Taking every student’s background knowledge into account, individuals are advised to take courses in a way that fits best their interest and future goals. Besides the essential comprehension in microeconomics and macroeconomics, there’s no “required courses” in this program so that I don’t spend time on something already known or less attractive to me. Rather, I get a chance to build up my specialization in financial economics from my level up. I’m encouraged to enroll in classes at other departments, such as Fuqua School of Business, Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences, and Department of Mathematics. Such an inter-disciplinary design really broadens my scope of study and inspires my aspiration in this area. In addition to the flexibility in course-taking, I can even choose the length of this program as long as I fulfill certain requirements regarding my concentration. I’m not forced to give birth to a “splendid thesis” in a rush; however, I’m trained to bring up intelligent ideas that might be developed into a paper in the future when I’m ready to, and with the help of the brilliant Duke Professors of course.

Students in the Economics master’s program have diversified backgrounds and it never occurs to me that I can learn so much from my peers in such an efficient manner. In my undergraduate studies, most of my classmates come from the same department as I do. Thus, we have a similar way of thinking and we receive nearly identical training in economics. We study together just to save time. And it’s good enough to work by myself. In contrast, the curriculum of graduate school is so intensive and advanced that it’s sometimes no longer possible to count on my own. I need to deal with intertwined disciplines and acquire knowledge from hand-on experience and problem-solving. To my surprise, sparkling ideas are often presented by classmates who do not receive rigorous training in economics during their undergraduate studies. I’m delighted to learn different perspectives. We fill in each other our understandings on the same issue and give it a more complete solution. We form study groups actively. I’m amazed at how far the collaborative effort can take us to. We finish one mission impossible after another. Moreover, we spend most of our time together so that we become very close friends. I learned a lot of non-academic knowledge from my group members. This is indeed a wonderful experience in my life.

It would be Economics 205 taught by Prof. Becker, if I could only name one. It’s a course about Microeconomics. I had a hard time solving those Becker problems days and nights. With pain, finally I learned where those torturous questions came from. They were the product of Prof. Becker’s leisure quest in Microeconomics. He made up those questions that he himself could not provide a quick answer to it. There was no fixed or right answer. What matters was our way of reasoning and the logic that hided in between. Then I realized this was what he expected from us, a student with independent thinking ability who challenges himself/herself with seemingly insolvable questions and who never gives up until trying his/her best. Thus, I learned something besides the content of the course. I learned how to apply every tool or resource equipped me to face difficulties and challenges that would daunt people who are not used to it. I learned the good attitude of being an educated intellectual.

Definitely Yes. This is a wonderful place to come for people who know they want and a wonderful place to stay and think for those who don’t. The more I get to know the program at Duke, the more I love it. There are great faculties who care about students. There are friendly staffs and beautiful campus. The environment is so prone to study. And there are lifelong friends to make here. I’m just proud to become part of it.