MA Economics Conditional Offer

HoldOnTight

Hi everyone,

My status on the online application system has recently changed to 'conditional offer'. Other than that I have received no material/contact with regard to what exactly the conditions of the offer are. Can I assume that they will require a 2.1 for undergrad or do these conditional offers vary widely in specifics?

On a side note, can anyone who has had experience with the MA Economics course provide me with any tips/insight?

Thanks!

noodler

When I did mine the deadline for applying was actually July so the first notification I got was an email.

Also you needed a 2:1. So have you got a 2:1 in an undergrad Economics course yet? Are you only doing your finals this year?

HoldOnTight

Thanks for the reply.

I'm in final year Commerce International. Received an email from admin informing me about the requirements (nothing too major, just the standard 2.1 requirement). If I accept the conditional offer when do I have to pay the deposit?

Thanks again!

noodler

Absolutely no idea. There was no deposit when I was there you just accepted and then paid the fees (essentially though I guess you could backout at any time before you paid the fees).

Maybe this new conditional thing is all based around the deposit (making sure people con't accept unless they are sure). Seems strange if they wanted a deposit from you before your results are confirmed though.

I guess thats two possible conditions then. Guess you better get on to Admin.

Slippers

I'm doing the MA too so see you in September!

Unless you're doing game theory or advanced macro, in which case see you this afternoon!

I don't know if you noticed but they changed the list of semester-2 options recently: http://www.ucd.ie/economics/graduateprogrammes/ma

Morgan Kelly said there are only 18 people on it this year. Up until Christmas everyone has the same classes and they are all in G214, and I don't think there are any other people in them either, so everyone will probably get to know eachother. Very different to my previous courses.

Here's a pic of me beside Science:

noodler

Slippers wrote: »

I'm doing the MA too so see you in September!

Unless you're doing game theory or advanced macro, in which case see you this afternoon!

I don't know if you noticed but they changed the list of semester-2 options recently: http://www.ucd.ie/economics/graduateprogrammes/ma

Morgan Kelly said there are only 18 people on it this year. Up until Christmas everyone has the same classes and they are all in G214, and I don't think there are any other people in them either, so everyone will probably get to know eachother. Very different to my previous courses.

Here's a pic of me beside Science:

As far as I know, and from my own experience, everyone does Macro, Micro and Econometrics (and I think they just brought in a quants course too) in the same class for the first semester so no specialising until Semester 2.

18 seems incredibly small - I am almost certain my class was pushing 30. The course was being advertised on Irisheconomy.ie.

http://www.irisheconomy.ie/index.php/2011/04/08/ucd-ma-in-economics/

HoldOnTight

Slippers wrote: »

I'm doing the MA too so see you in September!

Unless you're doing game theory or advanced macro, in which case see you this afternoon!

I don't know if you noticed but they changed the list of semester-2 options recently: http://www.ucd.ie/economics/graduateprogrammes/ma

Morgan Kelly said there are only 18 people on it this year. Up until Christmas everyone has the same classes and they are all in G214, and I don't think there are any other people in them either, so everyone will probably get to know eachother. Very different to my previous courses.

Here's a pic of me beside Science:

Ugh, seeing people already doing Game Theory and Advanced Macro makes me nervous. I have only done Introductory Macro and Micro, and taking Int. Trade this semester. I'm planning on going back over some linear algebra and starting on some econometrics over the summer. I do get the feeling I will be pretty far behind the rest of the class though:( I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to catch up.

noodler

HoldOnTight wrote: »

Ugh, seeing people already doing Game Theory and Advanced Macro makes me nervous. I have only done Introductory Macro and Micro, and taking Int. Trade this semester. I'm planning on going back over some linear algebra and starting on some econometrics over the summer. I do get the feeling I will be pretty far behind the rest of the class though:( I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to catch up.

When I was in undergrad, Econometrics was not compulsory and so I did not choose it and had to start from scratch in Sept.

I highly recommend going to whoever is teach the course next year (I assume it is Liam Delaney) and asking for some advice on stuff to read during the summer.

I am not talking about intensive work but just some background on econometrics, its applications in real world situations etc. By the way, Stata work is unbelievably important - it is my weakness there that is putting me off going for a PHD. Make sure you put serious effort into understanding that (try to procure a copy of the software during the summer if you can) because it is probably the most employable aspect of the course when it comes to getting a job in a related field.

Slippers

noodler wrote: »

18 seems incredibly small - I am almost certain my class was pushing 30. The course was being advertised on Irisheconomy.ie.

http://www.irisheconomy.ie/index.php/2011/04/08/ucd-ma-in-economics/

He said usually in recessions the masters gets more popular but it's going down instead. His theory was that because undergrad Economics has to cater to lots of different people the top third of the class who might be interested in a masters were not finding it challenging and not enjoying their time in UCD Economics so they were picking somewhere else for their masters. He was handing out a questionnaire in class to see what people thought of undergrad. They printed a glossy brochure for the MA this year so numbers might be back up.

