MSc in Quantitative Economics

The main answer to this question (and there are others as you read this faq) is that we will be offering challenging, exciting courses taught by faculty at the top of their fields. Read the course descriptions on this site. And then read who is down to teach them in the coming year. What you see is what you will get, which is an extraordinary opportunity to interact with the very best professors. Few top programs will give you this much information about the faculty with whom you will interact.

This is how a pre-doc program works: students are admitted into the program and they work with faculty on an ongoing research project as research assistants. You learn valuable skills as an assistant. If you do well, the professor you've worked for will write you a good letter praising those skills. We have seen many of these letters. They are useful in describing a certain set of talents that you displayed as an assistant, which will serve you well in your research years. A pre-doc is a signaling device. 

All this can be highly rewarding, if you have a good match with the faculty member involved, and with his or her research projects. But it is a risky proposition, and if you are not thrilled with the match, often there is not much you can do. 

In contrast, our program (while also serving as a signaling device), will actually teach you new skills and techniques in a year-long intensive programs. Our goal is not just to make sure that you get into a Ph.D. program or a research sector of your choice, but to generate new skills that will help you through the demands of the Ph.D., or to flourish as a researcher in the private sector. For instance, a talented prospective student may not survive the pace and demands of the first year of a doctoral program. Our program prepares you for those demands, and lets you demonstrate that you can handle them. It is a different approach that is based on actual, intensive teaching, rather than an assessment of your pre-existing talents.  22 faculty members are slated to teach you, with all the variety and balance that comes with that plenitude.

The choice is yours.

The next answer addresses the signaling question in detail. But our response to your immediate question is that our MSQE program is far more than a signaling device. You will be surprised by the many gaps in your technical knowledge as an undergraduate, and the upward jump that occurs in a top Ph.D. program. You need to invest in that knowledge now, and not during the intensely stressful first year of a challenging doctoral program. Besides, we have a unusual and creative plan to create signaling opportunities. Read about it when we discuss the timetable for your program.

Our program will start in July. By the time you are applying to the Ph.D. you will have completed no fewer than eight courses in our program, interacting fully with eight different professors. Four more courses will four new professors will be coming to a close. We will know a lot about you by then --- which is exactly our motive for starting early. We can write detailed, thoughtful, honest letters about you that are not just vague compliments, but the kind of assessments that the best doctoral programs or tech-sector employers need. The designers of the MSQE are veteran professors who have been involved in Ph.D. admissions for decades. They know the sort of letters that count, and --- assuming you do well, which we think you will if you're admitted --- we aim to provide just those letters.

This is a new program and we do not have hard numbers. But we can tell you that New York University's Economics Department is ranked among the very best in the world. And it attracts superb students, many of whom (on completion of their doctoral studies) have gone on to teach at the finest universities. We therefore anticipate a large number of applicants, perhaps fewer in the initial years. We plan to keep the faculty-student ratio at a manageable level and so will limit the size of the entering class.

No, you don't. But some economics background is important, essentially crucial. Ideally you should have taken some economics courses at the intermediate level in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics, and one or more electives. If not and you are admitted, you must be willing to catch up on material in the summer before you join. If you don't have an economics degree then we will be looking for a degree with mathematics, physics, statistics or engineering, with a strong interest in economics.

The answer is yes, we will look closely at your math background. There are several aspects of our course which are technical and mathematical (but remaining firmly focused on economics, of course).

Examples of what you might need is multivariate calculus, at least, and then introductory courses in real analysis, linear algebra, or differential equations will all be helpful without being strictly necessary for admission. Likewise, it would help if you have studied basic probability theory (not necessarily from the measure-theoretic standpoint) and know about basic concepts in statistics, such as different families of distributions, notions of expectation and conditional expectation, and so on. If you've already studied topics like the central limit theorem, the law of large numbers, or basic regression theory, that would be excellent. Finally, we are not looking for mathematical wizards but individuals who have a reasonable amount of mathematical maturity and can apply their logical mind to economic questions.

