shadowzoid

@fuzzylogician Ya I agree. I wasn't making an argument. I was just explaining where I started off from. I just didn't want people thinking my perception came from nowhere. It just feels like people are treating me as a context-less idiot who is fueled purely by the delusions stemming from insecurity. I'm not - or I don't think I am. I have a context for my perceptions and beliefs. But I am updating my priors now, so no worries

@fuzzylogician Thanks, that advice helps. I think you are probably right. Right now I think I will use this MPP as a way to understand non-academic research and industry jobs, and see if I will like it. In undergrad I mostly focused on my studies (even in the summer, I just sat around reading books and papers), but I think I will plan to get an internship for every semester so I get a lot of exposure to different careers. I suppose I will also balance between academic and professional networking, so that I still keep a door open into recs for a PhD application. To this effect, I hope to take at least 2 PhD-level courses so that I understand what a PhD will be like. I will try to visit all of my professors' office hours and be more open to emailing alumnae for informational interviews (something I have never felt comfortable doing). I will also focus on taking courses in methodology, since to me it seems like I would be an asset doing research if I have technical skills to offer. (I'm writing this paragraph more for myself as a statement of my goals). @Nightly and @fuzzylogician I want to say something about this age thing. I don't want people to think I harbor an age-ist bias. You will just have to trust me that I am telling the truth, but I developed this view from informally reading forums and anecdotes of academics. For instance, Albert Einstein said, "a person who has not yet made his great contribution to science by age thirty never will." Paul Dirac wrote in a poem about physicists,"He's better dead than living still//when he is past his thirtieth year." In his blog with Richard Posner, the late Gary Becker argued that academia is a young person's game as young people produce more innovative scholarly work (in an article arguing that we should make it easier to force old academics to retire). And you may say to ignore these men, but I hope its understandable that it's hard to ignore the words of those at the top of a career you may want. My fear is not that I won't become a superstar. I couldn't care less about that. My fear is that I'm wasting my prime years. My fear isn't that I can't get a PhD - I know I can - but that I won't be as productive getting it later. And I value productivity from internal validation - it makes me happy to get 'aha' moments even if no one finds out I did. But I understand that many people outside academia have gone on to do great things, and so perhaps that's the mentality I should focus on.

No Im admittedly a bad networker. But not for lack of trying. I think most people underestime how difficult networking can be for some people. I was hoping to also use an mpp as a second chance to force myself to be extraverted

Thanks everyone. @fuzzylogician i had each of those jobs for 6-8 months. Everyone with jobs at those places I wanted had PhDs. Why wasnt it a no brainer to get a PhD you ask? Well when I researched people on linkedin and stuff, many masters had jobs that sound like stuff I want. Also thanks for not attacking me because of my emotional swings. I know we shouldnt take online strangers seriously but your approach really helps me as a real person @ExponentialDecay i think you misunderstood my intentions. I dont really care about the prestige. If I did, then as you said, I would have just gotten an admin job. Imo administrators possess more social capital and wealth than researchers. I just dont think id enjoy it. Concerning the age thing, thats an attitude I gained from some posts on this forum. And concerning my career, I do not know why I couldnt get a good job with good grades from an elite school. I realize that many people similar to me get these jobs so you can imagine how low my self esteem is

I had a job as a database manager. I enjoyed being part of this group of researchers and being exposed to new ideas. I also enjoyed learning how data management works and the challenges of keeping good data. But I didn't like how mundane data collection is, and how at the end of the day, I didn't get to reap the benefits of those efforts as I didn't do the actual analysis. I then had a job in an experimental econ lab. Once again, I enjoyed the environment and I enjoyed seeing how an experiment is designed to answer a question. But I hated actually running the experiment as I didn't get to reap the benefits (I was not part of the statistical side or paper writing). I was kind of hoping to have a job where I help someone answer a question. I want an integral part in the research. No necessarily on a PI level, but I would like my input on methods and theory to be considered. I figured if I want to do this, I should improve my techniical skills and knowledge in specific areas. That way, I'd be an asset to a research, and she will feel confident in delegating more substantial work to me. So an MPP seemed reasonable. I remember in college how I would start reading something with no ideas, then by the end, I would have all these theories or thoughts. I'm just trying to recapture that I guess, but so far all the jobs Ive had is just...work. Like grueling grunt work. I never get an "aha" moment anymore.

@fuzzylogician I don't know what you want me to do. I'm trying my best. I thought you would want me to remove it. I don't know. You want me to add it? I'm trying my best to be a good person. I don't know what the world wants of me. Please just tell me what to do. I've literally just been starring at my ceiling feeling like shit that someone thinks I'm a racist. What if I am a racist? I don't think I am. I want no one to suffer. And I just tried my best to rectify the situation. But it's not enough. I'm sorry. Could you please deactivate my account? I think a mod has to do it right?

About the job market thing, I think you misunderstand. I've been searching for jobs ever since I graduated. I didn't mean anything about job seasons. It's just that I kept getting rejected by outright research jobs. All I could land are "research jobs" that are 80% administrative. I took those jobs for a while, but they just don't make me feel fulfilled. @knp

Thanks. That helped a lot. And I guess I will remove that immigrant thing. It was just meant as a joke, but I guess the tone wasn't right and/or you had to have seen the interview with WB director Jim Kim to get it (it was his words). Also in no way did that part say anything remotely close to "immigrants working at jobs they don't want so their children have better lives." No where did I mention children...? @fuzzylogician

