Experimental/Research Psychology: Is it frowned upon to have an MA or MSc from one uni and Ph.D from another?

[kittyoverthemoon]

I want to pursue psychology, specifically cognitive, behavioral, and brain sciences with a focus on auditory neuroscience, music psychology, and the evolution of vocal and nonverbal communication sciences and disorders (in a nutshell). I have a very basic background in psychology having just graduated with a B.S. in Child & Family Development and a minor in psychology, so I definitely don't want to pursue a PhD program right now but would rather try to get an MA or MS in Psychology in order to feel out my place within the field. I've noticed while researching different programs that many (most of my list are pretty well-regarded programs) only accept graduate psychology applications for a Ph.D at all, and some discourage those who want to earn a PhD at another university's program if they're applying for the master's there. I've also noticed a lot of faculty in the area that I'm interested in have masters and PhDs from the same university. Is it looked down upon to get a master's from one uni and a PhD at another? I just really don't have the amount of foundational knowledge that I would like to have in order to know what the best decision would be for my future in this field. Any advice from those pursuing this area of psychology as a career would also be super helpful. Thanks!

[Oshawott]

If anything, its more looked down upon to have done all your education in the same place, especially if you're looking at U.S. schools where an MSc isn't technically required for a PhD (in contrast to most Canadian schools that have MSc/MA's built into their graduate program for those coming out of undergrad)

[overdetermination]

I'm working on a master's in a related field (neuroscience) now and applying to PhD programs in psychology and cognitive science. If you are dicey about getting an MA in Psychology from School X and a PhD from School Y, you could get the master's (and exposure, research experience, chance to decide whether you want to keep going) in another discipline that relates to your research interests and that is more inclined to accept and fund master's students. 

I've also heard of people pursuing the master's-as-stepping-stone strategy and omitting the master's from their CV once they get the PhD, which I don't think is frowned upon professionally. So if you are concerned about future impressions, that's an option too. 

[RD]

I have never heard of it being frowned upon to have a masters from one program and a Ph.D. from another. The reason why you don't typically see it is because for the vast majority of programs, most of their students enter with only a B.A. and earn their M.A. on the way to the Ph.D. What is frowned upon is entering a Ph.D. program with the intent to leave after getting your M.A. - if that's your plan and they know that, no Ph.D. program will take you. But entering a masters program and then applying for a Ph.D. program after is a perfectly acceptable option, and it sounds like a smart choice given that you're not sure about your focus. 

[Shay825]

I wouldn't think so. The school that I'm matriculating at for my Masters doesn't offer a PhD in my field of study, but I decided to enroll there for several reasons, as opposed to a school that offers a combined M.S./PhD program. First, I didn't feel that my undergrad transcript was a strong reflection of my capabilities as a student, so wanted to build a graduate transcript and writing portfolio that was a better representation. Also, I had worked with some outstanding professors during my undergrad, whom were also instructors for the Masters program that I enrolled in. I wanted to learn more from them and build stronger relationships, so that they would be in a better position to speak (or write) on my behalf, should I later need a reference or recommendation.

If you're concerned that a particular school might frown upon it, provide them with an explaination in your Statement for why you personally chose to matriculate at your specific schools.

[kittyoverthemoon]

9 hours ago, Oshawott said:

If anything, its more looked down upon to have done all your education in the same place, especially if you're looking at U.S. schools where an MSc isn't technically required for a PhD (in contrast to most Canadian schools that have MSc/MA's built into their graduate program for those coming out of undergrad)

Ok, that makes a little more sense since I was looking into a few programs in Canada with reputable music cognition labs. I just found a lot of the UCal schools (Davis, San Diego, etc.) were only accepting applications for those who wanted to pursue a PhD but had the option to earn the MA/MS on the way there. Maybe it's just the UCal system. Anyway, more researching programs for me! Thanks!

[kittyoverthemoon]

29 minutes ago, RD said:

I have never heard of it being frowned upon to have a masters from one program and a Ph.D. from another. The reason why you don't typically see it is because for the vast majority of programs, most of their students enter with only a B.A. and earn their M.A. on the way to the Ph.D. What is frowned upon is entering a Ph.D. program with the intent to leave after getting your M.A. - if that's your plan and they know that, no Ph.D. program will take you. But entering a masters program and then applying for a Ph.D. program after is a perfectly acceptable option, and it sounds like a smart choice given that you're not sure about your focus. 

Awesome, thanks for that. It's likely I've been looking into programs with a little more specialized degrees which would be why they would only offer a PhD (for those who know specifically their research area of interest). Even though I know my research interests pretty well, I'm thinking it will be a good decision to look at MA/MS programs in general psychology or experimental psychology to gain the research, writing, and course experience that I need and want. Thanks again!

[Piagetsky]

 

Have a look at this thread as well.  I get the feeling it's discouraged.

[Oshawott]

38 minutes ago, Piagetsky said:

 

Have a look at this thread as well.  I get the feeling it's discouraged.

I find the whole "academic incest" logic kind of funny considering that if you look at top programs or top researchers in the field, there's only really one or two degrees of separation between them (researchers coming from the same lab/supervisor/institution, researchers being close collaborators, etc.). In the lab I worked at in undergrad, one of the grad students worked with his supervisor's supervisor in undergrad which in familial terms would be "incest" yet because these researchers moved schools so much in their careers the explicit connections aren't obvious.

I understand the benefit of going to a different institution for undergrad and graduate training, but I just find the idea of "academic incest" funny given how connected people are regardless of whether you go.

[Applicant 1746]

1 hour ago, kittyoverthemoon said:

Ok, that makes a little more sense since I was looking into a few programs in Canada with reputable music cognition labs. I just found a lot of the UCal schools (Davis, San Diego, etc.) were only accepting applications for those who wanted to pursue a PhD but had the option to earn the MA/MS on the way there. Maybe it's just the UCal system. Anyway, more researching programs for me! Thanks!

Yep -- as far as I can tell from US Ph.D programs, students generally enter into the Ph.D program with an undergraduate degree + research experience, and get a master's on the way (at year 2 or 3). A terminal masters before applying to Ph.D programs can be a good choice if you'd like to raise your GPA, take advanced psych courses, and/or get more research experience via a master's thesis -- but from reading your post I'm wondering if you're considering applying for RA positions as a pre-doctoral gig, instead of doing a master's program? I'm asking because you seem quite clear on your interests, and I'm wondering if there's much more you could learn from master's coursework than you could from more hands-on research experience and reading articles in your area of interest. Just something to consider! I took an RA position out of undergrad and it was the best thing I could have done in terms of grad school preparation, but then again everyone's situation is different.

[kittyoverthemoon]

It's probably going to be the case that I will end up applying to a PhD program, but yeah I was concerned whether my background was good enough to be competitive. I would absolutely love a research job where I'm from but RA positions come up every couple of months around here because it's not really a big city. I feel major pressure to decide within a year where I want to go to grad school and which degree to choose, mostly because I'm a fairly broke postgraduate. So I may have to take a job that isn't research at all just to sustain myself until an RA position pops up. But I guess more research experience would look great and serve a purpose to let me know if I'm really comfortable doing this for the next many years. That's a great idea, thanks for that!