The courswork for the MSQE spans a total of six separate modules, starting from around mid-July, and ending in mid-May the year after Five of the six modules will last for 6 weeks each, and have four courses each, while module 4 falls within the three-week January term at NYU, and offers two courses. For details of every course, click here.

There will be sequence in microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, mathematics for economists, data and computation, and game theory. All the courses in these sequences is required for all students. There will be an additional set of six elective courses (Industrial Organization I and II, Computational Dynamics, International Economics, a third Econometrics course, and Financial Economics), of which you will take four of these. There will also be a two-term research practicum on which more below.

In case you're wondering: yes, this is pretty intense. No wonder we think you will emerge from this program equipped to take on all of life's challenges at once.

Yes! A “capstone” research seminar in each of the last two modules helps you move toward doing original research. The seminars are modelled after two celebrated doctoral-level reading groups at NYU, one in macro and one in micro. Over the past twenty years, these popular groups have given students the opportunity to discuss recent literature and their own work, both with their peers and with involved faculty. This has helped develop critical research and presentational skills, and exceptional esprit de corps among our doctoral students. We want our MSc students to experience this too. We are going to support your investigations into an area of your choice, one that reflects your specific interests. Some of you may already have a project in mind. Others may seek the help of the faculty coordinators in identifying key work in their respective areas of interest, which you will critically analyze and present to the group for their feedback. We will teach you how to formulate a problem, and how to move toward making that problem into a professional paper. By the second research module, a student will be presenting his or her own results on the topic, or at least conjectured results or suggestions for new approaches in the area. There may also be opportunities for students to work on an ongoing faculty research project. We will try to match faculty and student interests to create as many of these ultra-mini predoc experiences as possible.

All the courses in the program are taught by full-time NYU faculty, from either the Economics Department at GSAS or the Economics Department at Stern. Click on the program tab to see who's lined up to teach what, or on the people tab to see a detailed list of our faculty, with links to their webpages. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of the 22 courses you take will be taught by different professors; indeed, some courses will be taught by two professors. You can expect to interact with twenty or more of our top faculty in the one year you spend here.

In the Fall of 2021, our tuition per credit is $1,999. These rates are subject to change. To complete the MSQE program, you must take 33 credits. In addition, there are miscellaneous student fees which currently stand at $528 minimum, but they rise with the number of credits at approximately $70 per credit.

Yes. The fee is currently set at $110.

We do indeed. This is the MA in Economics which is run entirely by the Economics Department in the Graduate School of Arts and Science (as opposed to this one, which is run by the Economics Department and the economics group at the Stern School of Business). It's an excellent program and you can read about it here.

We were hoping you'd ask. The MSQE has one fundamental goal, which to equip you with the tools and techniques that are needed for you to become a researcher. The canonical example we have in mind is that of the entering doctoral Ph.D. student, and the program is designed to hone those skills that turn you into a top doctoral student. Those same qualifications will also equip you for a career in research in the tech or finance sector, if that's what you are after.

The MA in Economics has broader goals. While our graduates from the MA sometimes go on to apply to doctoral programs in Economics, they often move into other areas: Ph.D. programs in public policy, private sector jobs widely defined, including consulting, banking and administrative positions, and possible positions in government, NGOs and international organizations. Think of the MA as building more applied and policy-oriented skills, and the MSQE as a program for strengthening core, research-related capabilities.

Finally, the MA program moves at a more relaxed pace --- it is a longer program that follows the standard academic term in each year of its program.

It is imperative to emphasize that the two programs are in no sense "vertically ranked". You are equally valued in both programs, but you are pushed in different directions and at a different pace.

Well, at some point you will need to make up your mind, because there is no moving programs in mid-stream. But before that crucial decision point arrives, we will give you the option to indicate in your MSQE application whether you would like to be additionally considered for the MA program. We will take that into account. That does not mean that you are better off just applying to the MSQE, even if the MA is your top choice. Read the next answer.

