Come on guys...I'd really appreciate any advice here!

Hello,

I've been mulling over the idea of doing a PhD for over a year now and have finally decided to go for it. Specifically, I am looking at pursuing a PhD in the UK or Europe in development studies/ public policy. I have a few queries regarding this:

1. My undergraduate and post graduate degrees are unrelated to the area I want to pursue a PhD in. However, I have over 4 years of work experience in this field. How will this affect my PhD chances?

So my field of interest is development studies/ public policy. I hold a bachelors degree in commerce and a post graduate diploma in management (equivalent to an MBA). However, I have worked in development consulting for over 3.5 years and am now working with an NGO in healthcare policy analysis. I also worked part-time as a TA for a Public Systems course. Would my unrelated degrees be a barrier to the PhD application? Or would my relevant work experience actually be a plus in my application?

2. Very good grades in bachelors but rather pathetic grades in post grad. How will this affect my application?

Both my degrees are from India. I have an 80% in my bachelors degree - equivalent to a 1st class in the UK, or a 3.5+ GPA in the US.

However, I scored a 2.44 (equivalent to a C) in my PG Diploma. While this is bad, it isn't really be equivalent to the US GPA because the grading in my b-school is much stricter: the batch topper scored around 3.6. However, I did very well in my masters dissertation (3.66), how will my low grades affect my PhD chances?

I can get very strong letters of reference from both academic professors and work supervisors, including one from my masters supervisor where she can say that the 2.44 isnt as bad as it sounds - putting it in context, if so required.

3. Assuming I get a PhD place despite these drawbacks, but not from a highly reputed university, should I go ahead and do it?

So while my main reason for pursuing a PhD is personal satisfaction, a PhD will also open up a lot of doors for me, not just in academia, but also in international development institutions. I do not want to spent so much time and money doing something unless there is a chance of better job prospects, given I am currently doing rather well for myself professionally (my PG Diploma is from one of the top B-schools in India). Given this, does it make sense to take up a PhD from a university which is not very reputed or well known?

Thanks in advance for taking the time out to help me with this