<p>Suppose that I will get PhD in Bio from Stanford by taking 5 yrs or from Oxford by taking 3 yrs. I know that these PhDs are regarded with equal value partly because these schools have almost equal strength in their bio program. Why does American one take two extra years? If these PhDs are equally regarded, what is the merit of doing PhD in U.S. over in U.K.? Graduating two years earlier seems fairly attractive to me, since I want to be a professional scientist as soon as possible. Though I'm not sure if this is a rational action, many British scientists got their PhD at the age about 4 yrs younger than that of American counterparts, if I assume that it takes about 5 yrs to finish PhD course in the U.S.. If a student in U.K. decides to skip MS, then he/she can even shorten his years by one. </p>
<p>4 yrs are fairly big difference for we young people. If I will be successful enough, I can probably get a post of assistant professor after doing postdoc for 2~3 yrs. Does it mean that I can probably be an assistant professor at the age of 27~28? Is it true even if I will move to the US after getting my PhD in UK? It sounds to good to be true, though.</p>
<p>A Ph.D. and a postdoc aren’t just hoops to jump through on the way to a professor position. When you apply for professor jobs, you won’t be judged just by the fact that you have a Ph.D. and have done a postdoc, but by how many and what quality publications you have. A US Ph.D. student can generally publish more and/or higher-impact papers given a longer project time, which is the advantage to the US system.</p>
<p>I only know a few people who got their Ph.D.s in the UK and are working in the US system, but one had to take a second postdoc after her first, because she didn’t have enough publications, and the second (who is finishing his D.Phil. at Oxford now) is planning to do a research year during medical school because he doesn’t feel his D.Phil. has given him enough time to complete the kind of project an American Ph.D. student would have.</p>
<p>Then, it’s the best way to get PhD in America to work in US. I’m planning to stay in UK only to get BSc and MS and come back to America for PhD. Is it the best to get BSc and MS in US rather than in UK for my purpose?</p>
<p>In the UK, you are required to have an MSc before you enter a PhD program - you can’t skip it. There, you take the coursework during an MSc; the PhD is only writing your dissertation (and perhaps some exams). A US PhD program will require you to complete coursework before the PhD. If you are currently in college, it will take you roughly the same amount of time to do the MSc + PhD in the UK as it would to do the PhD program in the US.</p>
<p>Why do you think you’ve never actually met a 27-year-old assistant professor?</p>
<p>If you want to be a professor in the United States, it is best to get your PhD in the United States (with the exception of a <em>very</em> few universities in the UK). Where you get your BS(c) and MS(c) will matter less, although you may have an easier time getting into a PhD program from a US-based MS program (and will save money if you skip the MS(c) completely and just go straight into a US-based PhD).</p>
<p>I’m in high school of US now. But I will go to UK if my admission to UK schools will be more successful than that to US schools, since I prefer UK BSc program over US counterpart, but it’s opposite about grad program, though. I’m relieved to hear your explanation of US grad school system, since I was worried that it would take long to get PhD if I will go to US grad school.</p>
<p>An important thing to understand about a Ph.D. in the U.S. is that there is no specific time schedule. You are done when your committee agrees that your dissertation is complete. This is a difference from the UK where there is a time limitation. Consequently, from the end of a B.S. in the U.S., it can take anywhere from 4-7 years for the Ph.D. This includes about 2 years of coursework or so. Personally, I think that the U.S. system ends up producing a more complete Ph.D. graduate simply because research can rarely be produced in 3 year quanta. Others surely have different opinions.</p>
<p>Since you say you are in high school in the U.S., you need to understand that a B.Sc. in the UK and a B.S. in the U.S. are very different. In the U.K. you will not have the approximately 1 year of general education coursework that is standard in the U.S. They expect you to have about a year more of high school work than is necessary to graduate in the U.S. This can be OK if you have a lot of AP credit, including 2 semesters of Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, and also humanities and social sciences. In the U.K, you will immediately start working only in your major field of study and you should complete it in 3 years or so.</p>
<p>Bottom line, look carefully at the equivalences in the two systems, they are never exactly equal at any of the starting and ending points. make sure you are prepared for the programs you choose.</p>