<p>Can you get a PhD without/before getting a master's degree (in the USA)?</p>
<p>Yes, and that is more common than getting a masters and then a Ph.D.</p>
<p>Yeah that’s the path most people get them</p>
<p>These answers surprise me. When I was in graduate school, it was possible to get a Ph.D. without an M.A., but everybody got one. It took very little additional work, and TAs who had an M.A. got paid more TAs without one.</p>
<p>When I was in grad school back in the 80s almost no one who wanted a PhD got a masters first. Why bother? It’s like picking up an Associate’s degree on your way to a Bachelors - it’s not your real goal. If the terminal degree you want is a masters, fine. But if what yu are shooting for is a PhD, then concentrate on getting that PhD.</p>
<p>PhD without Masters is the norm for scientific degrees. So much is vested in the research that unless a problem arises it is best to just keep going. Most who opt for Masters began the program as PhD and decided to cut short for any number of reasons. Someone interested in working in biotech industry (private company) may be better off stopping with Masters and working before deciding to continue. MANY more jobs available for Bachelors/Masters students than for PhD’s in private industry.</p>
<p>Does PhD + Master’s afford any kind of benefit over just a Master’s?</p>
<p>I don’t remember ever seeing someone earn a PhD without picking up a Masters along the way, at least in the sciences; it’s almost automatic (and it’s usually a required step). </p>
<p>I’m surprised by the posts in this thread.</p>
<p>^^^My PhD is in the sciences, and the only people who were awarded master’s degrees were those who did not pass the comps or those who chose to leave before finishing the PhD. It is very program-specific.</p>
<p>My husband’s PhD is in economics, a top program, and nobody got a master’s degree on the way to a PhD in his program. Same is true of the graduate program in which he is now a professor.</p>
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<p>Not in my part of the science world. I work in biotech and know at least 50 scientists with science PhDs, and none of them got a masters first. Getting a masters would be viewed as a waste of time and just isn’t done.</p>
<p>Like Planestate, nearly all the people I know with a masters in science are dropouts from a PhD program for one reason or another. In my own PhD program the masters was viewed as a sort of consolation gift for those who couldn’t finish their doctorate for whatever reason.</p>
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<p>No.</p>
<p>It seems to be very program dependent, even varying within a university.</p>
<p>Until the mid 80’s the equation was often:</p>
<p>BS + MS + PhD = Job</p>
<p>At some point it shifted to:</p>
<p>BS + PhD + x(Postdoc stints) = Job</p>