Weekend Reading: Some Underrepresented Minority Perspectives on U.C. Berkeley Graduate Econ
Weekend Reading: Trevon D Logan: On Twitter: "Great advice here. (I admit I���m biased though...)"
@DaniaFrancis: Another example of the excellence coming out of Berkeley Econ. I kick myself again.
@TrevonDLogan: I remember your visit. Andrea and I were so hoping you���d come. In the end, there are not good or bad choices but just paths. I knew you���d reach your destination no matter what!
@DaniaFrancis: Thank you! I wasn���t so sure myself, but I���m glad I did!
@KimberlyNFoster: Does anyone love their PhD program? Why is it that we only hear struggle stories from PhD students?
@nomadj1s: Had a great time at @berkeleyecon. Faculty generally cared about advising & classmates were collaborative, as opposed to competitive. Good weather & food didn���t hurt. PhD was still a struggle at times, but worth it. YMMV
@TrevonDLogan: I too am a @berkeleyecon alum. It was a great experience overall. Very broad approach to Econ and intellectual curiosity was nurtured. My only regret is that I left the program too quickly. (But I was tired of trying to survive in that expensive housing market!)
So fitting that I���m teaching @MarthaOlney ���Avoiding Default��� (QJE, 1999) today. She put a reprint in my hand in 1999 when I visited @berkeleyecon and told her I was interested in consumer finance. She also gave me a reprint of ���When your Word is Not Enough��� (JEH, 1998) about racial differences in credit in the 1918/19 consumer expenditure survey. She told me ���you can do that here!��� And that was the first time I had anyone affiliated with a program ask what I wanted to do and showed me an example of what it was. That is so important and it sticks with me to this day. I don���t do ANYTHING related to that today and I never have! BUT I have used the 1918/19 consumer expenditure data and I found a department that let me follow my own path. @berkeleyecon is not a cookie cutter program, and that���s one of its key strengths.
@femme_economics: Ditto. @berkeleyecon was a wonderful place to get a PhD. Standout, considerate faculty paired with smart, fun, intellectually curious classmates. + Food +SF/Oakland +Tahoe +Napa +Santa Cruz
@DaniaFrancis: These endorsements of @berkeleyecon inspire me to make a PSA to students of color recently admitted to Econ Ph.D. programs who are trying to decide where to go. In 2001, I was faced with choosing between Berkeley Econ and two other programs. I chose wrong. Instead of benefiting from the supportive environment that @drlisadcook, @nomadj1s, and @femme_economics among others have touted at Berkeley, I wound up in a program where I felt very isolated for multiple reasons. I also found most of my fellow students to be more competitive with each other than cooperative. Adding to the ���outsider��� feeling, about 1/3 of my cohort had been undergrads in the same program. They knew each other, knew the professors, and were somewhat insular. I eventually left that program and found a home at @DukeSanford under the mentorship and support of @SandyDarity, which means my story does have a positive outcome.
But every time I hear someone (especially a person of color) y���all about how awesome Berkeley Econ was, I kick myself and wonder what could have been. Berkeley Econ has become one of those programs with a reputation for supporting and encouraging scholars of color of this generation much like MIT Econ did in the 1970s (see @SandyDarity and cohort). I say all of this to say: if you are a scholar of color making this choice right now, econ grad school is hard enough w/o a supportive environment. Factor that into your decision. It matters. Ask current and former students about their experiences. Don���t just choose the shiny, fancy name department, without knowing about support structures because that shiny, fancy name will mean nothing to you if you don���t have the support to actually finish. Finally, I have to add that at @UMassEcon we support the heck out of grad students. That is all.
@odiakosionu I shall send this on to my nephew who is graduating from Harvard this May, and considering Econ grad programs!...
@hotchocolatefox: I would recommend a HBCU
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