Am I qualified to study PhD in Public Policy?

[smithhehehaha]

Hello Everybody, 

 

I am the newcomer of this forum, but I have a plan to study a PhD in Public Policy / Politics, but I wonder whether my credentials may be not enough for me to be a qualified student.

 

My background: I came from Hong Kong and I am now currently studying my second bachelor degree in social policy from a university, I made a minor in Political Science during my first bachelor degree in Business, despite my grades in my major is just on average, I made an outstanding performance in my minor, for the courses I studied about politics, at least I got a A- grade. And I expected to graduate with  my second bachelor degree with a Upper Second Class Honours this year. 

 

Due to the limited time for my preparation, I may select a taught postgraduate degree about politics / policy as a test to see my intention to do my further studies, but in my opinion, my experience is a weak point, I did not have any research experience, as the only one research project with a small community education provider to do a small project about adult education.

 

Despite the weaknesses on my background, I still want to pursue further studies overseas that none of my family members and relatives have this experience, and I am eager to be the first man to achieve this, but I have to know what I can do to compensate the weaknesses from my background for the coming one or two years to let me prepare well on the application

 

I've set 3 major goals I have to overcome:

a. Achieve a good score on GRE 

b. Achieve a good score on TOEFL

c. Create a well-suited research proposal for myself

 

Your comments will be very helpful for me to achieve my dream step by step. Thank you.

[ridofme]

If you're serious about a PhD, you need to focus on getting research experience, from what I understand. If you have two years left in your bachelor's degree, try to see if there's a professor doing work that interests you in political science/public policy, and try to get a position as a research assistant or the like. This will also help you figure out if academe is right for you.

[AL2013]

You'll also need to get a relevant master's degree for serious consideration from any PhD programs. Many schools require it and most schools don't consider students without it (the coursework of the master's is essentially a prerequisite).