HoldOnTight wrote: »

Ugh, seeing people already doing Game Theory and Advanced Macro makes me nervous. I have only done Introductory Macro and Micro, and taking Int. Trade this semester. I'm planning on going back over some linear algebra and starting on some econometrics over the summer. I do get the feeling I will be pretty far behind the rest of the class though:( I'm hoping it won't be too difficult to catch up.

I felt like that last summer. I only started Economics in September. You'll be fine.

I did the first three years of Science, starting Statistics in 2nd Year, then the HDip in Statistics. I applied for the MA in Economics last year but didn't get in so now I'm doing the MA Qualifier. I had Adv. Micro, Applied Econometrics I, Financial Economics and International Monetary Economics last semester and Game Theory and Adv. Macro this semester. I'd never done Economics before so wasn't sure if I'd even know the vocabulary they would be using! But there are lots of different people including exchange students and HDip in Econ people so all the courses seem to be self contained nuggets that kind of start from scratch. I'm sure the masters will be the same.

Killer Pigeon

Slippers wrote: »

OMG!! Shaolin Kung Fu! I joined at the beginning of the year but never went to any classes :P

Slippers

Bingo! New people welcome all year round! I train in the Saturday afternoon classes. I won't be at the next three because campus is closing for the Ball, then I've a Ninjutsu seminar and then I've a school reunion overseas but come down and say hi sometime.

podge84

Ive applied for the MA in economics also, just waiting on my reference letter and should have the application completed next week. I did my undergrad in finance and investment from WIT. Be interesting to see what kind of age profile will be taking the course, im 26 now but will be the BIG 2 7 by the time the course starts. Also should i be lucky enough to get accepted id be delighted with any advice anyone can offer me on accomadation. Im living in waterford now but would be looking for accomadation near campus.

Slippers

Nice to meet you. I turned 28 last month. HoldOnTight is in final year Commerce International so I'm guessing he or she will be 22 when we start.

noodler

It was the most satisfying year I had in college.

Challenging, rewarding etc. If the department still allows Masters students to be tutors then make sure you get on board. It is very good money which lets you work on campus, go over basic theory and teaching the undergrads for a few hours a week does wonders for your public speaking, economic knowledge etc.

Enjoy

Slippers

Unless I've made a major oversight none of my modules had tutorials this year (five 3rd Year, one 2nd Year). Is it only 1st Year modules that have tutorials in the School of Economics?

noodler

Slippers wrote: »

Unless I've made a major oversight none of my modules had tutorials this year (five 3rd Year, one 2nd Year). Is it only 1st Year modules that have tutorials in the School of Economics?

I had tutorials in 2006 in 3rd year.

If thats changed then sorry I mentioned it.

However, if there are only 18 maybe they could have MA students help out the PHD students when it comes to tutoring? Probably just getting your hopes up here - maybe they give all the first years to PHDs nowadays.

Slippers

No need to apologise I just thought that the economics department might be different from the statistics one because I definitely had tutorials in 3rd year there. Also hoping that I haven't been missing out on tutorials all this year!

joxer1988

Howdy,

I also have applied to start the MA in Sept. Doing Bus&Mgmt in DIT, but have taken Econometrics, International Finance and Monetary Economics this year. Did an Econometrics based thesis too...

Anyone want to evaluate my chances?

Also how long does it generally take for them to get back to you?

Thanks in advance.

Killer Pigeon

I'm in 2nd year science at the moment studying physics and I'm thinking about transferring to economics after my degree. I'd just like to know, what type of backgrounds are more acceptable for the MA in Economics and for the people who got accepted, what type of GPA do they have (I know it's something like 3.08 but obviously I expect it to be much higher for the people who got accepted)?

Also, during the admissions process, do they check your grades for all exams you previous sat in UCD (i.e., exams from stage 1 - 4 of the degree) or do they just check your degree GPA? In science, the degree GPA only counts for the final year of the degree. I know that for certain masters degrees in Smurfit they check your entire record, is this the case for the MA in Economics?

podge84

I just heard back yesterday, they said I was unsuccesful in my application, buts thats all they said they didnt really say why. I have a good bit of economics done - micro, macro, financial economics, econometrics, open economy macro, along with a good few quantitative modules and research methods.

