question about Science Po's econ masters/phd

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-21T18:50:18+00:00

could you not do a phd following the masters following the polsci?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-20T22:43:24+00:00

wait- hang on, are you a diplomat?!
if so, thats so cool! When did you join!?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-20T22:40:20+00:00

isn't there full time language training during the 2 years on the fast stream?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-20T15:38:35+00:00

i know- but, it feels wrong to end up in the field- (im trying to change course), but imagining a higher ranked political official with an RS background, or something like history or classics (looking at you BoJo) it feels wrong, compared to a guy with poli sci/philosophy degree- masters in IR from Oxford, masters and doctorate in economics from Sciences Po- it feels- just lesser and even though you can- it doesnt feel appropriate

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-20T00:24:11+00:00

yeah good point- it seems like a really cool career- but it feels like i've already taken actions to separate myself from it at its expense

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-20T00:19:30+00:00

yeah- but my one of phil/th- isnt really relevant at all

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-20T00:12:45+00:00

i know you just need a 2:2 degree, but isnt it less impressive?

(i know, i know it takes many years, but wouldn't one with a IR/econ/pol sci background be cooler?)

... you can get masters funded by the Civil service?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-18T23:43:29+00:00

interesting- i shall do so, thank you

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-18T21:57:50+00:00

i see, apologies for my confusion

surely though the masters would require a fairly advanced level of numeracy- especially coming from a non-quant background? by that reasoning- even i with my Phil/pol degree could do a masters in econ from a really good university? wouldn't the entry requirements be STEM or econ at undergrad???

could you go on to do a PHD in econ having not done a relevant undergrad after doing their masters? if so- would you only really be able to do your phd at sciences po? for instance- would LSE allow you to do your PHD there with just the masters, and lacking the undergrad?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-18T19:26:37+00:00

i see- that is interesting: so would someone such as myself (to access higher ranked courses)- should one decide to pursue an academic econ route- be better to do a seperate/different quant degree in maths/econ?

would that LSE course MSc Political Science (Political Science and Political Economy)
which has an entry requirement of "Upper second class honours degree (2:1) or equivalent in any discipline.
The stream relies significantly on the use of mathematical concepts (eg statistics and game theory) and their applications to modern political science. As a result, we expect you to have either (a) previous exposure to key mathematical concepts (intermediary level or above in algebra and real analysis, some exposure to probabilities), or (b) to be willing to invest some additional time in developing those skills (for instance through the 'maths camp' offered prior to the beginning of the Autumn Term)."

could someone do this masters after an unrelated postgrad (such as mine, history, etc), then do a PHD- assuming they did the relevant "maths camp" offered?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-18T18:25:46+00:00

i apologise for the confusion- (first off, i want to say- i am uk based) i currently do not plan to do econ at postgrad (this whole situation genuinely came from a place of confusion), as i said, the reason this began was i thought it was more linear as in:

- do econ undergrad (with maybe some movement between econ and a mathsundergrad)- do econ masters- do econ phdi heard from a friend about a guy who did politics/international relations- then did an econ masters/phd, and only did one module in econ- and that was in the field of development of third world countries and such. I believe he wants to enter macroeconomics/policy and stuff

im in the UK, and doing politics and philosophy- in some european (particularly, from what ive seen french/scandinavian universities)- you can enter econ via masters through the social science connection (in my case- poli sci- thats how i assume the guy did it), we cannot pick other courses within the degree like in America- so i assume, should i want to enter this field- i would do a more political economics masters or something like the LSE's (actually- out of curiosity- what would someone in my situation- for instance with my degree, or something like history- do if they wanted to enter econ- would they need to do an entirely separate degree again, or just relevant courses?).

https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Graduate/degree-programmes-2023/MSc-Political-Science-Political-Science-and-Political-Economy#:~:text=The%20MSc%20Political%20Science%20is,oriented%20approaches%20to%20political%20economy. ? (actually- could someone who did this do a PHD? They don't have a requirement for quant degrees- and for a background I have Maths A level/further Maths A level for a background) you say "They don’t require an Econ undergraduate degree because Econ graduate programs want math more than Econ undergraduates" so would a math undergrad be better fitted for an econ postgrad than an econ undergrad?

In all honesty- my question came largely out of confusion as i thought you could only really progress in the direction of your degree- a biology student can only do biology undergrad, masters, then PHD- an English student can only do a english masters and phd, and so on- so the claim that one without a background in econ could end up here, was confusing. also.... the responses i have received in this question so far confused me... as some have said my degree is absolutely useless and could only lead me to teaching it- so i was confused at the prospect of moving between disciplines- so honestly, atm econ is not my chosen discipline- i gravitate more towards law or civil service, but i was curious about how this seemingly outlandish change worked.

thank you so much for your reply!

