I'm a senior at a top 20 school with a strong math background and I've been going back and forth on this for months. Got into a couple solid econ PhD programs (top 15 25 range) but also have an offer from a consulting firm paying $90k starting. The PhD would mean 5 6 years of like $30 35k stipend, which is rough. But the placement data I've seen for these programs looks decent around 60 70% academic placements, rest going to Fed, IMF, think tanks, tech. For those who went the PhD route: do you regret it? And for those who chose industry, do you wish you'd done the PhD? Honestly just trying to figure out if the opportunity cost is worth it.