<p>I'm interested in what everyone is going to do for the next year if they do not get into any of the Ph.D. programs that they applied to. </p>
<p>I am a psychology major, received my A.A. degree traditionally and my B.S. degree online. </p>
<p>If I don't get into either of the 2 Ph.D. programs that I applied to, I plan to complete my M.A. traditionally in Human Sciences (psychology) with a thesis on decision-making (maybe) or take a comprehensive exam, as well as completing my M.B.A. online. </p>
<p>What schools would be good for someone who has both an M.A. and an M.B.A. when applying to psychology Ph.D. programs?</p>
<p>If anyone else wants to share, I would be fascinated to here what they plan to do.</p>
<p>Danger Will Robinson: Online graduate degrees are generally not taken seriously by graduate school committees. A big part of academia is working with people, in person. Doing everything over the Internet doesn’t show anything about your ability to do that.</p>
<p>So unless that online MBA is from a really respected program, it probably won’t do much for your application.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re going to go for a Ph.D, you <em>must</em> write a masters’ thesis. No maybe about it, comp exams are not an option. Getting a doctorate is all about researching and writing your dissertation, and writing the thesis prepares you for that. Doing a giant, day-long test, does not.</p>
<p>How will they know the difference, you might ask? They’ll want to see a chapter of your thesis, for one.</p>
<p>Even if the MBA is from a respected program, it isn’t going to help him… Why do you want an MBA and a PhD? When you say social psychology and decision making, are you talking about corporate decision making or something? </p>
<p>In general, unless it is related to your research somehow, having extra degrees is going to help more than hurt: why would they think you’re serious about doing a psychology PhD when you got an MBA? If it is related to your research or you can somehow make a case that the MBA will be relevant to your PhD work, then at best it won’t hurt.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to go off subject, but I’m interested in what polarscribe and NeuroGrad said about online graduate programs. If they are not taken seriously in academia, do you think they are primarily offered for professional enrichment purposes?</p>
<p>Yes, online masters’ degrees can help people get ahead in jobs and build their skills. But in general, they don’t (yet?) provide the sort of hands-on experience that traditional graduate education offers. Like everything else, that’ll probably change in the future. But right now, most online graduate degrees (ESPECIALLY online Ph.Ds) are not considered equivalent.</p>
<p>That makes sense- thanks. I’ve noticed an increase of online programs (offered by traditional B&M schools) since I began looking at grad schools last year, and I wondered how they were perceived.</p>