Social Science PhD or reapply after MPA

[janaep]

I received an offer to attend a PhD program in my social science field, with minimal funding. The program is very good, but not great (around 30th ranked, FWIW). The fit is quite good, however. The location is unfortunately not good, but I have very narrow regional needs, so most places will be a struggle in that respect. I'm hoping I can live with that.

I've also been accepted to Masters of Public Administration programs, but they would also require a significant investment. My end goal is the PhD and eventual jobs in policy and policy research, for which the phd is necessary. My undergrad grades were a stumbling block for my applications, so doing the MPA first would definitely strengthen my future applications significantly.

Is it worth shelling out the money and two years--one of which I definitely won't get back--to get into a better program in 2 years, perhaps with significantly better funding? I'm fairly confident I could get into a better program once I have "proven" myself, but I'm having a hard time deciding whether the additional expense ($30K extra, assuming the eventual phd is funded well) is worth it. Does the MPA or MPP add something to my skill set that is useful enough to justify it, or is it superfluous once one has the phd? Which route would you take?

[janaep]

Should have mentioned that I am aware that the higher-ranked programs will help my immediate career prospects....it is just not clear how much it will help them, and whether that justifies the extra expense and extra year of time invested.

[PRguy101]

Should have mentioned that I am aware that the higher-ranked programs will help my immediate career prospects....it is just not clear how much it will help them, and whether that justifies the extra expense and extra year of time invested.

The question I would ask myself is if the PHD program that you were accepted to has a history of "placing"/or a history of its students working for public policy think tanks or the private industry. On the other hand, MOST people I know that work for think tanks (I have several years of fed govt experience)have public service experience at some level. In that case, would racking up tons of debt really be the best option for public service? Since, you seem geared toward the private sector, I would ask the first question first!