Yes, absolutely. The MA program will be filled first by applicants to that MA program. Cross-over applicants from the MSQE will be considered later, after we are done with the MA applicant pool. So take the MSQE application route only if it is currently your top choice, as you are disadvantaged as far as the MA is concerned.

The GREs typically set out necessary rather than sufficient conditions. We look for strong quantitative skills. There is no particular minimum, but if you score below some threshold (say, below 740) you either had a bad day or there is a problem with the mathematics background somewhere. Do we immediately condemn you on those grounds? Not at all, but if you have low GREs your application will have to be that much stronger elsewhere to “make up” for it.

Your transcripts will be looked at very carefully. If you are not a U.S. applicant don't worry: we have ways of figuring out and calibrating your scores using our own experience, background, and the knowledge we have of existing students. We look at your economics and mathematics background very closely, using your transcripts.

Your letters of recommendation are extremely important. They should come from academic professionals who have taught you or have interacted with you (e.g., as your undergraduate thesis supervisor). The letters should be honest, revealing of your strengths (and weaknesses), and if possible should attempt to rank you within the context of the recommender's own professional experience. It may be a good idea to tell your recommender that we want such a letter. It is all right to write things like "She is a very pleasant person" or "He bears a fine moral character" and we take such things seriously, but in the end these statements won't get you into a top program.

Ideally, your letters should come from academics, individuals who have played a serious role in your education. If you have worked in a company and your boss writes us a letter, there is only so much [s]he can tell us about what we really want to know. Similarly, if a top government official knows you or your family and writes a letter on your behalf, it is of limited use to us (and therefore to you). Do not be discouraged if you don't know "important" professors. We can tell a lot about your letter writers from the letters they have written before, and from the way they write. These things matter a lot more than whether your recommender has won a Nobel Prize (often, the so-called "important" people don't have the time to write a serious letter).

Very seriously. A good statement should be clear, not too long, and to the point. We want to know what it is that you want to do after completing our program --- a Ph.D., government work, the tech or financial sector, and so on. We want to know what it is about economics that excites you. Your statement is an important component of your application.

You will also have the opportunity to send us a video version of a statement. This could be a variant or synopsis of your personal statement, or an extension.

Good question. The answer is: it depends. If you have been --- say --- an investment banker for a few years before you apply to the MSQE, and want to go back into a career in finance, this may be a terrific asset. But if you are planning a doctoral degree in economics you're probably best off applying to a Masters program right away. [This is not to denigrate investment banking at all, but only to point out that it signals very little about research in economics.] If you have been, say, at the World Bank, or an intern at the Fed, very similar considerations may apply. It all depends on exactly what you want to do after the MSQE. In general, don't expect to jump into a priority admissions queue because of work experience, though we will evaluate this with your goals and skills in mind. Work experience can cut both ways.

Yes and no. It's probably best to send your inquiry to our contact email, and one of us will surely get back to you. No faculty member can provide an individualized assessment of your admissions chances, so it is not a good idea to send emails asking for help on that dimension. Unless the professor knows you, [s]he cannot help you secure admission. That said, it may be genuinely the case that your own interests lead you to interact with one of our faculty members, quite apart from the question of admissions. In that case your queries will almost always be met with a suitable response; we would be happy to hear from you.

In Masters programs around the world, financial aid is limited, and the MSQE will be no exception. If you belong to a minority group as defined by U.S. law, we may be able to offer partial financial aid. Similar considerations apply if you have been in military service. If you have financial aid from certain organizations like the Fulbright Foundation, we may be able to supplement that with a partial or full waiver of tuition. If you are an NYU undergraduate applying to the program, a discount may be applicable.

Here is a link to the GSAS webpage which explains NYU's financial aid policy for Masters  programs. 

No. You will need to apply to the NYU doctoral program separately. That said, of course we expect that by successfully completing the MSQE, your chances of being accepted at a top PhD program in Economics, such as the ones at NYU, will increase! And as an added bonus, You get to interact with our faculty beforehand, so our Ph.D. admissions committees will certainly have an accurate estimate of your ability.