Background Before PhD Program

[cowgirlsdontcry]

Really wondering, how many came into a Ph.D. program with a master's and how many came directly from undergrad? I think that the experiences we all had are valuable to undergrads as they begin to plan when to apply to master's and Ph.D. programs. When I started looking at English Ph.D. programs, I noticed there were quite a few combined programs that undergrads could apply to and skip the standalone master's degree. However, digging deeper into the websites, I would also come across statements like "as many as 25% of those accepted are BA only." As a result, I tested the water during my senior year with one application and was waitlisted and then went on to get an MA at my undergrad university. I applied to 9 programs last fall for entry this fall and was: accepted at 2, waitlisted at 2 (including, another waitlist from the same school as in my senior year), and rejected at 5. I accepted an offer from a school that has an MA prerequisite instead of a combined program and was excited to hear that 18 of my MA credits will transfer in, and I will be able to complete all classwork in 2 years before beginning to write dissertation. Most combined programs still take 6-7 years and I will be able to complete both MA and Ph.D. in the same amount of time.

What I understand now, while I had to get an MA first, getting that MA greatly increased my viability as an applicant. It also allowed my critical thinking and writing skills to mature in an environment where I knew everyone that removed some of the stress. I was also accepted as a GA and the stipend was very welcome.

What about your background and story?

 

 

[ellieotter]

I will be coming into my PhD program without a MA. Granted, I did not come "straight from" undergrad as I took two years off before applying. I considered applying while I was a senior in undergrad but backed out last minute due to feeling unprepared and overwhelmed and I am SO glad I did. Instead of applying for MA/PhD, I applied to a RA position in a somewhat relevant area of psych and worked on getting research & clinical experience for a year, then the past year was spent doing more research while applying to grad programs.

I applied to 12 or 11 (I honestly can't remember if I submitted #12), 9 PhD's & 3 MA's. I received interviews to 3 PhD's, waitlisted at 1, and received acceptance to 2 PhD's and a conditional acceptance PhD if I completed the MA in their program in a timely manner. I also was accepted to the MA's I applied to. I will say that consistently at interviews, it was about 50/50 on the applicants interviewing with/or without an MA. Not having an MA didn't keep me from receiving a full assistantship either which is great so I had an overall positive application season but I did have to work VERY hard to get my CV to look like it does, something that may have been a tad bit easier if I had done an MA first. That's my story

[cowgirlsdontcry]

You have a good story and worked very hard.

[juilletmercredi]

This is going to vary a lot by university and fields. In some fields, it's common for most incoming PhD students to have master's degrees; in others, it's less common. In one of my fields - psychology - it was less common for students to have a master's degree before entering, although relatively common for people to come in with 1-3 years of experience between college and grad school. I entered my program straight from undergrad, but out of my psychology cohort I was not the only one. I think it was about half and half, maybe a little more on the "straight from undergrad" side, with one or two people who had a master's beforehand.

On the other hand, in public health it is much more common for people to have a master's degree (often but not always an MPH) before pursuing a PhD, and in some programs it's required. I think out of my cohort of 6 in the public health department only 2 of us did not have a master's degree before entering, and I was the only one who had entered the PhD program straight from undergrad. Everyone else had several years of experience post-college.

[cowgirlsdontcry]

It's interesting to know Juillet, how it differs between the various disciplines. I hope others post as it would be great for incoming students to be able to what others have done to get to a program.

[avflinsch]

It varies by program, even within the same discipline. The program I applied to required the masters to be considered for admission, some other programs in the same field did not.

 

[hantoo]

I'm going into my program without a Masters. I took one year after undergrad to do an internship and gain some more intensive research experience in my field. To be honest, applying to any grad programs during my Senior year of college would have been tough because I was working on so many other projects/a thesis/etc. at the time. I agree with some of the other posters that it sometimes depends on your field of study, but overall I think that if you have a pretty clear idea of what you want the focus of your graduate research to be, getting a Masters degree before pursuing a PhD maybe isn't as necessary.

[Neurotic_Jay]

I'm in engineering. From what I heard, having a MS or MA sometimes even backfires. Engineering masters and PhDs focus on very different things. Having a course-based MS before applying for PhD may even raise questions about how serious an applicant is about committing to research. It is very common for undergrad to go directly to PhD programs or take one or two gap years doing research before PhD, though. Taking gap years to do research, on the other hand, shows one's commitment to research.

