(Masters in Development Economics at SOAS) Development Economics PS

Hi,

I'm trying to write my personal statment for a Masters in Development Economics at SOAS but I'm struggling with it. I have written the following:

Having majored in Economics as an undergraduate, I would now like to concentrate on Development Economics due to my wish to find new ways in Global Development and contribute my part to the future of the world economic policies.

The degree in Economics was highly demanding in mathematical and technical terms giving me excellent numerical skills and ability to conduct statistical tests. I acquired the basic tools to pursue my objective of better understanding the Development phenomenon. I studied matters that I consider essential to my success in the Development Economic Master.

In one hand Macro Economics was very interesting because it is organized into several different schools of thought with differing views on how the markets and their participants operate. I'm familiar with the main schools of thought, such as: Classical, Keynesian and Monetarists. The model that I most agree is the Keynesian because of its active government intervention.

In the other hand Microeconomics allowed me to understand the economic behavior of individual consumers and firms as well as the distribution of production and income among them.

Econometrics combines economic theory with statistics to analyze and test economic relationships and it is a fundamental tool when doing practical work. I believe this will very important for the master particularly for the thesis because it will allow me to carry out empirical work and critically evaluate research results.

My interest in Economic Development increased during my stay in Barcelona where I did an ERASMUS programme and where I had the opportunity to read and critically discuss authors such as Gilbert Rist and Paul Krugman and where I became familiar with several theories of Economic Development such as the Rostovian take-off model, the Dependency Theory and Post-Development Theory. The last one has particularly interest because it holds that the whole concept and practice of development is a reflection of Western-Northern hegemony over the rest of the world. This period was very valuable for me because I developed my critical skills but also because it allowed me to learn Spanish and I acquired more independency and responsability.

Another relevant experience that decisively contributed for my decision of taking this master was the internship in East-Timor. During six months I had the opportunity to see how people live in a developing country as East Timor. As I was able to see and talk to the people in first-hand it helped me to better understand the problems that they face. I must say that I feel extremely privileged to have experienced something so intense as were those six months. It made me realize that the world is not so big after all, that huge injustices are happening all the time and that wrong decisions in the world of politics can have dire consequences for many people.

More recently, the sovereign debt crisis that has been growing in last few months in several countries leading to a situation of economic recovery (for example my country: Portugal) lead me to a mandatory question about whether there will be no other forms of Economic Development that does not leave the countries and their peoples exposed like this.

The actual situation lived by the developed countries that adopted this kind of Economic Development that lays in the deregulated accumulation of capital makes me think about its effectiveness.

For all of this, I expect that the Master in Development Economics at SOAS allows me to have a deeper and more critical knowledge about Economic Theories in the context of developing countries and challenging me to understand the best policies for these countries that allow them to have sustainable and harmonious development serving the majority of its population.

The fact that I will be connecting and sharing ideas with people from all over the world inspires me and motivates me to seek further education abroad.

I truly believe that SOAS is the best place for me to do this master due to its excellent international academic reputation, distinctive community and multicultural environment that will allow me to have an exceptional education experience and a stimulating academic environment.

Notes:
I'm not an english native speaker;
It's not finished: I want to include something about my career goals;
I think this PS is poor for a Masters but I don't know how to improve it. Please help..

Having majored in Economics as an undergraduate, I would now like to concentrate on Development Economics due to my wish to find new ways in Global Development ---This part doesn't make sense.

The degree in Economics was highly demanding in mathematical and technical terms, giving me excellent numerical skills and the ability to conduct statistical tests.

On one hand Macro Economics was very interesting because it is organized ...

The model that I most agree with is the Keynesian because of its active government intervention.

On the other hand, Microeconomics allowed me to understand the economic...

Another relevant experience that decisively contributed to my decision to take this master was the internship in East-Timor.

During six months I had the opportunity to see how people live in such a developing country as East Timor.

As I was able to see and talk to the people in first-hand, and it helped me to better understand the problems that they face.

For all of this, I expect that the Master in Development Economics at SOAS will allow me to have a deeper and more critical knowledge about Economic...

