5 year masters program

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Just wanted to see people's opinions on participating in a 5 year program if the end goal is a phd. I've heard it reasoned at several schools that having a masters actually gives a better chance of gaining admission to a phd program, or of getting funded. Several professors at my school openly admit they won't allow a student to work under them unless they have already completed a masters. In addition, some schools won't accept you in to the phd track until you have completed a masters, either in their school or otherwise (yeah I'm looking at you stanford). So there it can become a financial question regarding the less time spent for the masters in the 5 year program bersus more money at the other school. This is enhanced since most schools don't give any funding to masters students. But money aside, going to a school for a straight to phd or masters then phd can give more facetime with professors so maybe this helps you? I really don't know so if anyone has experience, is it considered a good thing or a bad thing to obtain a masters degree before applying for a phd or not. Or am I wasting my time with this program and be better served just applying to the phd school. My undergrad gpa with 2 majors (MechE and math) is 3.6 with the completion of an honors thesis (which required a lot of lab work) and two internships with government agencies (NASA). I am confident that I can finish the masters program with 4.0 GPA since I am almost there already (I took a lot of graduate classes as an undergrad). I have already completed about 1/3 of the requisite research for the thesis but am losing money every year I stay here</p>

<p>So two questions, in general do you guys feel 5 years masters programs are worth doing for people who want to go on to phds.<br>
In my case, would it improve my chances of getting into a better grad school (eyes on princeton) to apply now for phd or wait till masters is completed.</p>

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<p>As always, programs vary and therefore you should look into the exact stipulations behind admissions/criteria for PhD candidates. </p>

<p>Some schools have the straight PhD program but even in these cases, most students end up earning a MS on the way anyway. If you are already in a MS program I feel that you have a strong shot (if not guaranteed) at being able to continue at the institute for a PhD. Once you are already in graduate school your grades don’t really matter to much, you’ll have to keep them above the minimum (3.5 or 3.75) but the main driving force is your research/career goals. In fact at my school it was common for MS students to go on to their PhD by taking the quals after completing their MS thesis. </p>

<p>If you are looking to go elsewhere, I think your MS will make you a stronger candidate. Not only will you have a stronger GPA but Princeton will know that you can handle research.</p>