newb

Thank you guys for your response. I've decided that I'd rather want to go for a PhD in Political Science. I don't want to rule out teaching (actually, I'm quite interested) and I do like research quite a bit. I figured that, once being sure about the MA vs PhD decision, it should be quite difficult for Policy PhDs to get teaching positions in PoliSci departments. On the other hand, I don't think that PoliSci PhDs necessarily have a harder time on the non-academic job-market than Policy PhDs do. Thank you very much - your messages were extremely helpful! All the best!

APGradApplicant, Thank you very much for your detailed answer!! Generally, I think I'd rather be interested in a Political Science degree - yet, I'm interested in Policy degrees that allow me to put an emphasis on PoliSci. This is because I would like to save about 1-2 years as I've found Policy degrees to be 1-2 years shorter than the usual time people need to finish their dissertations in PoliSci. No offense, but I've heard that MPP's have a hard time competing with MA PoliSci grads when it comes to research oriented jobs at IFIs and IOs (my interest). Does this also hold true for Policy PhDs? How about PoliSci teaching positions? Is there a serious disadvantage for Policy graduates? Take a Policy graduate applying for a comparative position or IR position. I do see a great overlap here, esp. for Policy students who have taken a bunch of classes / taught in the PoliSci Dept. What do you think?

Hello everybody, I'm interested in learning more about the greatest differences between a Policy PhD and a PhD in Political Science. How do they differ? What are the pros and cons for each? Why did you go for one - and not the other? Thanks for your help!