Jump to content

Ph.D vs. Masters


SportPsych30

Recommended Posts

Hello I would like to discuss and hear what others opinions are on the topic. This is relating to any psych program other than clinical.

I am wondering what the big differences are between getting into a Ph.D program vs a masters program (after undergrad). Obviously I would prefer to go right into a Ph.D program, but I am not sure if I will have a competetive enough application.

How much harder is it to get into a Ph.D program right out of undergrad than it is to get into a Masters program?

Typically on school websites they will post the mean GRE score for both those accepted into the Masters program and those accepted into the Ph.D program and the Ph.D students seem to have much higher GRE scores. What would you guys say is a competetive GRE score for Ph.D and Masters programs, respectively.

Thanks for the discussion!

SP30

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To some end, this depends on where you apply.  In many schools (e.g. Oxford in U.K. and Waterloo in Canada) yes it is easier to be accepted into a masters program, and then easier to be accepted into a ph.d with a masters degree. 

 

In other schools (E.g. Edinburgh in U.K. and U.B.C. Canada) there exist masters/ph.d programs, where you would not normally go straight into a ph.d but would first go through the masters program with the expectation to then do your ph.d. right after within the same school.

 

Often the difficulty of being accepted into a school that has a masters/ph.d program, is equivalent to acceptance straight into a ph.d.  In some cases it will actually be harder to transfer into a masters/ph.d. schools if you already have a masters.

 

So there isn't a straight answer, sometimes it will be easier to go into a masters program, but how by how much?  It varies, so much so that forums like these exist to try and gauge, it, and your best shot will probably be to look at mean gpa, gre, research experience and publications, funding, and other factors of the schools you are specifically interested in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use