I also think that when getting a job any university will do. if I'm an employer I could care less where a student went to school. I've been on many interviews and school was hardly ever discussed, as well as grades 1 of 10 times I've been sked my GPA. just choose a univ that's not rediculous expensive 100Gs debt doesn't help.
You definately have the initial shine I think banks look for, I mean, with NYU and Duke etc. All sound like good schools. THe only thing I can forsee is maybe lack of experience. You might lose out to a guy that's been working in the market while going to school and getting a bigshot PHD. THink about working summers at a good firm and Intern for a semester or two so you can get your feet wet. See how the software guys interact in meetings/memos etc, before you're done with school and rushing to get a job. If I were you I would clerk for a market from like 9 - 1, and then go to school and night. You meet a lot of people to balance with the PHD bunch. Not to sound judgemental, but just from my college experience the professors and not like the animals you'll see working on the floor.
jtnet, This may be true for many employers, but the real biggies do care, or, at least, they used to. For example, I worked for AT&T for 18 years and we had a strictly controlled list of preferred schools to recruit new hires from. Other similar firms, eg, IBM, HP, Merril Lynch, etc had the same approach. I understand that the big Investment Banking companies (that would hire a PhD in Economics) are very picky about schools and would pay a lot more for someone from an Ivy League institution, eg, Columbia, than for someone from, say, Rutgers U.
ImamicPH, I've got a summer internship almost in the bag for summer 2007 at the KC Federal Reserve Bank. You think that'll mean anything in terms of job exp? Yannis, I was told Rutgers was good? I'm not familiar with alot of the east coast schools, Can you expand on that last comment.......
From what I've heard from others (I'm in Chicago), Columbia is your best bet due to the proximity of Wall St and thus Wall St jobs. They also have an excellent 1 year program in Financial Engineering, if that's anything of interest. A FE degree could be a good way to get in to the industry and gain experience while you get your PhD.
I think that the professor in school aren't good... because if they were really good, they will go in the real world to make more more money as they can with school. Or i m totally false ? naturally there are exceptions