Hey everyone,
I was wondering if anyone had any advice regarding this question. Here's the situation I'm in at the moment:
I'm about a year into a research masters at a well-regarded university in Australia. My focus is in comparative and IR, and I'm particularly interested in using quant methods. Now, my university has offered me the chance to "convert" this masters thesis into a PhD. If I take this option, I would be able to finish the whole PhD in about 2 years from now.
However, my advisors recommend that going to America for a PhD will offer much better job prospects. Of course, the downside is that'd I'd have to start the whole PhD afresh, and it would probably take about 6 years from today before I would graduate.
The thing is, I don't actually want to work in the US. I'm sure it's great and everything - it's just that I'm happy where I am, and would be more than content with an academic job in Australia or New Zealand. Given that's the case, is it really that necessary to get a US PhD? Finishing within two years is a tempting prospect...
FWIW, I think I would have a good chance of getting into a top-20 US programme. I've got an excellent undergrad GPA, have skills in R and Stata, and have a sole-author article under consideration at a decent journal. I also like the idea of going to a UK school (maybe LSE/Essex/Oxford), but I'm not sure if that would be much of an improvement - job-market wise - on where I am now.
Thanks in advance!