Should I drop the soc sci PhD?

[Jerrystuff]

Hi all,

I'm a 2nd PhD Student (with publications, etc) in political economy, international relations, and high quant methods at a top 15 program abroad. I am ALSO in the MA Comp Finance program at the same university. I am asking all of those in quantnet if a PhD in my social science field would benefit my planned CFRM MA for the job market.


Here's why I am asking:

1) The department just gave me a freebie MA (this is per usual in a lot og PhD programs during a second year) so I at least have something to show for my work in conjunction with publications.

2) I was offered a great internship at a local firm for next fall, but I cannot commit to it because I would need to spend the quarter studying for comps (program requirement).

3) If I stop the PhD, I could focus on my MA in CFRM classes while doing internships.

4) My dissertation is going to be on political risk in portfolio invest, combining stuff from CFRM and my PhD field

So I'm basically asking, is a PhD in social science worth it? How much of an edge would it give me besides having an MA with publications along with the CFRM degree?


I would appreciate any advise on this!

Thanks

Edit: Thanks for the advice everyone, @C S I may send you an email to ask you about "novelty" in general. Thanks to Wdurrett, I will send you a message soon.

 

[C S]

You would be a novelty. And novelty has value. Without the PhD, you'll just be another person with two masters, much less novel. Not the same as being a PhD scholar.

 

[GoIllini]

Spend the summer trying to find a job in industry... then ask us again- and let us know what offers you've gotten- at the end of the summer.

So, there are people who are really passionate about Academia and there are people who are really passionate about Industry. And then there is everyone else. For us, life is a game of Manhattan paths or maybe a Markov Decision Process. We are trying to maximize utility, but we need to either know which way the lights are changing or what is the best option right now. And in order for us to help you make this decision, we need a clear alternative.

Right now, you are a PhD candidate in a social science from a good school. That makes you a little more interesting than someone with a Master's degree, maybe even an MPhil. The jobs available to you as a current graduate student are a whole lot more interesting than the jobs that will be available to you as a college graduate who does not yet have a job.

If this "great firm" is a hedge fund or prop shop a group of quants would recognize as well as the school you go to- or a GS/MS/JPM, and the offer is for >$200K, you may want to think about jumping ship.

 

[Wdurrett]

to the OP:

I was informed of this post because your predicament resembles something I was considering very recently! I am a CFRM MA / PhD in poli sci at Uni. Washington (which sounds like your poli sci as well), and had some concerns about the PhD process as well. Funny enough, my professor actually thought I was the OP for this question since I was talking to him about this a few weeks ago.

I do not know your situation completely - you may have kids, might be older, or have debt, or have any other specific constraint on your ability to keep taking classes/do research. But! I can at least suggest some advice on this since I was going through the same thought process recently in hopes it helps you make your own decision.

I decided to go for it! Talking with my fiance and some others who I had work for earlier, I realized I had tremendous support in pursuing both missions - to get a PhD and an MA in CFRM. Not only is the work I do for my PhD interesting - it can be exceptionally salient to my quant studies: funny enough I applied to my program thinking about political risk as well - I'm sure you're familiar the recent work done by David LeBlang and Santinos at UVA on election betting in options trading.

What my decision really came down to is that I could 1) get through both without picking up a lot of debt (im sure you have funding if you're at a good school), 2) I can combine my research with the program, and 3) as Gollini said - it can make you "interesting". Just as an anecdote on the last point, I spoke with the CFO of my last job in private equity and he basically said getting a PhD will make you stand out for lots of reasons.

But with all this Id like to list one last reason to go for both: you may not have the energy in a few years to go back and do the PhD if you really wanna do it.

All in all I say go for it!

Please send me an message inbox because Id like to get to know someone else who is interested in political risk! I study CPE and IR btw if you're in poli sci and that means anything to you.

All in all, good luck and I hope you follow the path that makes you the happiest!

 

[Wdurrett]

Also! You may want to check out the conversation going on in this thread for reference:

https://www.quantnet.com/threads/career-change-too-risky.16838/