<p>For a student like myself who knows they will attend graduate school, what are the differences between masters and doctorate programs? </p>
<p>Financial aid?
Competition in Admissions?
Work Experience?
Do graduate schools prefer 'traditional' undergraduate majors/minors over interdisciplinary majors?
Is it better to get a Masters first or apply straight into the Ph.D. program?</p>
<p>Masters programs typically take one to two years to complete if you attend full time. Doctorate programs take at least four or five years and oftetime it takes longer to complete the dissertation. That said, substantially more financial aid exists for doctorate programs-usually applicants that are accepted and funded pay no tuition and receive a modest stipend more the university. Doctorate programs are more competitive for admissions, how competitive depends on the field. Work experiences oftetimes matters little for doctorate programs but can matter a great deal for masters programs. Doctorate programs typically are interested in research experience, previous coursework, academic recommendations, and the ability to do creative research. Usually, if your aim is a PhD, it's advantageous to apply directly to PhD programs. However, if the academic record lacks strength, a masters may first be necessary.</p>
<p>The answers to your questions, beyond the general guidelines well described by PHampson depends a great deal on the academic discipline you are interested in studying. There are some disciplines where the masters degree is really the terminal degree (social work, fine arts) and others where the Ph.D. is necessary (psychology, most of the social sciences). At least in psychology, getting a masters first may get you into a graduate program by demonstrating the ability to do graduate work, but at most schools you still have to spend as many years to get your Ph.D. as a student right out of undergraduate school.</p>
<p>Many PhD programs may <em>appear</em> to offer MA/MS degrees but actually do so only to students who are admitted to the PhD program. For example, you are admitted to the doctoral program and earn your masters after one or two years, sometimes with a thesis requirement and sometimes not. Alternatively, in some programs you are admitted only "on probational status" to the doctoral program and if you don't perform well, you may end up with a "terminal masters" -- even though you couldn't have been admitted for a masters-only degree program to begin with.</p>
<p>So you have to read program and degree requirements carefully. You couldn't apply to my social science department as an MA only student. You could apply only as a PhD student. You get an MA only as you make successful progress toward the PhD or as a consolation prize if you aren't allowed to continue, perhaps because you failed your prelims (comprehensive exams).</p>
<p>I agree with the post above that indicates that generally speaking there is a lot more financial aid available for doctoral programs than for masters. Many universities use their masters programs as money-makers.</p>
<p>I apologize for this quasi-rehash. I am currently serving a 5 year commitment in the Air Force as an officer after graduating from the Air Force Academy with a degree in behavioral science. I will separate in 2007 and plan on going back to school to work towards a doctorate. That being said I assume my path would call for a Masters before the Ph.D. or is it still worth the effort to apply towards a Ph.D. or do they require more research experience? Do you have any hints as to what I could be doing now to better my chances? Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>There are a few way-station sorts of options that you might want to consider, short of directly applying to a PhD program. Which if any of these might be attractive to you depends on what you really want to study. One of these might be an MPA or MPP (Masters of Public Administration or Masters of Public Policy) degree, typically 1 to 2 years, and which trains you for employment in the civil service, either as a policy analyst or a "bureaucrat" of some kind, perhaps with a specialization in a policy area or aspecty of administration (e.g., finance, budgeting). Another option might be an MBA. But that's not so much a way-station as a final degree for most business careers. Another is to enter one of the many MIA (masters of international affairs) types of programs, which while technically a terminal degree often become a basis for an application to a doctoral program to study international or comparative politics.</p>
<p>I should have added that one thing you can do now to increase your chances is to do some background prep for the GRE (graduate reord exam), which you will need to take for almost any PhD program. Depending on what you've been doing while in the service, I would guess that refreshing or strengthening your math would be one thing that you might start on. You can get a book about the GRE and study "GRE math." You can also make a special point of reading and reading -- fiction, nonfiction, anything -- just to bring yourself up to speed and (what the heck) broadening your background, perhaps in a field or area you are considering for grad school.</p>
<p>The degree I am working towards though is anthropology which is a break from a communications & information officer. I started work on an MBA but then dropped out. The degrees you mentioned, I have considered but anthro is the way for me. Since this is a liberal arts degree, I guess the best I can do is read, read, read and perhaps take some undergraduate courses through distance learning programs. Also it can't hurt to talk with departments around the country and start to build a network. Thanks.</p>
<p>Well, it's still possible to start a Ph.D. program in a different field, I believe. You will just have to take undergraduate courses to prep yourself what the field requires. Or you can go the Masters route, pick up a Masters in Anthropology and then apply for the Ph.D. program in Anthropology. Lots of people I know do this route if they have no prior education in the field.
Or people do the Masters to make sure a doctorate is really what they want.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice.</p>
<p>At my school (Rice), phDs mostly get all tuition paid plus stipend and summer research grants, masters get nothing.</p>
<p>It is definitely possible to start a PhD program in a different field from your undergrad. Last year's Nobel Prize co-winner in economics, Edward Prescott, did his undergrad in math and his PhD in economics. The 2003 co-winner, Robert Engle, did both his undergrad and his master's work in physics, and his phD in economics. True, math/physics and economics are related, but they are not the same. </p>