MS. then pHD

[zennydmt]

If I went to Purdue for a master's degree, could I potentially do a pHD at a more reputable school such as Stanford or Berkley provided that I do extremely well at Purdue or is more difficult to get into those programs?

Edited March 25, 2011 by zennydmt

[stansfield]

If I went to Purdue for a master's degree, could I potentially do a pHD at a more reputable school such as Stanford or Berkley provided that I do extremely well at Purdue or is more difficult to get into those programs?

I don't understand the point of these questions of course anything is possible.

[theflyingmufin]

If I went to Purdue for a master's degree, could I potentially do a pHD at a more reputable school such as Stanford or Berkley provided that I do extremely well at Purdue or is more difficult to get into those programs?

I thought about a similar thing. I think students doing that would tend to have to repeat coursework at the new school, so you'd most likely loose a year or so. You can try to do it, but it may also make sense to get a PhD from Purdue and then try to get a Post-Doc at a more reputable school?

What I've described was once my backup plan, but now it's sort of what I've settled on doing. It'd be worth asking Purdue students to see if they do well in the Post-Doc search, because if they do, then this route would have you spending 5 years in a phd program at 20k/yr, and then 1 year in a post doc at 60+k/yr, as opposed to 6 years in a phd at 20k/yr and then still maybe having to do a post-doc before getting an asst. prof. position.

Sorry, I wish I could comment more on this topic more specifically, but I hope this helps marginally.

[zennydmt]

I thought that most pHD programs are paid for provided you become a TA. Also it seems getting a PHD from Purdue and getting a post doc at a more reputable university makes sense. Would this path allow you to become a professor at a more reputable university?

I thought about a similar thing. I think students doing that would tend to have to repeat coursework at the new school, so you'd most likely loose a year or so. You can try to do it, but it may also make sense to get a PhD from Purdue and then try to get a Post-Doc at a more reputable school?

What I've described was once my backup plan, but now it's sort of what I've settled on doing. It'd be worth asking Purdue students to see if they do well in the Post-Doc search, because if they do, then this route would have you spending 5 years in a phd program at 20k/yr, and then 1 year in a post doc at 60+k/yr, as opposed to 6 years in a phd at 20k/yr and then still maybe having to do a post-doc before getting an asst. prof. position.

Sorry, I wish I could comment more on this topic more specifically, but I hope this helps marginally.

[zennydmt]

if you want a phd, ms applied stats is useless.

Edited March 25, 2011 by zennydmt

[theflyingmufin]

You mention that a MS in applied stats would be worthless but I'm not sure what this is in reference to, and am now thinking that I misinterpreted your original question.... Is the MA program at Purdue an applied one? Would you be able to do a PhD there? If not then a lot of the people I encountered in the app process, especially international ones, had some grad coursework or an MA before applying to PhD programs so it. I can't see how this would do anything but help a PhD app, but without knowing what your other options are it's hard to say.

My earlier response had assumed that you had the option of finishing a PhD at Purdue after the masters if you wanted

About the TA question: yes you are often paid for work as a TA (but more often as an RA) and this salary is what I was referring to when I said 20k/year in a phd program. That's a general guess of how much money you'd be making on net as a student, not an estimate of the cost of tuition. So if you got a Masters and then a PhD at Purdue, you're paid 20k/yr + tuition expense for 6 years (transferring during a phd and probably having to repeat coursework) or getting paid 20k/yr for 5 years of grad work (not transfering) and the next year at a salary of 60+k/yr. So if you stick it out at one PhD program you'd get an extra 40k.

It's my impression that aiming for a good post-doc would put you in a fine position for a good professorship, as universities primarily care about your potential for research and your demonstrated ability in research. HOWEVER I'm just an applicant in this, and I was hoping someone else would weigh in the topic. Asking a professor about these paths would be a good idea.

Edited March 28, 2011 by theflyingmufin

[zennydmt]

The masters is actually in statistics with a specialization in computational finance. I actually posted in the wrong thread in my previous response. I am actually debating between masters of applied stats at university of michigan and a masters in computational finance at purdue university.

You mention that a MS in applied stats would be worthless but I'm not sure what this is in reference to, and am now thinking that I misinterpreted your original question.... Is the MA program at Purdue an applied one? Would you be able to do a PhD there? If not then a lot of the people I encountered in the app process, especially international ones, had some grad coursework or an MA before applying to PhD programs so it. I can't see how this would do anything but help a PhD app, but without knowing what your other options are it's hard to say.

My earlier response had assumed that you had the option of finishing a PhD at Purdue after the masters if you wanted

About the TA question: yes you are often paid for work as a TA (but more often as an RA) and this salary is what I was referring to when I said 20k/year in a phd program. That's a general guess of how much money you'd be making on net as a student, not an estimate of the cost of tuition. So if you got a Masters and then a PhD at Purdue, you're paid 20k/yr + tuition expense for 6 years (transferring during a phd and probably having to repeat coursework) or getting paid 20k/yr for 5 years of grad work (not transfering) and the next year at a salary of 60+k/yr. So if you stick it out at one PhD program you'd get an extra 40k.

It's my impression that aiming for a good post-doc would put you in a fine position for a good professorship, as universities primarily care about your potential for research and your demonstrated ability in research. HOWEVER I'm just an applicant in this, and I was hoping someone else would weigh in the topic. Asking a professor about these paths would be a good idea.