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Hi, thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it. I currently do my master at the U.S state school which has a big statistics department. Sorry for misclarifying. And for the point you mentioned, I strongly want to remain in academia after graduation. Though which country I will be finally landed is unclear at this moment, but I definitely want a tenure track job. So, I'm curious about your comment that the public policy or professional schools are not for Ph.d. Indeed, I already searched the goverment affairs forum at this site, but I cannot get much information about the Ph.d, so I wrote this here. Is public policy school's Ph.d degree not for academia job? And I can get a referrence letter from the professors here. Would it be helpful if I get a letter from statistics professor? I have a good relationship with one of the professor who taught me last year. Or should I just get all letters from the political sci professors?

Hi! I'm starting to prepare for applying next cycle. I have quite unusual background compared to other students and I'm even not sure that political science ph.d is a right track for me. So, I would appreciate any information you give me. Undergrad: Double major in Economics and Social Welfare at top Asian school GPA: 3.41, though core quant courses like statistics, calculus and econometrics are A-~A+. Grad Degree: MA of political science at state school (I had personal reasons to attend this school as a master student and currently at third semester) - took some quant courses like grad stat classes, game theory, and grad linear algebra Graduate GPA: 4.0 GRE: Q170 V 162 Teaching Experience: TA for one undergrad class Research Experience: - Currently an RA for one of the department's professor - No publications but expect to submit at least a manuscript before applying Programming Experience: R, SAS, SPSS Job experience: all experiences are from social-welfare public sector : - 6 years of work experience at public enterprise as a researcher and organizer Research Interests: Currently interested in public policy and quantitative methodology My main question is, that can I be competitive for T10 ~ T20 programs? I am little worried about undergrad GPA and my backgrounds. I originally worked at a social welfare organization, and had some interest in public policy. But for some personal reasons, I had to choose political science department who also offers public policy as their sub-field. So, in my case, can I stick to my current route and apply to the poli-sci ph.d program for further study? Or should I just apply to government affair phd program? Would appreciate any advice, thanks!