:)

I appreciate it, thank you.

But, while I was waiting for an answer I have been trying to improve my personal statment and I came up with a new version, that I would like you to review and write me some lines about it.

Tell what points I need to improve please.

Thank you very much.

A relevant experience that decisively contributed for my decision of doing the Master in Development Economics was the period that I lived in East Timor. Nearly three decades of Indonesian domain (rule?), after a period of Portuguese colonization, left the country seriously underdeveloped. Timorese people were forced to rely entirely on aid since they could not even access basic services. Despite being rich in natural resources, particularly in oil, East Timor has not improved the living conditions of its population.

However, independent since 2001, the Government together with UN and other international institutions have been dedicated to the pacification of the country and consolidation of democratic institutions. The population, in spite of living in hard conditions, shows now a face of hope.

During six months I had the opportunity to see how people live in a developing country such as East Timor. I was able to see and talk to the people first-hand and that helped me to have a better understanding about the problems they face. I must say that I feel extremely privileged to have experienced something so intense as were those six months. It made me realize that the world is not so big after all, that huge injustices are happening all the time and that wrong decisions in the world of politics can have dire consequences for many people.

Having majored in Economics as an undergraduate, I would now like to concentrate on Development Economics due to my wish contribute my part to the future of the world economic policies.

The degree in Economics was highly demanding in mathematical and technical terms. It provided me with excellent numerical skills and ability to conduct statistical tests. I am now confident that I own the basic tools to pursue my objective of better understanding about the Development phenomenon.

Throughout my degree I studied issues that I consider to be essential to my success in the completion of a Development Economic master. Macro Economics, for example, was very interesting discipline in my point of view. As I see it, the discipline is organized into several different schools of thought with differing views on how the markets and their participants operate. I'm familiar with the main schools of thought, such as Classical, Keynesian and Monetarists. Having looked and applied my critical thought to each one of these models in detail, I can now say that the one I most agree with is the Keynesian model and the reason behind this is its active government intervention.

Microeconomics allowed me to understand the economic behavior of individual consumers and firms as well as the distribution of production and income amongst them.
Econometrics combines economic theory with statistics to analyze and test economic relationships and it is a fundamental tool when doing practical work. I believe this will be extremely important when applied to a master's thesis since it will allow me to carry out empirical work and critically evaluate research data.

Whilst in University, I went on Erasmus exchange program in Barcelona. There I had the opportunity to read and critically discuss authors such as Gilbert Rist and Paul Krugman and I became familiar with theories of Economic Development such as the Rostovian take-off model, the Dependency Theory and Post-Development Theory. I am particularly interested in this last one. It holds that the whole concept and practice of development is a reflection of Western-Northern hegemony over the rest of the world. My time in Barcelona was very valuable for me because I developed my critical skills but also because it allowed me to learn Spanish and I acquired more independency.

My academic journey has instilled in me a sense of discipline, focus, responsibility and determination, characteristics that still define my personality today.
Regarding the actual situation lived by the developed countries that adopted the kind of Economic Development that lays in the deregulated accumulation of capital makes me think about its effectiveness. The sovereign debt crisis that has been growing in last few months in several countries led to a situation of economic recovery. However, the methods used for economic recovery made me question about whether there will be no other forms of Economic Development that does not leave the countries and their peoples exposed like this.

Undertaking a Master in Development Economics at SOAS will give the chance to have deeper and more critical knowledge about Economic Theories in the context of developing countries. Besides that, it will challenge me to understand the best policies for these countries that allow them to have sustainable and harmonious development serving the majority of its population.

The fact that I will be connecting and sharing ideas with people from all over the world inspires me and motivates me to seek further education abroad.

I truly believe that SOAS is the best place for me to do this master due to its excellent international academic reputation, distinctive community and multicultural environment that will allow me to have an exceptional education experience and a stimulating academic environment.

My belief is that development is only achievable if everybody is involved and contributes towards change no matter how little the contribution is. After completing my Masters, I would like to work in developing countries and offer my services. I am interested in working with development organizations whose missions are to achieve sustainable development in developing countries.