<p>I know what the main degrees are, but I'm wondering what the average personal who intends on getting a PH.D will have to go through degree wise. Will you go for a Masters degree, a Doctorate degree and then a PH.D? Or could you go for a Doctorate degree and then a PH.D?</p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated! =D</p>
<p>Doctorate and Ph.D are the same thing.</p>
<p>Um, a doctorate degree and a PhD are the same thing.</p>
<p>Finishing high school first might be a good idea.</p>
<p>A PhD is a type of research doctorate degree.</p>
<p>As to the path to a PhD, it really depends on the PhD program, some require a Masters, some have you earn a Masters on your way to the PhD, and some have you skip the Masters degree all together.</p>
<p>A doctorate degree, I guess, includes the other "doctorate" degrees that we don't really consider "doctorate".....DBA (Doctor of Business Administration), JD (Juris Doctor), MD (Medical Doctor).</p>
<p>PhD, by the way, stands for "Doctor of Philosophy".</p>
<p>
[quote]
Finishing high school first might be a good idea.
[/quote]
Indeed. </p>
<p>Doing some preliminary research before asking such an obvious question would also be a good idea, considering you're interested in a RESEARCH degree.</p>
<p>the answer's not that obvious...</p>
<p>it depends on the doctorate degree you want, first of all. an MD will require only the normal 3-5 years of undergraduate school + 4 years at medical school (then you have to worry about the residency, etc.)</p>
<p>on the other hand, a PhD depends on who you are (for instance, the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Robert Burns Woodward got his PhD in 1 year, at the age of 20). normally it's 3-5 years of undergraduate school + 4-8 years of graduate school (maybe including a master's degree, usually not). apparently, only around 50% of graduate students get a PhD within 10 years after going to grad school (the rest take longer or drop out).</p>
<p>wow calm down people,
the point of this forum is for the OP to get information like this.</p>
<p>JD (LL.B. outside the US)=3 years
MD=4 years+residency/intern
DBA=2 years MBA+indeterminate...?
PhD=Indeterminate</p>
<p>That's in addition to undergrad. As for DBA (or simply PhD in business), undergrad+couple years work experience.</p>
<p>Shortest Path:
High School Diploma => College for a B.S. or B.A. (depending on major) => Graduate School for PhD</p>
<p>Bachelors takes 3-5 years. PhD takes a minimum 3-4 years depending on how badly you make yourself suffer, and can take upwards of 7 years.</p>
<p>Of course you could take a longer path such as:
High School -> Associates -> Bachelors -> Masters -> PhD</p>
<p>And of course you could go to med school or law school, etc instead of graduate school so you'd get the respective specialized doctoral degree (MD, JD, etc) instead of a PhD.</p>