[a.n.d]

I'm going into History, with a BA in Fine Arts, and I got accepted straight into a PhD program without a Masters. I'm straight out of undergrad, but I started that fairly late after working for about six years post-high school. I think it worked for me though, because I know what I want my research to focus on, and I know what I want to do with my degree; a stand alone Master's just didn't seem necessary after I discussed it with a few of my Professors and felt confident I could handle it.

[Louly]

I completely agree with Neurotic_Jay. It depends on the field. I've been accepted into a combined MS/PhD program for Speech Pathology. My masters prepares me to become a clinician while the PhD is research based. During many of my interviews, I've been questioned about how serious I am as a researcher ...at times, it cost me my chances of being accepted since both routes are so different from one another. Obtaining my masters was crucial since I cannot practice as a clinician and getting my PhD is my ultimate goal ..which I decided pursuing a combined program was best for my future. 

Edited June 3, 2017 by Louly
Grammar

[_kita]

I am on a professional degree track in the mental health field. I can speak to both the counseling and public health aspects though since I switched in my mid-20's.  Both fields had the same pattern, they claimed that they took applicants from "undergrad to PhDs," but that was by far the minority (1-2). The admissions committees wanted to see analytical and practical experience. But undergraduates seldom are competitive against people with 5+ years experience in the field.

[Psychoplasmics]

I'm entering my PhD program with 2 masters degrees (Forensic Psychology & Counseling Psychology). I am a non-traditional student and I think I needed the degrees to demonstrate my viability as a candidate for competitive programs. It took me 3 cycles to finally gain admission to a fully funded, APA-accredited program, but it was worth the struggle. This last cycle I applied to 16 programs and received 11 admissions interviews. I was able to cancel the last four interviews as I received an offer from my first choice program. I should note that it was my second time applying to my first choice program.

Edited September 16, 2017 by schizometric

[frank2243]

On 27/05/2017 at 11:21 AM, cowgirlsdontcry said:

Really wondering, how many came into a Ph.D. program with a master's and how many came directly from undergrad? I think that the experiences we all had are valuable to undergrads as they begin to plan when to apply to master's and Ph.D. programs. When I started looking at English Ph.D. programs, I noticed there were quite a few combined programs that undergrads could apply to and skip the standalone master's degree. However, digging deeper into the websites, I would also come across statements like "as many as 25% of those accepted are BA only." As a result, I tested the water during my senior year with one application and was waitlisted and then went on to get an MA at my undergrad university. I applied to 9 programs last fall for entry this fall and was: accepted at 2, waitlisted at 2 (including, another waitlist from the same school as in my senior year), and rejected at 5. I accepted an offer from a school that has an MA prerequisite instead of a combined program and was excited to hear that 18 of my MA credits will transfer in, and I will be able to complete all classwork in 2 years before beginning to write dissertation. Most combined programs still take 6-7 years and I will be able to complete both MA and Ph.D. in the same amount of time.

What I understand now, while I had to get an MA first, getting that MA greatly increased my viability as an applicant. It also allowed my critical thinking and writing skills to mature in an environment where I knew everyone that removed some of the stress. I was also accepted as a GA and the stipend was very welcome.

What about your background and story?

 

 

I was offered an admission from BSc in atmospheric sciences to PhD in atmospheric sciences. However, since I was asked to do one year of graduate courses before actually doing the PhD I refused. Doing a MSc and getting the degree would take one more year so I decided it was safer and better for me to just do the MSc first. This was a safe decision since my advisor got a professor position at an other university and I have to do the switch. Since I just finished the MSc, I applied for the PhD there. It would have been really complicated to do the switch from PhD to PhD considering I did not have a MSc degree.....

Edited September 17, 2017 by frank2243

[cowgirlsdontcry]

5 minutes ago, frank2243 said:

I was offered an admission from BSc in atmospheric sciences to PhD in atmospheric sciences. However, since I was asked to do one year of graduate courses before actually doing the PhD I refused. Doing a MSc and getting the degree would take one more year so I decided it was safer and better for me to just do the MSc first. This was a safe decision since my advisor got a professor position at an other university and I have to do the switch. Since I just finished the MSc, I applied for the PhD there. It would have been really complicated to do the switch from PhD to PhD considering I did not have a MSc degree.....

Thanks frank2243. Looking at everyone's background is informative. I would not have been accepted in my PhD program without a master's. It made my journey a little easier in the long-run and I will still finish in about the same amount of time. 

[Concordia]

UK doctoral program(me)s require a master's before applying.  

My bachelor's degree is far enough in the past, though that I'd have needed a more current credential to get in the groove, even I were applying to a US department that makes you do its own MA.  

Also, I'm sure that doing well in the master's wiped a lot of sins off my college transcript.