Masters in unrelated field and wanting to go on to a PhD in Cog Psych

[justinmcducd]

Sorry if this topic is a little over discussed recently, but I too am trying to decide whether I'd be better off going into a (likely funded) masters program in general experimental, or just taking a semester or two of undergrad post bac psychology classes at the local research university.

Here's my weird situatiton: I'm finishing up a masters in public admin at a pretty well ranked policy school. This comes after working a couple years after undergrad as policy researcher and political consultant.

I'm doing an optional masters thesis that, while directed heavily towards policy scholars, is methodologically basic psychology research. I also presented my undergrad thesis to an interdiscplinary psych conference (international society of political psychology), though my degree was in philosophy.

Anyway, I guess the brass tax is that I do have some merits in my favor, but am unsure about how to fullfill my research ambitions. A masters would allow me to do some more research in the areas I'm working on, which in some ways I'd like to have before applying to PhD programs. The downside is, I'd have to do another freakin masters!

One last thing, while I don't have much formal training in psych, I have read lots and lots.. from popular science to medical neuropharm texts. I'm not too concerned about being overwhelmed once in, I just have an uphill battle making myself look like a solid bet to admissions commities

:-(

[justinmcducd]

any help? thanks again guys

[Edugy]

I would recommend being a research assistant in a cognitive lab. It'll save money, and honestly, you'll learn more of what you would need to do as a PhD student. You could also ask around and see if you could audit psych classes.