Prestige in economics

J.D.R

Right, need a bit of real world perspective on careers in economics.

I've always been told that, as economics is one of those highfalutin subjects along the same social level as law/politics/white-collar-esque-board-room-jobs, where you graduate from plays a very important role in where you will be employed. Is this true or is it an over used stereotype?

I'm currently going into my final year of economics in NUIM and I'm debating about where to go for my postgrad. Will breaking my back to get into a top tier college such as trinity/oxford/LSE (depending on how generous Bank of Ireland want to be), or will it offer little benefit?

Any advice is greatly appreciated,
Jack

Black Swan

International corporations such as Johnson & Johnson have a preferred university hiring list, which increases the likelihood of being recruited by them, and if hired, they tend to offer more starting salary. I doubt that they are exceptions in this practice.

Coursework is likely to be similar everywhere, but for better or worse, signals matter. Go to the best university you afford. The LSE's MSc. in Economics is an exception, and only really pays if you're looking to get into a top 10 programme in the US.

J.D.R

Black Swan wrote: »

International corporations such as Johnson & Johnson have a preferred university hiring list, which increases the likelihood of being recruited by them, and if hired, they tend to offer more starting salary. I doubt that they are exceptions in this practice.

Thanks. I suppose it's never a bad idea to aim high

Deleted User wrote: »

Coursework is likely to be similar everywhere, but for better or worse, signals matter. Go to the best university you afford. The LSE's MSc. in Economics is an exception, and only really pays if you're looking to get into a top 10 programme in the US.

Can I ask what you mean about the LSE's MSc being an exception?

Too expensive, doesn't provide value for money.

[Jackass]

Deleted User wrote: »

Too expensive, doesn't provide value for money.

It is crazy expensive, but I'm not sure I'd agree with this. LSE is arguably the best college for Economics on the planet, and is widely considered so also.

The benefits might not be extremely tangible, but I would argue that graduating from that school would make a massive difference to your job prospects and your wage demands.

It also depends on where you want to work of course.

But even in Ireland, if it got you a job ahead of someone else with the exact same qualifications but didn't graduate from as prestigous a school and/or got you 5 - 10k more than you would have gotten if you graduated from DCU or somewhere (no disrespect to DCU - just comparing it to LSE here), then it would pay for it's self quite quickly.

There's no question that it makes you stand out from the crowd though. Not a bad thing in the current climate. Whether it pays for it's self is debatable, but I would argue that it would. OP, you should consider trying to find a forum / contacts for graduates, and get their take on it.

Regarding your original question, I think in every walk of life where you were educated is considered, rightly or wrongly. Trinity, for example, would look far more impressive on a CV than an IT perhaps (again, no disrespect!!).

So I suppose just aim as high as you can get. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, as it's not the be all and end all, the level of education is obviously the most important part (i.e. having the masters), where you get it is secondary, but you wont be doing your prospects any harm if you get in to one of the better regarded colleges. I know it sounds awfully pretentious, but it is a fact of life.