Experience a BlattClass

I just saw this tweet from about one of my former professors:

"That is not a photo of @cblatts. Also, those people are too good-looking to be Ph.D. students." http://t.co/jPwchqY9rV
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) September 17, 2013

Of course, I had to read the article on The Monkey Cage, "How to Manage Your Grad School Adviser." Mostly it highlights the post from (my former master's professor) Blattman about how students should work with him. All well and good, and even that line at the end about who is in the photo is pretty spot-on. So why bother to write about this? Basically, it occurred to me that some Blatt-o-philes out there may be curious about what a class with @cblatts is really like. I only have the experience of a SIPA master's level class, but it looked exactly like this:

Another Year of New Masters Students

It's that time of the year again, the time when starry-eyed idealists and bitter cynics come together to begin a graduate program in international development. So I thought I'd re-share my "advice" (tongue firmly in cheek) for new MDP and other development grad students. Most of it still applies, and I stand by it. As for advice as to whether or not you should attend grad school in the first place, well... my opinions on this are still being formed! (hint: they might depend on where I end up in a few years).

Grad school is a unique experience, regardless of where you end up, so enjoy it. But, for those of you in your second year, start thinking about (and working towards) finding that job you wanted when you first applied to grad school. Or as I was told last year, "Wake up!"

Oh, and a quick refresher course on political / development economists, to get you back in the scholarly mood.