<p>I've read and heard that, very often, schools will pay for you PhD. But could one's MS education, along w/PhD, get freely paid for if you get accepted to a PhD program from your BS? If so, how does it work, and is it harder to obtain? If it's possible, I was thinking that this would be a good route to take. I'm doing Computer Science at the moment.</p>
<p>if you are planning to pursue a phd, upon graduating from your BS, you will directly apply to the doctorate program. After that, you will spend the first 2 years preparing to qualify for the phd program. If you successfully qualify, you will continue onto phd research for the remainder of the program and eventually get a phd (upon completing and successfully defending your research thesis). If you failed to qualify, you will receive a MS and your studies will stop there. I.e. only Phd candidates that flunk out gets an MS. </p>
<p>Either way, Phd programs are fully funded by research or fellowship, i.e. it is free. In addition, you will also receive a stipend for teaching and research.</p>
<p>Some students do pick up the master’s degree along the way to the doctoral degree.</p>
<p>Typically, when you are getting your PhD, partway through you can apply to get the MS degree. Whether you apply for the MS recognition or not, you will have the equivalent of an MS, since that’s the first part of the PhD program. As for funding, in general PhD students don’t have to worry about paying for it and will receive a stipend. This is true for the entire PhD program (typically 5 years), but the sources of funding vary depending on how wealthy the university is–if it has the money, it’ll pay PhD students’ stipends, but in other cases, PhD students have to rely on a combination of teaching and research assistantships, or outside fellowships (no matter what, PhD students generally get funded, even at less wealthy schools). So if admitted to the PhD program, you’ll have funding both for the MS part and the rest of the PhD program.</p>
<p>(By the way, I’m in CS and starting a CS PhD in a few months.)</p>
<p>edit: you should look at this, which has become “standard reading” for those interested in a CS PhD.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf[/url]”>www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf</a></p>
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<p>I don’t think this is correct at all. Almost every PhD I know got their MS along the way. I know the requirements for picking up your MS differs from school to school and department to department within each school. One department at my school hands it out after you finish you candidacy exam while mine just had you get a piece of paper signed after you took the minimum required number of credit hours (five classes a term for a year). I got my MS because I figured it would be a good pick-me-up and an excuse to get my parents to fly out to visit me.</p>
<p>It is becoming more common to go straight for a PhD from your BS, in which case that original piece of advice is valid. However, going through an MS is still the most common method.</p>
<p>So this means that even if I failed the PhD program, the MS part of it is still paid for?</p>
<p>If you enter a funded PhD program and pick up an MS along the way, but later leave without getting the PhD, you still have the MS.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s helpful to explain how PhD programs are structured.</p>
<p>In the traditional structure, you apply for a PhD program and are admitted as a graduate student. As a grad student, you take MS-level courses. After a year or so of MS-level courses, you take the Qualification Exam (what students call “Quals”) over the basics of your field. If you fail quals or do not take it, you get an MS and are sent on your way. If you pass, you get an MS and become a PhD student. </p>
<p>As a PhD student, you take PhD courses and work on research. After some time, you take a second, more difficult exam called the Comprehensive Exam (what students call “Comps”) and propose a dissertation topic. The comps is a very serious exam. It usually is a multi-day exam and has a verbal and written portion. Professors ask you anything they want about anything. If you fail your comps or refuse to take it, you are sent on your way (some schools give a second MS, some give an “Engineer’s Degree” [Engineer’s</a> degree - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer’s_degree]Engineer’s”>Engineer's degree - Wikipedia) and some schools give nothing). If you pass, you become a PhD candidate.</p>
<p>As a PhD candidate, you complete your research and write a thesis. The thesis is then reviewed by a reading committee who accept or reject it. You then orally defend the thesis. After the oral defense, you earn a PhD and seek post doc employment. </p>
<p>That being said, many schools are truncating this process. Some schools have done away with Quals and the requirement to get an MS. In that case you apply directly to be a PhD student and not to be a graduate student. You would not earn an MS unless you failed your comps or otherwise left and you begin your research immediately.</p>
<p>If you are admitted to grad school with funding, you do not have to repay the school if you do not earn a PhD. So someone who entered a PhD program then left after the MS would be getting a “free” MS degree. I have seen people do that, but it’s an ethically questionable practice.</p>
<p>I know of several schools for which an MS is not a default degree if you flunk out of the PhD program. There are many assumptions on this thread that are mostly true for most schools, but for each assumption, you can find schools for which it is not valid.</p>
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<p>Obviously there are terminal MS programs (where you apply at the beginning to earn an MS and only an MS). Those are beside the point of the BS -> PhD path.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, it’s usually harder to get admitted to a funded MS program than a funded PhD program because the schools want 5-7 years of research and not 1-2.</p>
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<p>A lot of this varies by field and school. I’ve noticed engr departments tend to separate the masters and doctoral students. masters students haven’t pasted a Comprehensive exam (see banjo’s post above. it gets all the basics down). Masters for engr people seems to be a big deal. </p>
<p>On the other hand, in physics/chem, everyone admitted to a program is going for a PhD. In this case, the only people who have masters degrees are those who left the program. In physics and chem (ie hard science), there often isn’t a huge merit to getting a masters degree…
Most cases i’ve seen with terminal masters programs for science were a. education related (becoming a teacher) or b. remedial coursework (people who didn’t do so hot in undergrad and still want to get their phd).
And yes, there is always an exception to every case here.</p>
<p>I’ve read that you can get stipend while doing your PhD. Does the stipend start right away, right when you get admitted? Or later on?</p>
<p>Regarding the masters degree, if you apply to that program, you can take two different types of programs. One is a research masters, in which you begin your research that could be applied to your eventual doctoral thesis (preparation for a career in academia). The other is a coursework masters, in which you study some topics in more depth (preparation for a career in industry).</p>
<p>I thought it would be cool to further my education and knowledge and get paid at the same time while doing research, but I worry about funding for tuition and living expenses. If I got stipend while doing the MS portion of the process, then that would work out great.</p>
<p>If you’re getting a stipend for living expenses then your tuition should also be paid for by whoever’s paying your stipend.</p>
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<p>You get paid when you arrive at the school to start classes/research.</p>
<p>Are grad schools willing to judge you on your major GPA versus your overall GPA?</p>
<p>Grad schools get to see your transcript so they can judge you however they want.</p>
<p>GPA isn’t the first thing grad schools look at. Have a couple of first author publications in A journals, and you can write your own ticket.</p>
<p>You would have to get pretty lucky to be first author in an A journal as an undergrad. Even some of the star undergrads I have known have only ben secondary authors in A journals or first author for a conference.</p>