Thesis vs. Capstone

[PsychApp34]

I'm currently looking at Master's programs in Sports and Performance Psychology to further my career and education. I would love to eventually obtain my PhD and have that in mind as I'm looking at programs. I've recently come across an M.S. program with a great curriculum that offers a capstone project instead of a thesis. This is the first I've seen this in my research and was wondering what the differences were/would a capstone project weaken my resume compared to a thesis when crossing the PhD bridge? Thank you ahead of time for your help! 

[RTIAssessmentsandIEPsOhmy]

My EdS program required a capstone. However, my capstone had all the requirements of a thesis. It may be based on the program itself what the capstone actually looks like.  I am not sure if it would make much of a difference to admissions committee, others may be able to speak more to that. 

[Katie B]

I've just started a MA in clinical psych and during the orientation panel ALL of the professors at my university stressed that you shouldn't do a thesis unless it's absolutely necessary. The field as a whole is moving away from the necessity of a thesis to enter doctoral studies and as long as you have the equivalent research experience (publications too if you're able) then your application is no less valued than applicants with a thesis completed. Good luck!

[Clinical]

It will differ from professor to professor and applicant to applicant. I do know of several people whose theses were the main reason they were accepted to programs. The thesis gives you the opportunity to design your own research project, execute it, analyze the data, etc. Publications are great, but they at the pre-PhD stage they usually don't say anything about a person's ability to design and execute a study. The amount of work a person does to get on a paper can vary so widely from lab to lab as well, and some professors do take that into account.

I think the most important thing is finding a way to showcase your talents and skills, not only on your CV but also in eventual interviews. My thesis gave me a lot to talk about on interviews and started some really interesting conversations. I strongly believe it was the main reason for my acceptance at some of the programs. Also, you can transfer your thesis in at most schools if your thesis meets their requirements. This usually entails it being empirical and statistically sophisticated enough to indicate a solid foundation of research training.

If I were a professor in a master's program advising students who wanted to get into a Ph.D. program, I would absolutely advise them to do a thesis.

I am not as familiar with Capstones, so I cannot speak to that. I would say, in general, if you can come up with your own research question and create and carry out a study to answer it, do that. And work on papers as well if you can.