Have got a 2.1 the last 2 years and hoping to get a 1.1 this year. They recommended i apply for the masters in economic science. does anyone know how much the MA qualifier is? The masters in economic science is the same price as the MA so roughly €6000. Maybe i should just try a different course in a different college, anyone any advice?

joxer1988

podge84 wrote: »

I just heard back yesterday, they said I was unsuccesful in my application, buts thats all they said they didnt really say why. I have a good bit of economics done - micro, macro, financial economics, econometrics, open economy macro, along with a good few quantitative modules and research methods.

Have got a 2.1 the last 2 years and hoping to get a 1.1 this year. They recommended i apply for the masters in economic science. does anyone know how much the MA qualifier is? The masters in economic science is the same price as the MA so roughly €6000. Maybe i should just try a different course in a different college, anyone any advice?

That's rough, mate. What undergrad are you doing?

Try MA Economics at NUIM - they will accept you within a week, no doubt.

podge84

That's rough, mate. What undergrad are you doing?

Try MA Economics at NUIM - they will accept you within a week, no doubt.

My undergrad is BA (Hons) in Finance and Investment, did a lot of economic electives within the course, maybe I should ring and ask why I wasnt accepted. Not really sure about NUIM, not sure about the MA in UCC either. Im guessing if i didnt get into UCD i definatley wont get in to the MSc in Trinity. I wanted the UCD course due to the quality of the lecturers on the course whats the NUIM MA like, anyone any experience?

Slippers

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

I'm in 2nd year science at the moment studying physics and I'm thinking about transferring to economics after my degree. I'd just like to know, what type of backgrounds are more acceptable for the MA in Economics and for the people who got accepted, what type of GPA do they have (I know it's something like 3.08 but obviously I expect it to be much higher for the people who got accepted)?

Also, during the admissions process, do they check your grades for all exams you previous sat in UCD (i.e., exams from stage 1 - 4 of the degree) or do they just check your degree GPA? In science, the degree GPA only counts for the final year of the degree. I know that for certain masters degrees in Smurfit they check your entire record, is this the case for the MA in Economics?

I did Science 2003-2006.
1st year: CompSci PassMaths Geology MathPhys (got 10% on MathPhys and repeated in August)
2nd year: PassMaths Stats CompSci (failed CompSci and repeated in August)
3rd year: 8 units Stats, 2 units PassMaths (failed 2 stats and 1 maths)
Didn't get in to final year. Got 42.8% on 3rd year.

Did HDipStat 2007-2008 and got a GPA of just exactly 3.08.

I got an email that said if I get 3.08 on the MA Qualifier this year then I'm in.

podge84 wrote: »

does anyone know how much the MA qualifier is?

It was €30 for the application and €2,218 for the course this year.

Killer Pigeon

Did you get in Slippers?

Slippers

Haven't got my Semester II results yet. My Semester I GPA was 4.15 and I had 4 modules in Semester I but only 2 in Semester II so I'm pretty much in.

Slippers

I've just noticed that the syllabus for 2011/2012 is up (includes the lecturer for each module).

noodler

podge84 wrote: »

I just heard back yesterday, they said I was unsuccesful in my application, buts thats all they said they didnt really say why. I have a good bit of economics done - micro, macro, financial economics, econometrics, open economy macro, along with a good few quantitative modules and research methods.

Have got a 2.1 the last 2 years and hoping to get a 1.1 this year. They recommended i apply for the masters in economic science. does anyone know how much the MA qualifier is? The masters in economic science is the same price as the MA so roughly €6000. Maybe i should just try a different course in a different college, anyone any advice?

Sorry to hear that.

I am a little surprised to be honest. Your undergrad course was probably more intense that the equivalent undergrad in economics and, as you say, there was alot of overlap.

They obviously excluded you because they didn't consider your undergrad relevant enough - which I strange. I would have said that maybe it was a demand issue and they had too many others with "actual" Econ undergrads but then some other posters in this thread said they were having trouble filling the course this year..

joxer1988

noodler wrote: »

When I was in undergrad, Econometrics was not compulsory and so I did not choose it and had to start from scratch in Sept.

I highly recommend going to whoever is teach the course next year (I assume it is Liam Delaney) and asking for some advice on stuff to read during the summer.

I am not talking about intensive work but just some background on econometrics, its applications in real world situations etc. By the way, Stata work is unbelievably important - it is my weakness there that is putting me off going for a PHD. Make sure you put serious effort into understanding that (try to procure a copy of the software during the summer if you can) because it is probably the most employable aspect of the course when it comes to getting a job in a related field.

From what I've heard Liam Delaney has moved on to Stirling University... I'll be doing the MA in Sept too.

I've done some Econometrics and some Monetary Economics and Macro, but nothing compared to what Slippers has done in the qualifier!

Ah, sure I like a challenge.

Btw, if anyone wants a copy of STATA, pm me your email address..