Do you have to actually finish your M.A. if accepted?

[Linzee223]

So, I'm finishing up my master's right now, before starting a doctoral program this coming fall. My thesis should be finished this summer, but my advisor won't be around at all, and I think I might have trouble defending it in time for the deadlines. So, the thing I'm wondering is if I really even need to technically finish this degree. There is nothing in the admissions letter that says I do.

 

I already have a B.A., which would qualify me for graduate work. It's not as if I need the master's degree for eligibility purposes, since they admit some people with only an undergrad degree.

 

I mostly think my doctoral program wouldn't care one way or the other if I actually earn this degree, and I highly suspect they wouldn't even notice.

 

What do you all think?

[ComeBackZinc]

I think you should finish your MA.

[ProfLorax]

You should talk to both your advisor and your future program. Find out all of your options. Will an MA cut out a semester or two of coursework? If so, completing your MA over before you go to your new program could be worth it. Will your advisor be happy to work with you over email? Will you burn any bridges if you don't finish? Also ask yourself if you would be happy with leaving your MA from this institution unfinished. (I'm a perfectionist, so I would want to finish what I started, but of course, that mentality can also be unhealthy and neurotic at times!)

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

Sometimes it's tempting to take the easiest road. 

I reckon a lot of folks at your MA uni would like to see your name on one of their degrees. They've worked hard to support and teach you - your success is in someways their success as well. After all they've done, don't deny them that opportunity. 

[ComeBackZinc]

I mean, if nothing else, if your application to the PhD program reported that you are currently in an MA program, there's a reasonable expectation by the adcomm that you in fact intended to finish that program. Maybe it's not a requirement, although some programs require you finish an MA before you start the PhD, but even if it's not a requirement, it was almost certainly part of their decision-making process. So if you choose not to finish, you absolutely should contact your new program and make them aware of that. I would worry, were I you, about the message you might be sending to your new faculty in saying that you don't intend to finish what you started in your MA program.

[hopefulwoolfian]

I know in my program, at least, the students that come in with BAs have to take a Master's Exam and pass a language exam before getting their MA. The ones with MAs get to skip the exam and start teaching earlier, as they have a year less funding. Not finishing your MA may mean more work and requirements for you in the PhD program, and possibly with less time due to funding.

[Bennett]

Finish the MA.

[TakeruK]

If you are in serious trouble of not finishing your MA, you should contact your PhD program immediately and check--my PhD program definitely wanted me to show them proof of completion of my MSc after I arrived. If you put your MA as part of your application, they considered the fact that you are expected to come in with a MA as part of their decision process! What if they chose you over someone else because of your MA experience.

 

In addition to the very likely requirement from your PhD program, you should also finish your MA for yourself and for all the other reasons the others listed above! You've gone this far already, don't stop now!! (Obviously, if finishing would really mean more harm than good, then that's different, but if it just means more effort in getting people to meet to advise you and putting in the work, it's worth it in my opinion).

[Gauche]

There might be some problems if you don't finish the MA before moving on to a PhD. For example, there are some PhD programs out there that require students to first have their MA before moving onto their doctoral program. If you showed the doctoral program you were accepted to that you were on track to finish your MA, but you end up not finishing, that might be a red flag to the program that you might not be capable of finishing the PhD program or at least completing it in a timely manner.

 

Do whatever you have to do to get done on time. Don't worry about writing a perfect thesis. A done thesis is a good thesis. Make it good enough to satisfy your committee and defend as soon as you're done, even if that means your thesis advisor has to Skype himself into your defense and scan you a copy of his signature on your title page to get it all done.

[hashslinger]

My PhD accepting school required that I produce my MA transcript and/or diploma in order to register for classes, and they did not require an MA to apply for the program. But I had presented myself in my application as someone who was going to have an MA before I started the PhD.

 

As ComeBackZinc emphasized, the program accepted you believing that you were going to finish your MA. Just finish it.

Edited March 29, 2014 by hashslinger

[rachelann1991]

I'm coming out of my undergraduate, but a couple of the programs that I got accepted to told me that they usually DON'T accept people with only BA's; Northeastern and Albany in particular told me that their cohorts typically have an overwhelming percentage coming in with Master's (in fact, I'm the only one Albany admitted with a BA thus far, apparently). Also, at their visit day (I'm on a waiting list), Tufts explained that they try to have a balance between admits with BA's and MA's because of the requirements, time wise and funding wise, that the different students bring.

 

TL:DR: The understanding that you would have an M.A. at the time you start a program SOMEHOW influenced their decision to accept you (even in a small way), whether the program likes people with M.A.'s better or likes to have a balance. In my humble, admittedly naive opinion (22 year old first time applicant, I know nothing): it's a requirement that you finish, stated or unstated.