graceface

Hey, thank you for the reply and for that link! Man, I love a good diagram. In the end, I've decided to accept the PhD offer and worry about employment when the time comes. I think I knew from the start that I'd want to go for the PhD for the research opportunities and the experience, but all of the perceived expectations and demands were daunting to dive into right after undergraduate, not to mention all the hearsay about job issues...it all added up to make the decision very very difficult. Thank you again for your insight and good luck with your graduate studies!

Hello All! I am currently trying to decide on a graduate program for this Fall, but I am still wavering on the PhD vs. MS quandary. My discipline is Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, and so far I have been accepted to both Master's and Doctoral programs in the United States which are comparable in terms of funding offers, research opportunities, program quality, etc. So basically, I have a very difficult decision to make. I'm trying to figure out what employment opportunities are available in my field, based on level of education and I'm getting conflicting advice. Some say that having a PhD would make me overqualified for positions outside of academia, but then I have noticed that many universities in the U.S. are transitioning to solely offering doctorate programs in EEB...which makes me think that pretty soon a Master's degree alone would not be very competitive in the job market. I'm trying to keep my options open, and I know that academic appointments are very competitive for PhD holders, so in theory, I want to go for a program that will give me the best chance of getting a job after finishing. My question is: is it worth getting a Master's in my field? Is it necessary? Is a PhD the way to go to increase my employment opportunities (or will it just reduce my options by way of making me "overqualified")? Am I crazy for thinking about going straight into a PhD from undergraduate? Any insight would be incredibly helpful!