MA in NYU or Phd in HK

[appli2011]

Dear all,

I've just received two offers: 1. Phd with scholarship in Hong Kong; 2. MA in Political Economy Analysis in New York University.

My final aim is to find a decent academic job, and holding a Phd degree from the US top-20 polisci department will make me more competitive. This is why I apply for the MA program in NYU: I thought it would benefit my Phd application in the future.

Can anyone give me some suggestions??

[Tufnel]

Why did someone vote this post down? What's wrong with it?

你读完了的时候，你想在哪国教授？

Edited March 8, 2011 by Tufnel

[AuldReekie]

What university is it in HK? I suppose the usual caveat along the line of "If you want a good TT job in the US, go to a 'top-x' school in the US " will be uttered.

[polarbear0627]

Dear all,

I've just received two offers: 1. Phd with scholarship in Hong Kong; 2. MA in Political Economy Analysis in New York University.

My final aim is to find a decent academic job, and holding a Phd degree from the US top-20 polisci department will make me more competitive. This is why I apply for the MA program in NYU: I thought it would benefit my Phd application in the future.

Can anyone give me some suggestions??

I agree with Tufnel. It really depends on your future plan.

I was fortunate enough to attend colleges at both places (Hong Kong and US) - I like both of places but realize that they hold quite distinct strength. I assume you are from China - that being said, if you aim to have a teaching job in China, a PhD from a Hong Kong university, esp. HKU and CUHK, which I attended, will not hurt because they are both very good at Chinese and East Asian studies. The public policy subfield is particularly strong. If you really want to come to the US, you can also do your MPhil in Hong Kong and then apply again with a solid research thesis, which can serve as a good writing sample.

For NYU, I am not really sure to how much degree it will help you with your future application. They take a lot of MA students each year and you will not be able to work with the main faculty body in the Department. Most MA instructors are adjunct - I am not saying it is bad, but for me I feel the program is better for those who focus on professional careers. But please bear in mind some people do end up being at very good PhD programs - esp. those who become very strong quantitative savvy. Another thing is if your subfield is IR, NYU may not be a bad place. One of my PhD classmates was from there after having worked at Foreign Affairs for a couple of years.

For Tufnel, no offense - but I believe the proper phrase is actually 教书 instead of 教授. So in Chinese I will say 等你念完取得學位時, 想在哪裡教書?

Edited March 8, 2011 by polarbear0627

[GopherGrad]

Yeah, we don't have enough details.

What do you want to teach? Where? What are your current qualifications? How do you feel an MA would strengthen your qualifications?

[Tufnel]

For Tufnel, no offense - but I believe the proper phrase is actually 教书 instead of 教授. So in Chinese I will say 等你念完取得學位時, 想在哪裡教書?

No offense taken, I always prefer to be corrected in a foreign language. English, on the other hand...

[oasis]

Dear all,

I've just received two offers: 1. Phd with scholarship in Hong Kong; 2. MA in Political Economy Analysis in New York University.

My final aim is to find a decent academic job, and holding a Phd degree from the US top-20 polisci department will make me more competitive. This is why I apply for the MA program in NYU: I thought it would benefit my Phd application in the future.

Can anyone give me some suggestions??

If money is no issue, go to NYU. You could get letters from faculty known to adcoms, and could also get a practitioner type job afterward that would be a springboard for top 10s.

If money matters, go to HK and take the scholarship, planning to do the coursework and leave early with an MA/MPhil. Use that time to prepare your apps for the top 10, though you would have to work harder at getting in with renown scholars and publishing somewhere.