To do or not do a Masters Thesis?

[Ceci]

Hi All!

 

I was wondering what your experience / advice is for completing a Masters program in hopes to be accepted to a doctoral program (either PsyD or PhD) after.  I am reading that it isn't as important to complete a thesis, that some admissions committees don't even look at it or use it as a ruling out.  My dilemma is that my GRE's were a cumulative score of 298 (very low) and my undergrad GPA was a 3.46.  If I stay in my thesis program I feel my GPA will suffer... as it is already very low (expected to be a 3.25) my first semester.  I am afraid that I will not be able to have the best possible GPA if I am working on a thesis and that to better equip myself for applying into a doctoral program to perhaps focus on grades and less on a thesis.  Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks for your help!

[iphi]

The advice we were given in my Master's program is that if you ever want to pursue a PhD you should write a thesis. If you run into problems with your GPA just tell them you were focusing on your research. The whole point of a PhD is that it's a research degree, so they should understand.

[AvatarPsych]

If you're concerned about GPA graduate school tends to be a GPA booster, and will demonstrate that despite your undergrad GPA you can handle graduate work if you do well in your masters. I personally wouldn't do a masters purely for the financial aspect. Another option would be to get a research oriented-job for a year.