<p>Which is better, Tufts or NYU CAS? I am particularly interested in the reputation of the economics department. Also, in terms of the regional and national prestige of the two schools. Thank you.</p>
<p>For economics the choice is clear: NYU.</p>
<p>Of course there are other things you are probably going to consider in your decision but in terms of recognition for economics this is a no-brainer.</p>
<p>I agree. They're both great schools, but NYU's Econ department is top 10 or so and if you decide to do Economics-Mathematics (like myself), NYU has arguably the best Applied Mathematics department in the nation.</p>
<p>Why so? Yes, NYU's Econ department is top 15, but it is the Grad department. Where did you find that it is top 10 in undergrad? I ask this because the grad program of a school does not necessarily determine the quality of its undergrad program. Additionally, undergrad focus and teacher accessibility at Tufts is MUCH better than NYU. Wouldnt that give an edge to its undergrad econ? Besides this, I was also asking which school has more prestige regionally and nationally as a whole. So far, from what I have researched, and from people I know go to both schools, Tufts is higher ranked, and seems to be on a different league of quality, on a par with Georgetown, Hopkins, and elites. NYU seems to be in the league of BC, BU, Rochester, etc. I would like to hear more on this.</p>
<p>Umm... NYU has one of the best economics departments in the world. Tufts doesn't. And no, it isn't close.</p>
<p>The rankings of economics departments are based on research output and citations in academic journals. Whether or not your school is home to one of the major or leading economics departments in many cases determines what kind of academic environment you will be in for four years, who you will have the opportunity to do research under, and who will be writing your letters of recommendation for graduate school. Teacher accessibility? Undergrad focus? University isn't about being coddled. If you want to "access" a prof, make an appointment. Or just show up at their office. Or ask specific questions after the lecture or during the break. Or ask at the tutorial.</p>
<p>But hey, maybe you don't care about grad school and maybe you just want to be able to say that you go to a school with overall higher rank on US News. Fair enough. Good luck to you, if that's the case. It really does sound like you are leaning toward Tufts, and our honest input is not what you want to hear.</p>
<p>Rerodo said it best. Grad dept quailty does NOT EQUAL undergrad dept quality. And Tufts' undergrad focus and educational quality overall beats NYU's. Besides, Tufts' Econ dept is very strong. Of my five very close friends in the class of 2006 who were Econ or Quantitative Econ majors two are going on to post-grad econ programs at UChicago and MIT. Another two are going on to Harvard MBAs. The last one, a Quant Econ and Math double-major is starting with a near six-figure salary at Goldman Sachs. Of course, they don't represent the whole Econ graduating class from Tufts, but I figured it might be nice to add some individual perspective.</p>
<p>Tufts is better than NYU CAS. If you're 100% set on economics/business, then go with NYU Stern. </p>
<p>Having access to NYU Stern really doesn't make NYU CAS a better place to be, since you could take classes at other universities anyways. At Tufts, you could get similar access and take classes at MIT Sloan and Harvard Business School easily.</p>
<p>Oh and Grad school rankings have absolutely nothing to do with undergrad. For example, Dartmouth doesn't have very many grad schools, yet its alumni fill some of the most prestigious Med/Law/Business schools in the world.</p>
<p>This is off topic, but responding to what nauru said about </p>
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Whether or not your school is home to one of the major or leading economics departments in many cases determines what kind of academic environment you will be in for four years, who you will have the opportunity to do research under, and who will be writing your letters of recommendation for graduate school. Teacher accessibility? Undergrad focus? University isn't about being coddled.
