<p>If a master's and bachelor's student apply for a PhD program, how are they compared?
Are MS students compared to BS students and vise versa or does each have their separate pools?</p>
<p>They are all in the same pool. They are compared as individuals, and some spots will favor one or the other, although most will simply go for the person they think is best by some other standard.</p>
<p>Bear in mind that most professors have several grad students at any one time (could be 3-4, could be 12+!) AND that they want a variety of skill levels at any given time. If they are short on “blank slates” they may recruit more heavily from those with just the BS, if they need some more experience and leadership they may target some of those with the MS.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m not sure about this. In several programs that I am familiar with (in the Humanities, given), there were separate applications for post-Bachelor’s and post-Master’s Ph.D. programs.</p>
<p>
Departments may consider the groups separately during the first round of admissions (the down-select), but the second round (the up-select) is done by individual professors and usually addresses the entire group of “best-qualified” candidates as a single group.</p>
<p>Of course, there are hundreds of US universities with graduate schools, and thousands of individual programs, so there is no single answer, only trends.</p>
<p>Hmmm… interesting and IMO unfair if they are considered in the same pool since master’s students are more prepared and generally have more experience under their belt.
I like how the NSF GRFP adcom uses different pools so that undergrads are compared to other undergrads and not graduate students (whom have a higher standard) . </p>
<p>I’m an aerospace engineering major.</p>
<p>PhD programs are not concerned with being fair. They are concerned with getting the best students to lavish their time and resources on, who are going to be more successful in getting the PhD and in their careers afterwards. If the experience and preparation that having an MA or MS gives makes students more successful, then that’s who they’re going to select.</p>
<p>I would think that there’s no universal answer to this question, and that it varies by program. My department considers BA and MA holders in the same pool, comparing them to each other. In my own field, I’ve never come across separate programs/application processes for the MA-prepared vs the BA-prepared; in one of my fields it is required at nearly every program to have an MPH or the equivalent before applying. I am in one of the few programs that does not. In my other field, most entering students don’t have an MA because there aren’t many standalone MA programs in that field.</p>
<p>Also, the degree level doesn’t necessarily reflect leadership and experience. A BA with two years in an NIH post-baccalaureate program, or 3 years as a research coordinator, might be competing with an MA who’s only ever assisted professors in research or who’s been doing a non-research job for the last two years.</p>
<p>Many schools in STEM fields also won’t accept a MS from other schools. They’ll make you retake a bunch of classes, and while you might have an easier time with them, you really aren’t necessarily having a huge leg up on getting started in the lab.</p>