So here's my story. I went to an elite US school and got good grades. After spending a year not getting any jobs I enjoyed, I decided that I needed more expertise. For me, as a polisci student interested in research, the choice was between a PhD or a MPP. For a long time, I was sure I wanted to get a PhD. But as I thought about it, I wasn't sure I was ready to do such a rigorous program or if I needed to do PI work to feel fulfilled. I reasoned I would be satisfied doing RA work, consultancy, or a less involved form of research. I was also scared off by all the dismal statistics about a social science PhD. And so I just matriculated into a top MPP program with good funding (won't go into any debt). But as it gets closer to the start of the Fall term, I am feeling depressed. I feel like as the years go, my choices just narrow. And I now feel like I closed that PhD door, as everyone online is saying an MPP is a bad route if you eventually want to get into a good PhD program. It seemed to me at the time that an MPP would be a good way to hedge my bets and feel around for my interests. I was primarily theory-focused in college (I've never had a non research job), so I thought an MPP would be a good way to enter the non-academic work force in a research capacity; the best of both worlds for someone who was burned out from undergrad. But now I'm thinking maybe I should have just bit the bullet and do a PhD. At least then I'd have choices. At least then I wouldn't hit a glass ceiling at the WB or think tank or whatever research center when they won't promote me further because I lack a PhD. And then what, I go back as a 40 year old doctoral student in a class of 22 year olds? I am just not sure on what kind of research I would like to do. I enjoyed completing my thesis, but there were hard moments. And I enjoyed the RA work I've done, but they were really mundane (maybe in professional research it's less mundane?). Adding on to this, many of the cool research jobs seem to be held by statisticians MAs or econ PhDs, so I also feel like my MPP won't prepare me enough (although mine is one of the "quant MPPs"). I suppose in retrospect I should have tried harder in getting a research job so I have a better understanding of my options, but that's gone. Maybe I should reneg my MPP and just try the job market again until I'm more certain? I'm not sure what I'm looking for in posting this. Maybe consolation. Maybe some tough love. Maybe just a support group where others share their experiences. I don't know who to talk about this. My family aren't big into theoretical research or politics, so they don't even get why I enjoy research. My advisors, who like me, seem too busy to bother with such childish concerns. In any case, it feels good just to write this out even if no one replies. Thanks

Ya, on paper Harris seems better. But by how much? Just personally, Id like to go somewhere different for a while. For you, Id pick Michigan. They have a better quant rep. However, their core has a leadership course, which is kinda bs for research dorks like us

One week left to decide. The packages are comparable, so that's not a factor. Career-wise, I want to go into research. I wasnt sure enough about a PhD to apply, but Id like to keep my options open. I hope to work at places like think tanks or the world bank, and do economic/development policy. The pro of Harris is that its more academic, so it keeps my doors open if I pursue a PhD. That also helps me get research jobs. Harris will also let me skip core classes I have already mastered (ie econ and stat), and take PhD courses (unlike GU, Harris has PhDs). I am unsure if GU will. Georgetown however, has a stronger ID emphasis. It is also located in DC, so I have a greater opportunity to work (which is where I am lacking). My gut tells me to go to GU, since I did my undergrad at UChicago and would like a change. I am worried about having to redo courses though. Thoughts?

The first thing you may notice is why do I have CIR up there? Well, I'm gonna be frank (well, as much as one can be online). My goal in life has always to do research. However, I have since become disillusioned by academia for many reasons. Primarily, that I don't have the emotional strength to constantly fight for a TT and put my life on hold for so long, I highly value location for my quality of life, and I don't want to research minute things as I chase funding. That said, I have not completely eliminated any ambitions for academia, so I am trying to make a choice that maximizes my life's happiness and keeps options open. I decided on a MPP, and I will pursue careers in research at places like a think tank, government, or consulting. I know I can't be a PI, but so be it. What I want to learn is technical skills so I can run actual analysis for my lead researcher. As such, I applied to "quant" programs, both of which Harris and McCourt excel in. What I like about McCourt is that their core starts out strong. You need econ and stats to apply, so I won't just be doing basic things. And as an economics major (who didn't like proof math enough to do a PhD in econ), who also took 2 grad classes in statistics, I am worried I will just be rehashing the same material. McCourt's core (as I read them online) doesn't fully eliminate the risk that I will just relearn shit, but it does mitigate it. I also like the opportunity to do internships during the year in DC. What I like about Harris is that I love UChicago (alma mater - although I hate Chicage), that the cohort is smaller than GU, and that many of their instructors are actual academics, not simply politicians who are pulled in for prestige. Now for CIR, I sincerely enjoy theory and IPE, which CIR is great at. I also got a full ride and the masters is only one year. However, CIR makes me nervous about my career, since the program seems to be mainly geared for future PhD studies. That keeps one door more open (academia) than another (career), while the MPPs do vice-versa. But at least with an MPP, I have the option to do a Public Policy PhD after, which often requires an MPP anyway (deviating from the BA -> PhD route common in the US). I don't know what assumptions I am making incorrectly about life/career/research, or what I am really asking. Just throw out any advice you have or any personal experiences you have. Life is hard.

Hey, I'm an undergrad intent on getting a PhD/MA. I would like to do research/accademia or work in International Development. My question is: why are you doing polisci? What are your goals, and why did polisci meet them over Economics or Sociology, for example? And how does grad school in polisci differ from undergrad? My experience so far is that there isn't a lot of mathematical or statistical rigor (in a top 10 school), which I feel would benefit the field (of course, I am still a newbie). Any thoughts or insights would help. Thanks.

Hey, I'm currently an undergrad with a bunch of misconceptions about grad school. I want to apply to a public policy or IR program, and looking online, many "recommend" taking at least a microecon class. Seeing as I already took AP econ, taking a college econ class would just be for my transcript, not knowledge, which seems like a waste to me (my university doesn't accept Econ AP credit, so I can't take a random econ elective instead until I pass the intro classes). How important is taking an econ class for these universities that recommend taking one? Because if it isn't that important, then I would rather spend my time more productively. Thanks.