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</p>
<p>Actually your "enviroment" of your major doesn't matters at all, and who writes your recommendations matter very little. I bet graduates of Harvard College, which does not have an undergrad business program, will be much more competitive for admissions into top Business Schools than undergrad business majors from NYU Stern.</p>
<p>Admissions into top grad programs depend on your GPA, test scores, and the overall prestige of your college. The "environment" of your major at the college is just as worthless as "being coddled". Those two things provide you with a better undergrad education, but it doesn't factor into grad school admissions.</p>
<p>Recommendations are one of the two most important parts of an application to a top graduate school, along with GPA. I know I would find it annoying if I was interested in economics but all my profs and peers were focused on business rather than the latest developments in economic thought. That would constitute a sub-optimal academic environment for an aspiring economist like me. It would also limit the type of research projects I could work on with professors, since they might not be as focused on my area (growth theory, public econ or something else). That is would really be lousy because research experience is an important component of an application to graduate school in economics. </p>
<p>As for applications to business schools, I don't know why you even brought that up. The OP is talking about economics, not business. You give the embarassing impression that you do not know the difference between these two very different fields.</p>
<p>Even though this is a conversation about undergraduate economics programs, you refer to "business majors from NYU Stern" as if they would be relevant. NYU's economics department is a separate department from the Stern School of Business, and is one of the top econ departments in the world on its own merits. The Stern School of Business is also well respected, but that has nothing to do with what we were talking about.</p>
<p>FYI, economics and business are very different disciplines; graduate school in economics and business school are two very different beasts, with totally different criteria for admission. They even require different standardized tests.</p>
<p>To the OP: Just to be sure you aren't as confused as ClutchBaller on this matter, what is it you hope to do after your undergraduate economics degree? Would you like to go on to business school or go on to graduate school in the field of economics?</p>
<p>Actually most people would agree that economics and business are very related.</p>
<p>Regardless, what I said still holds true. All you've stated in your last post was that economics and business are different. That doesn't change the fact that overall prestige college has a much greater impact than your "learning environment" in ANY grad school admissions.</p>
<p>Tufts undergrads can not cross-register at MIT or Harvard. If you did want to take classes at MIT or Harvard, you would have to apply for special student status and pay the tuition for each course. You also need to petition your department at Tufts to count these courses towards your undergrad degree, meaning it's not very easy to take courses at MIT or Harvard.</p>
<p>If it was anything other than Econ I'd say Tufts but for Econ it is so obviously NYU. I mean come on now, end the insanity already.</p>
<p>Time for the typical response - they are both great schools so choose on fit.</p>
<p>That said, NYU has the stronger Econ department with the benefit of numerous internship opportunities in the city. In fact, top Econ grads often compete with Stern grads for great jobs. </p>
<p>I would imagine Tufts has the more personalized academic experience, but as I am not a student of either school, I cannot say with any certainty.</p>
<p>nauru,</p>
<p>Well, NYU's econ is perhaps top 15 but probably not top 10 in the US, at least not according to different rankings I have seen. HYPMS, Chicago, Berkeley, Northwestern definitely have higher ranked ones. If I remember correctly, I think Mich, Wisc, and UCSD have higher ranked ones too. So here I already got 11 schools just on top of my head.</p>
<p>Yeah Sam, the rankings do vary. I have generally seen it ranked around #10. But even if we assume conservatively that NYU is in the top-15 range (which is still outstanding) the comparison between these two schools is kind of ridiculous since Tufts doesn't even break the top 100 in econ.</p>
<p>Again, grad rankings have very little to do with undergrad quality of education. Tufts is certainly a more academically rigorous school.</p>
<p>At the graduate level, NYU's Econ department is undoubtedly one of the best in the world, however it is a very different scenario when you think about the undergraduate department. From my experience, many of the premier research professors only teach graduate classes and were quite unaccessible to undergraduates. I had a pretty good experience at NYU, but it takes a lot of effort to get to know your professors, especially if you are hoping for grad recommendations. One interesting thing is that NYU offers two different Economics majors (Theory or Policy concentration). I would highly recommend the Theory track if you are considering graduate work in economics.</p>
<p>If you are thinking about overall reputation, then Tufts is probably the option for you at least at the undergraduate level. You can always think about NYU or others at its Economics level from graduate school. Ultimately, you will have a good experience and get what you make out of it either way. So think about where you really want to be.</p>
<p>FYI - Keep in mind at the undergraduate level Stern does not have an econ department. All of the econ classes are cross-listed and taught by CAS professors.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Tufts undergrads can not cross-register at MIT or Harvard. If you did want to take classes at MIT or Harvard, you would have to apply for special student status and pay the tuition for each course. You also need to petition your department at Tufts to count these courses towards your undergrad degree, meaning it's not very easy to take courses at MIT or Harvard.
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It's not hard. I know people who have done it. You do have to pay extra tuition, but it's not hard getting Tufts to count them for credit.</p>
<p>
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Yeah Sam, the rankings do vary. I have generally seen it ranked around #10. But even if we assume conservatively that NYU is in the top-15 range (which is still outstanding) the comparison between these two schools is kind of ridiculous since Tufts doesn't even break the top 100 in econ.
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Links to these "rankings" of yours? Or do you make them up yourself? In fact, I didn't even know that rankings for economics undergrad rankings existed, since economics is offered at just about every college, and that top liberal arts programs generally had top economics programs as well. The only specialized rankings I've seen are for business and engineering.</p>
<p>NYU offers a Theory major? </p>
<p>Wow, just wow. I wish I would've known that when I was applying to schools, I think Carnegie Mellon had a theory major, not much point in me applying there though.</p>
<p>Yeah it was brand new back when I started in 2000. I actually didn't find out about it until it was too late, but I did take a number of the classes including Mathematics for Economists which is an extremely difficult, but great course for anyone looking to really get a good grasp on the quant side of economics. My understanding is that, at least in the first few years, the theory students have had a pretty good track record getting into top phd programs.</p>
<p>NYU also has an Economics Honors Society which if you can get in (it is extremely competitive) is a great experience for junior and senior years. We had quite a number of round table discussions with guest speakers include a few econ nobel winners - amazing opportunity.</p>