

Rice and Vandy are two of the three schools that are offering me a free ride into thier MA programs. Which one is the better of the two? I know they're not Stanford or MIT but as far prestige which ranks better?

20 Comments
 

corporate finance? let me be blunt: nothing in that degree will be applicable to that, absolutely nothing-get an MBA instea). I would say an MA in economics would probably be helpful to get into FICC, but as for other divisions, the impact is negligible.

but I'm just a junior Finance major, what do I know

 

Tha Vandy econ department is good, but definitely not great. I thin k it is what you make out of it. There are very knowledgeble people, who love what they are doing, so you will definitely have great mentors. I am not sure how they rank prestige-wise, but I have heard that Rice's social sciences are a disaster, in general. I know of two people who transferred because they care very little about anything beyond engineering

http://www.phds.org/rankings/economics/

 

Why do you care so much about prestige? This isn't high school, and no one cares that much about the insignificant differences between the two schools.

 

In the financial industry, Vandy is regarded as a more superior institution than Rice. On economics and business, Vandy beats Rice. Rice is more well-known for its engineering and sciences; Whereas Vandy is famous for its finance program and law school, which has a top 6 corporate law program in the country. So on the Street, with a degree from Vandy, you will receive more recognition with a larger alumni base.

 

I have friends who went to Vanderbilt undergraduate, majored in Economics, and through a combination of very influential relationships and hard work found themselves on the street. An MA in Econ from Vandy certainly wouldn't be frowned upon anywhere but I doubt it would be a ticket to Wall Street.

Sometimes when you bring the thunder... you get lost in the storm.
 

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