MA Alumni Spotlights
Our alumni spotlights highlight the accomplishments of our talented and diverse alumni, as well as advice for current/ prospective students. Whether going into policy work, law, activism, academia, or industry, our alumni open up about how the MA program allowed them to explore their interests and find their passions. We invite you to read below about the unique perspectives of our alumni.
Cindy Kang
Class of 2023
Cindy Kang details how her achievements in the Econ MA program inspired her to go for a PhD, where she will study labor economics and gender inequality.
Kyle Hurysz
Class of 2022
Kyle divulges how the MA program inspired him to start a disability advocacy non-profit to make higher education accessible to all.
Ruchi Avtar
Class of 2019
Ruchi Avtar, explains how the MA program opened her eyes to experimental economics, her current area of research as a PhD student.
Michael Swistara
Class of 2016
Michael Swistara explains his unique trajectory, going from an MA student in Columbia University’s Department of Economics to working as an animal rights lawyer.
Anna Zhou
Class of 2016
Anna Zhou explains her MA thesis on Airbnb policy changes, teaching economics to high school students, and working as an Economist.
Wentao Hu
Class of 2022
Wentao explains how the MA program allowed him to bring back valuable skills to working in banking in his home country of China.
Belén Hípola
Class of 2022
Belén, the 2023 MA Synthesis winner, explains her path from pursuing an MA in Economics to studying Education Policy as an Economics PhD student at Bocconi University.
Ryan Zamarripa
Class of 2017
Ryan discusses his work in public policy and volunteering for the Biden-Harris 2020 Presidential Campaign after achieving his MA.
Are you a Columbia University Economics MA graduate and want to share your story with us? Please email Gabrielle Okun at go2292@columbia.edu for more information.
