<p>I'm sorry if this is dumb but I'm the first person in my family to go to college in the US so I really don't know how this is supposed to work. I'm a junior political science major and I'm very interested in continuing my education, towards a PhD. </p>
<p>Is it usually the case to go from a 4 year Bachelors, to a 2 year Masters, to a different PhD program? Or do the majority of people go from a Bachelors right into a PhD program?</p>
<p>Do most people feel ready for a PhD straight out of college? I do not feel like by the time I graduate I will be ready to enter a PhD program and brainstorm about ideas for a dissertation or research. </p>
<p>I am constantly stressed out over this and the career prospects for my major, but I love this subject and excel in all my political science classes.</p>
<p>It’s not unheard of to go direct from BA to PhD (usually what happens then is you get your MA after you finish your comprehensive exams after your 2nd year), but it’s rather rare and can put you at a disadvantage in admissions and in classes. Many people take a year or two off to work; the best kind of work is academic research if you can get hired as an RA by a professor. Some go for master’s degrees in policy, but those can be expensive and aren’t particularly useful in PhD applications. Maybe you could get a fellowship to go abroad for a year or so. Talk to your current professors about ideas and get their advice. It’s good to take a few years off, but make sure they’re spent in an area that would help you improve your chances at grad school. </p>
<p>Also, be aware that polisci graduate work is often drastically different from what you cover in undergrad classes. You’ll need to demonstrate when you apply to PhD programs that you know what graduate students/professors do and have at least some idea of what you’d like to do your dissertation on (even if you don’t really know, you need to at least signal that you know what you’re talking about). I’d also highly recommend boning up on your statistical analysis skills; this is one area where you can set yourself apart from the many other polisci graduates and demonstrate skills that are useful all types of careers, including academia.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about your field of study, but my daughter went from undergrad to PhD program in computer science (well, technically at her school all grad students are evaluated equally in this department, but she was accepted to several phd programs.) Her first two years will be spent somewhat like a Masters, and fufilling breadth course requirements. At the end of that time, many schools will give you the option to be awarded a Master’s. She is not even close to thinking about a dissertation, but she is involved with research right away, just like she was as an undergrad. You often start by joining the research your professor is doing.</p>
<p>In the humanities and social sciences, 5 years is a blessing, especially if you do not have a masters yet. Many students take 6 or 7 years in these fields. Usually orals prep does not start until after the 3rd year. If you have a masters (and the PHD program accepts said masters) usually a year or so is shaved off.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the sciences are different and length depends on your topic, research, and general luck in the lab…</p>
<p>In the sciences, master degree programs are quite rare as you get a masters if you leave or fail out of a Phd. There are of course specialized master degree programs that specialize in a niche area and there are general masters programs to help people who couldn’t otherwise bridge the gap between undergrad and phd.</p>
<p>“In the sciences, master degree programs are quite rare”</p>
<p>In the life sciences, master’s degrees are rare; however, in engineering, they are more common than PhDs. Also, I know a couple of people who earned terminal M.S. degrees in chemistry.</p>
<p>MS degrees in Chemistry are not common, and often for one who are going to teach Chemistry at the HS level. Most are BS –> PhD. Those PhD programs might award a MS to a student who leaves a PhD program after 2-3 years…</p>
<p>A word of caution on careers for people in pharmaceutical industry with “just” a Masters in say Chemistry: if you happen to work in R&D in Big Pharma, your career is a much harder slog than with a PhD. It isn’t fair if you happen to do good work, you are still considered second class compared to PhDs. Of course, there are jobs in other areas such as Quality Control (in Big Pharma) where “just” an MS is not considered a hindrance. </p>
<p>I know this from knowing someone very close to me who has a Masters from a good school. He works in Big Pharma, has several (meaning dozen or more patents, many many papers) patents and papers, does great work, but still thinks he is at a disadvantage.</p>