recommendation of masters

[Neil0098]

Hello, wish you can give me some suggestions.

I hold a bachelor degree with economic and mathematics double major from a US public school, and I am looking forward on applying a PHD in political science in US. my research interest is about formal theory, political economy, IPE, and communication. 

my main wish for getting a master is to have a systematic political science learning(elementary level), as I thought it is one of my disadvantage and a necessary step for me to get familiar with political science realm. I have taken econometric and some solid math courses before, like differential equations and real analysis, but very few statistic courses(only stochastic process and probability theory). 

 

so I was wondering if you can share any experience or comments, especially 3 concerns:

1. if i am interested in China politics, Is a master of Asian study/culture a good choice? Does UCSD help a lot? 

2. Is this a good option to get a master in statistics? cause it seems that political science is very quantitative.

3. is Duke's master of Analytical Political Economy is good option for me? cause i thought political economy is just s subfield of either political science or econ in most schools, so i am not very sure about this program.

 

thank you very much

Edited May 2, 2021 by Neil0098

[nivy25]

If you are confident that your end goal is a PhD, I would try to apply directly to some PhD programs as well and have some Masters programs as a backup. Masters programs are incredibly expensive and I would get that if you don't get into school for a PhD, and feel comfortable paying that much for a Masters. 

 

If you still only want to do the MA programs then here's what I think:

Since you are interested in a broad array of things going across methods, comparative studies and IR, I would get a generic MA if I were you. Go for one of the specializations if that is exactly what you want to do, or super close to what you see yourself doing in your PhD program. Narrowing down too soon, especially if you're not sure, is not a good choice in my opinion. A generic program like Chicago's CIR, Columbia's MA or any MA in Political Science at any school could give you a broader idea of the topics you're interested in, and help you narrow down your interests. In a generic program, you could also do some quantitative coursework. 

However, if you are positive you want to go down a certain research path then applying for a more specialized program is great, as when you apply for a PhD, you'll have evidence to back up your research interests and an existing deep familiarity with your area. 

[plus]

I would just do a RA or pre-doc and apply directly to a PhD.