Anyone done this? Plusses, minuses? It's being recommended to me, but it looks to me like a harder selection process with more work overall /:O.
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Anyone done this? Plusses, minuses? It's being recommended to me, but it looks to me like a harder selection process with more work overall /:O.
What are you studying? I don't have much input but I am curious.
Undergrad in Biology, grad & postgrad in Botany (I hope!).
E did it. For some reason SW isn't letting him post. Anyways, his undergrad was in biology, PhD in molecular biology.
They'll probably try to convince you to do it, plus is that you don't have to apply to yet another programme, may save some time. minuses: it can be good to get more experience with two different schools and gives you more exposure to what is out there.
However, you may decide that you want to quit early and go for only a masters, and it is looked down upon and leads to a lot of convincing to your advisors and feels like a failure. This is the impression he got from others that went that way.
Masters may be more desirable in the job market than a PhD. It's a fact, and a sad one. You're more marketable because in the science field (at least E's) if you're not over qualified. He had a harder time finding a job with his PhD than people in his field with Masters had. There were a lot of great opportunities to get into wonderful companies and they simply wouldn't hire (or even interview) him because he had a PhD and not a masters. There are now people that flat out lie because they want to get a job. It's a sad day when you have to convince people you have LESS knowledge in order to be hired.
This may sound a bit smashed together...that's cause it is. I was trying to type while E was speaking. Any further questions feel free to ask.
eta: E also says if you ever want to own a doberman it's a requirement to have a PhD...just sayin :P
My younger brother is about to start his phD program in the fall (biomedical engineering) directly from getting his bachelor's. I'll ask him about the pros/cons.
OoOoOoOooh very nice! You'd make a sexy scientist for sure. My two cents... go for it... if it is your passion you'll be able to go all the way to the pinnacle.
Another issue to consider is that if, for whatever reason, you can't finish your PhD, you have nothing to show since most programs don't allow you or aren't structured to convert to a masters program.
And I'll second the comments about overqualification.
Do the MS first.
It's normal in AU for smart undergrads to go straight to a PhD... Masters degrees are usually just more lectures/exams anyway. Bah. A PhD is totally different - you're out to prove that you can do meaningful original work and advance the state of the art. Is this what you want to do?
Pluses: Might cure cancer, travel the world for conferences, get to call yourself "doctor"
Minuses: Committing to being a specialist in a narrow area, fighting for research funding and tenure, independent research isn't for everyone, some areas are very competitive
PM me for my research experiences, for what it's worth :P
Depends on what you want to do ultimately do with it. Master's can be useful in many professional areas but if you are staying in research or academia afterwards I would recommend going straight to the PhD. In many cases (a few MFAs and others being exceptions) Master's degrees are not very useful in those areas and it's better to go straight to what you need.
Either way you go, kudos for skool!
I'm torn on this one. Science is notorious for crying "overqualified!" at Ph.D grads for conventional jobs.
Are you planning on teaching when you're done?
^Naw, research. I will teach, but it's not my ultimate goal.
All the science grad programs here are research-based. The non-thesis grad programs are a US thing, I think.
Bah. I hate how complicated it gets here. I can get better funding over the long term if I do MSc first. I also don't feel that prepped for straight to PhD...I think I have more reseach experience than a lot of undergrads, but the concept of diving straight into a PhD is totally overwhelming.
As for employability...I've never had a real job in my life, I don't think it's gonna start now, lol. I expect to be an independent researcher, and probably have some sort of affiliated business on the side.
Thank you for the advice so far!
when I was trying to decide between an MA or a PhD with MA along the way, I decided to go for an MA program because:
1. it took about half the time, and I could go on from there if I wanted to,
and mainly because
2. if for some reason you don't finish your PhD you could still be given a master's, however, it's more like a consolation prize rather than an accomplishment in it's own right.
I never wanted to feel like a master's (MY master's) was a consolation prize.
mostly because of the second reason, I decided to do my MA first and then move onto my PhD. I don't regret it, and honestly for other reasons like going to different schools for the two programs I feel like it's opened me up more scholastically and in real-world experience than merely going to one school would.
Some schools offer I think its called a terminal doctorate. You get your Ms along the way. I see more and more schools are offering these, since they realize that many people who go toGrad school end up getting their phd anyway and they like the money.