我们系主任和 dgs 发来的调查问卷以及我的回复

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Exit Survey for Graduates of the MA in Economics
This survey is anonymous—do not put your name or other way you can be identified on the form.  This helps us ensure that we are collecting accurate information as we attempt to assess our program and look for ways to improve it.  Please answer the questions and print the form and put it in mailbox.
One of the primary missions of the MA in Economics program is “PhD Preparation.”  The first three questions are in relation to this mission.  The final three deal with the programs objectives of improving quantitative skills, analytical reasoning and research skills.

1.        When you came to the program, on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 means very interested and 1 means not interested at all, how interested were you in going onto a PhD program?
                                     10
Did that perception change during your MA studies (circle):       NO                        More interest                  Less Interest
2.         Did you apply for PhD programs?    Circle One-         YES         NO
3.        Whether or not you applied for or were interested in a PhD program, we still value your input on this question.  How well do you feel the program does with respect to its mission of preparing students for PhD studies? Answer on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 means it does extremely well and 1 means it does an extremely poor job.
                      6
4.        One of the program’s chief goals is to improve students’ math and statistical skills.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best score, how well do you think the program does at improving students’ quantitative skills?
                      5
5.         Another goal of the program is to improve student’s analytical reasoning skills—i.e. train them to think like professional economists and think critically about how things work.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best score, how well do you think the program does at giving improving students’ analytical reasoning skills?
                      6
6.        Another goal of our program is to help students develop the communication skills and intellectual curiosity needed to successfully carry out research in economics.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best score, how well do you think the program does at giving improving students’ research skills?
                      6
Please feel free to add any comments about the program either below, on the back, or on a separate sheet.  Where did you feel it was strongest and weakest?  What suggestions do you have for improvement?  In your view, what changes should the program make, if any?  Also feel free to clarify any of your answers above in sentence form if you so desire.

Not enough core courses in Advanced Economics (PhD level), e.g. no Advanced Macroeconomics course (the so called Advanced Macro is only Intermediate level) is available, Further topics in Econometrics is also needed.

Given more and more MA programs opened in prestigious schools—such as MA programs at Duke, UIUC, Boston U, UT-Austin, U Wisconsin, …, even Columbia U is planning to open their MA program next year, although they are not providing financial aids to their students, their students are definitely going to crowd out the opportunities of getting into higher ranked Ph.D. programs for our students — the students of our program will be less and less competitive on the market of Ph.D. applications. Furthermore, dozens of springboard programs in European Countries are emerging during the past 5 years, such as the master program at a Spanish institution called Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros (Center for Monetary and Financial Studies, or CEMFI) and master program at a French school called the Toulous School of Economics, who are not only able to provide students with full funding but also give their students solid backgrounds and strong recommendations (good recommendations from famous economists). The program must think of a way to face these challenges, otherwise the placement record of our economics program will be doomed to deteriorate in the future…

Suggestion: First, try to keep small class size and admit students more selectively, so that you can have enough money to attract more talented and well prepared (but financially poor) students. In this way, the program may provide deeper economics courses without worrying about the students’ ability to handle the curriculum.

Second, try to cooperate with the Department of Mathematics since core courses in advanced analysis sequence (such as real analysis, MTH 632) and statistics sequence (such as probability theory and statistical analysis, MTH 684) are essential in signaling math ability of the Econ Ph.D. applicants – try to design a curriculum schedule for students to be able to finish or at least get some credits along these sequences before their application.

Third, try to interact with economists from other institutions, make connections. Applicants from aforementioned schools may not be much better than talented students from our program, but students from here are dominated (at least weakly) by them when applying to higher ranked programs (top 30 programs or even top 50 programs), since their admission committee members don’t know our program and they don’t know our professors, they don’t take credit on strong recommendation that is sent out by our professors.

It was the best of the times, it was the worst of the times. Application to Ph.D. program in Economics is becoming a battle field, it was, is, and will continue to be the most competitive field in social sciences regarding researches as well as the hardest field in academic world regarding Ph.D. applications. As a graduate student from our department, I sincerely hope the program will getting better and better. Thank you for providing me the opportunity to study here.