MA then PhD, or just PhD?

EtCeterisParibus
Wed, 06 Sep 2017 14:42:48 +0000

I am currently researching the the prospect of getting a PhD in Political Science. Obviously, I would want to get into a top 10-20 PhD program. However, I have a checkered educational past.

I went to undergrad at a top research university, majored in history and minored in political science, and got a 3.4. I then went to get a dual degree JD/MBA. I hated law school and did poorly, and got a 2.7. In business school I did better and got a 3.5. It wasn’t until after graduating law school that I realized I truly didn’t want to be an attorney, and that my passions were in political science, research, ideas, and teaching.

I have almost no math experience, as I took no math in undergrad. The only math experience I have is in business school, where I took a single stats course and a corporate accounting course. I still have yet to take my GRE. I have read in these forums that you need to have taken quite a bit of quant classes in order to be competitive in top schools. Currently working as a research assistant for a scholar at a right leaning think tank (not sure if this would hurt me advertising this on my resume)

Based on the above info:

1. Should I pursue a terminal masters program in political science or a public policy degree in order to make up for my deficiency in math courses, lower GPA, as well as to try and get research experience with political science professors so I can get good letters of rec?

2. The only people I could get a letter of rec from are the dean of my business school, an econ professor from my business school, and one of my law professors who I’m very close with. Are these sufficient, or should I pursue a masters so I can build relationships with professors in poli sci to get letters of rec from them?

3. If getting a masters is not a good idea, is there anything else I can do to bolster my resume (besides the obvious getting high GRE scores)?

I spoke to a current PhD poli sci student at UCLA and he told me he didn’t think it was necessary to get a masters. Thoughts?