<p>My school now offers a 5 year B.S - M.S program. The program entails that upper division courses overlap with some M.S requirements, so that people can receive their Masters in 1 years, after the 4 years spent to get the B.S.</p>
<p>I just want to ask if this is possible. I hear that masters has a lot of work involved. Publications, defense, master thesis, TA-ship or research (depending on path). Is this possible to complete in one year?? Is it worth it, compared to the programs where students spend longer in graduate school ?</p>
<p>Most master's students I know at my school don't end up doing any of the above (publications, master's thesis, TA/RA ship, etc)</p>
<p>In fact the university doesn't usually give TA or RA ships to any masters student, only Phd students. Maybe occasionally a stellar MS student becomes a TA if there are no qualified phd students available. </p>
<p>So BS/MS students at my university typically end up doing a years worth of courses, which is what's necessary for graduation. Some do research on the side as well, but obviously that's more time investment.</p>
<p>UCLA offers the ESAP program which is an opportunity for guaranteed admissions into the MS for your engineering discipline as long as you meet the requirements.</p>
<p>Not all Masters students need to write a thesis or a report. Most schools offer a Masters by courses option, where you just take extra courses instead. Typically you need 36 semester hours for a Masters by course option which translates to 1.5 years (with a heavy 12 semester load) to 2.5 years (with a typical load).</p>
<p>With that said, that 5 year BS/MS program sounds like a great deal, even from a financial perspective. </p>
<p>I don't see why employers would cringe, you aren't doing a full fledged Ph.D so they wouldn't expect a detailed thesis. Also, a Masters isn't as specialized as Ph.D so it would really help you remain versatile but have a leg up over other candidates (in terms of pay and education).</p>
<p>I've actually seen most programs requiring only 30 credits, not even 36. That would be very do-able in 2 semesters. How do you consider 12 credits being a heavy load? That's actually a pretty light load IMO. It's not typical to do 36 credits over 5 semesters. </p>
<p>Employers couldn't care less that you didn't do a thesis or any research, unless you're going into a research-oriented industry.</p>
<p>It might vary from school to school but when i was back at UT-Austin the typical graduate student took 9 credit hours (3 classes) but then again most grad students considered a C in a class the equivalent to failing.</p>
<p>At my school you have to get a "B" in order to pass graduate level courses...</p>
<p>And Ken: As far as # of units taken per semester goes, graduate and undergrad vary widely (at USC, anyway). The max # of units an undergrad can take per semester is 18, which translates to six 3 unit courses. Most people take 5. For grad school, they say a full load is three 3 unit courses (9 units).</p>
<p>Next semester I'll be taking 3 undergrad courses and 3 grad courses. We'll see how it goes ;)</p>
<p>USC and UT-Austin sound pretty different from the schools I know about. People that I know that went for a masters were able to do it one year without a thesis. I know some who are doing it in about 2.5 years, but they're taking classes at night and working full-time during the day.</p>
<p>They probably earned a Masters in Engineering rather than a Masters of Science.</p>
<p>MEng is a terminary degree that is mainly for those who want to go straight into the industry. It typically takes 10 months to complete and has no thesis/reports--it is just courses. Usually people who enroll in these programs have either worked and have returned in hopes of a better job status/promotion.</p>
<p>A M.S or Masters of Science is a research oriented degree.</p>
<p>That's not universally true. I earned a non-thesis MS degree from UIUC. Several programs I applied to were MEng programs that took a year and a half to complete, and you're right in that they're primarily terminal practical degrees. You're also right in the notion that MS degrees are preparations for PhDs (but can be used as preparation for practice, also).</p>
<p>Timing doesn't really have as much to do with either, though. In general terms, if you hoof it, you can finish an engineering masters in one year.</p>
<p>I'm just curious, how many "credit hours" was your MS? I know that some M.S do offer the course only option but I couldn't imagine being able to take 30-36 credit hours in one year :(.</p>
<p>BoelterHall, you're at UCLA, right? <a href="Boelter%20Hall%20is%20a%20lovely%20building,%20I%20might%20add%20;">i</a>) * My son is going to do their Engineering MS next year. He told me that it's a 9 month program, his fellowship includes paid work as a professor's research assistant, and I believe that there are options do a research thesis. Is it possible to complete the MS degree in this short a timeframe? Send me a PM sometime next year, I'll tell you how he is doing.</p>
<p>36 hours, non-thesis. Typically takes a year and a half. If you take a few summer classes, you can get it done in a year. Six hours of credit in the summer, fifteen each spring and fall. It's possible.</p>
<p>UIUC schedules classes so that you wouldn't be able to get your MS in just two semesters, though. You have to have at least a summer extra.</p>
<p>Most BS/MS programs are about an academic year, as far as I've seen. USC's is two semesters (18 units) instead of 3 semesters (27 units) for the regular masters, and is typically non-thesis (i.e., you can just take the 6 classes) </p>
<p>The reason why BS/MS programs are typically shorter is because, for example at USC, 9 of the 27 units (1 semester of 3) are allowed to be higher-level undergraduate courses, to be completed as prerequisites. Since USC undergrads have taken these courses anyway, all the BS/MS program does is waive the requirement to take additional undergrad classes.</p>
<p>Regular course load for MS students is 9 units (3 classes) and 6 units (2 classes) for PhD. Although (as was pointed out above) C is considered barely passing (more akin to a D than an F) this isn't the typical reason for only taking 3 classes - it's because graduate classes are usually significantly more difficult/time consuming and cover much more material than a 3 unit undergrad course. Therefore taking 3 grad classes is probably around the same load as 6 undergrad courses, around here.</p>
<p>As for the difference between MEng and MS, this is typically something that differs greatly from university to university. It's more consistent internationally (especially in India) where it's probably more like nshah points out.</p>
<p>But in the US, usually there is nothing about an MS that speaks specifically towards research.</p>
<p>
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They probably earned a Masters in Engineering rather than a Masters of Science.
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</p>
<p>I earned a Master of Science without a thesis in one year (30 credits). </p>
<p>Previously, I never understood what was so great about a 5 year BS/MS program since I thought it was the norm to get separate engineering BS and MS degrees in 5 years anyway. Now I know... haha.</p>
<p>This is an old thread, but I'll see if it gets a reply.</p>
<p>I want to do a BS/MS program to get my masters. But I want to pursue a phD as well. Would it be a good idea to do the BS/MS and then get a phD at the same school? The school I'm interested in is ranked top 3 for my major for both grad and undergrad. But not I'm not sure it will hurt me to do all degrees at the same university.</p>