<p>Hi I am currently in high school and am going to start going to Colorado School of Mines to complete their 5 year Masters program this fall. I really enjoy studying and hope to also earn my PhD in EE. I was wondering how one goes about this. What requirements would I need to complete to be considered for a PhD program? How many years does it take to earn a PhD? What is involved in earning a PhD in EE? I am not doing this for the money. I really just strive for the best and I want to take it one step further than getting my masters. Thanks much for your time.</p>
<p>Get good grades and do research is the correct response.</p>
<p>Its good that you’re thinking about this, but its a bit too early for you worry about it. Try to do your best in school, get involved in some undergraduate research, then many years from now you can consider the possibility.</p>
<p>It typically takes 4-5 years to get a PhD. If you do reasonably well in undergrad/Masters, it shouldn’t be a problem getting into a PhD program. Get to know the profs well at CSM, especially in your Junior/Senior/Master level as they will need to write recommendatios.</p>
<p>The hardest part of the PhD is defining a reasonable research project that you can complete in 4-5 years that adds something new to the field.</p>
<p>Just to let you know, it’s likely other schools won’t accept your MS from Mines as credit to skip their MS program, so you’ll probably have to repeat a bunch of classes wherever you wind up going. If your heart is still set on a PhD in a few years, you’re probably better off graduating in four years and going straight into a PhD program.</p>