<p>So I know that many grad school programs have a first 1-2 years wherein there is an exam to prepare for, if the student is to continue. So one purpose of graduate level courses is to prepare such students for that exam.</p>
<p>But obviously, one can self-study for the exam. Since all that really matters in a graduate school is research, can one just forgo all courses and do research?</p>
<p>[I do not learn best from lectures - and have my self-studied APs to prove it]</p>
<p>It all depends on the program in question. </p>
<p>One particular program, whall shall remain unnamed, that immediately comes to mind I know forces doctoral students to pass a long string of coursework, including some that is, frankly, not highly relevant to many students. I am in fact aware of quite a bit of griping from students in the program that they are being forced to learn things that they don't care about and that they know they will never use in their research. Hence, they feel they are just wasting their time. </p>
<p>One could contrast that situation with what used to happen with the PhD program in economics at Chicago. Former alumni of the program, Thomas Sowell, once wrote in his autobiography that you could theoretically fail all of your PhD courses, and still graduate. That's because at the time he was there, you didn't need to pass any courses to graduate. Courses existed for the purpose of giving you an opportunity to learn from profs in an intense setting. It was quite common to fail these courses. But it didn't really matter, because you didn't have to pass them. </p>
<p>Of course, I'm quite sure the program is different now, with actual course requirements that you must pass. I am also quite sure that it is easier to pass courses now.</p>
<p>I don't personally know of any grad programs in the US that will allow only research without coursework. You may want to look into doing an MPhil or PhD in the UK - those are pure research degrees.</p>
<p>Are you talking about the 5 to 7 yr PhD program that includes 1 - 2 yrs of coursework which turns into an MA en route to the PhD? If you are, I would say that the coursework is not totally worthless, lol, since you are obtaining another degree for it. Also, my impression was that a lot of this wasn't just about learning the information but about learning how to teach the information, hence the seminar format and regularly required in class presentations. (Of course, I only know about the social sciences.)</p>
<p>There are a handful of schools that will let you get your PhD without the MA courses IF you already have a terminal degree, such as JD or MBA. University of Kentucky is one of them (for poli sci). I know one of my good friends went straight from undergrad to a PhD (without the "mandatory" MA en route) at a school in DUblin Ireland.</p>