course work after MA (PhD)- please advise

[Francophile1]

Hello, all

 

Could anyone offer their experiences or knowledge as to how many classes or semesters got transferred for you when you went into a PhD program with an MA from another school?

 

Did you lose a year?

 

Please post your schedules if you can (1st year, 2nd year etc..what were you doing? taking classes or research etc?

 

Basically I would like to find out, for most students how many years did it take to complete a PhD after MA and how many of those years were dedicated to coursework.

 

All fields, please provide an input.

 

If you are in the humanities that is even better !

Much appreciated!

 

 

[Raoliteri]

Usually your MA doesn't count toward your PhD courses. Some schools may recognize some courses as equivalencies, but that is entirely up to the department. Usually it's not many courses and I don't think it can be a whole year of coursework. At least that's what I've found out during my research. PhD is coursework beyond your MA degree, even in the same field.

[Francophile1]

Yeah, but don't many PhD programs include an MA along the way (so the 2 first years are supposed to be master equivalent)?

 

I know not all courses transfer but I wanted to know on average how many do. I assume that a person with a BA enters a PhD program on the first year but what about someone with an MA? They should be ahead just a little?!

[AKJen]

In our program, very few MA courses transfer.  Even people who did the MA program at our school and are accepted to the Ph.D. program take the same amount of units as someone coming in with a BA.

 

There are several reasons for this beyond just transfer of credit.  First, it allows MA students more time to develop their projects.  Second, you're required to do a certain number of semesters of TAing.  And third, having full-time status (before you're ABD) is a requirement of the funding.  I suppose you could be ready to take your orals early and get to dissertation status, but that doesn't work as well in my discipline.

[Sparky]

tl;dr: It is program-specific; check the policies of your specific department.

 

My (humanities) program grants a master's degree along the way. Most people arrive with one or more M*'s already. We have 2, or really 2 and a half when you count summers, years of coursework. If you have an M*, you are allowed to transfer in up to two classes. Most people only bring in one, typically a language class. Two years of coursework is pretty standard, as I understand things.

 

I can think of a couple of English programs where students coming directly from a BA are given an extra year of funding with the assumption they will need extra coursework. However, in general, in an American PhD program is a professional program, so your degree will represent that your academic training comes from that school--including during coursework.

[misskira]

I think this will vary by field as well... I'm in special education. My MA was 15 very intense months (8 hours of classes, 4-5days/week for 2 summers, then full time field work during the school year with an evening class.). The phd program I applied to assumes you have a masters, and takes 3-4 years on average. The first 2 years are coursework heavy, with light coursework and dissertation focus in year 3, dissertation only after that if needed. They don't transfer any classes.

[rising_star]

University specific. I transferred in something like 15 hours from my MA, but I think I could've transferred in more if I'd wanted. Different universities and departments have different rules/regulations on how many courses you can transfer in and then count towards your PhD coursework.