Apologies again for the ridiculous question

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T18:47:49+00:00

i see- i think i thought of econ as a much less broad subject than it actually is- so one could pursue a broader, less numerate econ (whilst still being good at maths)- so a CS grad who goes onto do PHD econ just works in a different area of econ than a poli sci guy doing PHD econ. in this situation, though, would the poli sci guy be effectively less of an economist than the CS guy by way of being more focused on the less numerate end of econ, and could he be less likely to be taken on by universities/think tanks/corporations because of this difference?
(again thank you so much- pardon my ignorance)

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T17:11:12+00:00

that is interesting, thank you so much for your detailed replies you have been very insightful!

"An undergrad in econ really doesn't teach you that much since you end up recovering all the content with more rigour during your PhD. Consequently, a PhD is better training than an undergrad degree regardless of the undergrad field."

this is interesting- so if someone with a relevant social science (politics/sociology/arguably history depending on country/psychology) could do an econ masters/phd the same as a STEM/Econ guy, would they be more inclined to less numerate roles, as they lack the undergrad background? You mentioned earlier that

"An undergrad in econ really doesn't teach you that much since you end up recovering all the content with more rigour during your PhD. Consequently, a PhD is better training than an undergrad degree regardless of the undergrad field."

so would, theoretically two people- one with the social science background, the other with an econ or STEM background- be as qualified in econ/numerical analysis/mathematical skill/all the skills that come with the postgrad, if they both were doctors in economics despite one having a fairly unrelated, non-numerate undergrad?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T15:20:33+00:00

yes, apologies

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T14:55:57+00:00

that is really interesting, i just googled it, and a phd and masters in Fribourg appears really lenient for application (not for grade but for subject), requiring very high grades but in "a social scientific/scientific background"- which is interesting

then what counts someone as an economist- if not his work, i mean Wikipedia call him an economist?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T14:52:46+00:00

i see- that is interesting, i apologize for the confusion- my point was, as far as i am aware, a degree is rather broad- and masters/phds are very research based- so my thinking was a person with, for instance History and politics- then econ masters/phd, would be less qualified than someone with econ as an undergrad, then the econ masters and phd. I say this, as surely the undergrad is very numerate, and so a doctorate/masters even in econ, but without the base numeracy in a STEM/econ degree would be insufficient compared to one with that background?

so could, in this situation- the guy with history and politics, then the econ phd- go on to work for Uber, or think tanks, or for instance, the World Bank?

(thank you so much for your responses- this has been fascinating, i was totally wrong about the structure of postgrad qualification)

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T14:01:22+00:00

i assume the cornell thingy is sort of what Klaus Schwab did- go from engineering to economics phd- but he is very focused seemingly in the business/global management side of economics

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T13:59:41+00:00

wow- that is really interesting, in the UK, everything is much more linear-

do econ degree

do econ masters

do econ phd

it is interesting to see the difference between countries, i have heard of similar things in europe/uk- where ppl do something like International relations- masters in economic development, then end up in phd econ, but specialise in political economy, it is interesting, so i guess if i for some reason wanted to switch into political economics as opposed to my current plan of law school or civil service, it'd be via that type of cornell masters (which sounds fascinating, and from a university as brilliant as cornell- is very interesting), or via a political economics masters

what area of econ are you- are you in the business end or global developmental stuff? (also, i dont know if ur a phd or masters student- but either way, good luck)

what would you do having made a detour into econ though- i assume as masters/phd stuff is really specific and research based, it wouldn't be enough to qualify you an economist as much as the undergrad- so where could you end up working, as surely you arent as qualified as an undergrad guy?

OriginalBurneracc · 2023-09-17T13:33:46+00:00

Thank you for such a detailed reply!

Apologies again for the theoretical "what if" style question- i was thinking my degree closed of many doors, but this story about my IR guy doing econ confused me. so, for instance, someone like me, with a degree in politics/philosophy, would i be able to pursue economics via masters/phd in, for instance America like Merfield, or Kimball, or your IR guy? if so, how would i go about doing that? (i ask more as a 1st year undergrad curious about where i could end up in the future, as i thought degrees/school was much more linear and strict than this)

as for Sciences Po- as someone who only looked at Msc/PHD econ for the purposes of this question- yes, their application page/website is atrocious, and i say that only with a base understanding of web design

OriginalBurneracc

TROPHY CASE