Hello all!
It turns out my son got enough of a jump with dual enrollment and AP that he might be able to complete a 4+1 BS/MS in 4 years.
I realize that the thesis option would be better if he was certain he wanted to go on to get his PhD, but I don’t think he will.
So, the question is, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach if the goal is to join the work force after he graduates?
Coursework only:
Pros: Faster, easier, provides good professional qualification. Gives you a head start in industry in a lot of positions, and gives you decent ammunition for advancement. Doesn’t narrow your prospects at all.
Cons: You can’t learn everything in the classroom, so this is only a partial education. Specifically does not prepare you for research, whether academic or professional. Poor preparation for a PhD, and relatively little technical specialization.
Thesis-based:
Pros: Gives you a head start in industry in all positions, and preps you for a doctorate. Thesis work gives you a genuine specialty that you know very well, and gives you solid groundwork in research.
Cons: Takes a little more time and a lot more work. Tends to push you slightly more towards technical work than business/management, and may pigeonhole you to the area around your research. Some people hate doing research, and advisors can be problematic.
Honestly, the differences are really not that big. In my personal experience, people with thesis-based degrees tend to go farther faster in technical roles, while people with course-work only degrees either lag slightly or drift into the business side in areas like program management. But the difference really is not that big.
I think it is a matter of preference and won’t make too much difference in many fields whether you have a Masters Thesis or not. In physics, I have had students start in our Masters program and then move to other Ph.D. programs with just a coursework Masters.
I think it matters if he wants to do PhD.
It only sort of matters if he wants to do a PhD. Some potential advisors might give pause to a student with only coursework under their belt but most won’t. The bigger issue is that if he is undecided, a non-thesis degree is not going to make it quite so obvious if he wants to continue to a PhD since t doesn’t include research and a thesis. Then again, I didn’t have a MS of any sort when I decided to do a PhD so your mileage may vary.
My friend had a non thesis master from Stanford. I don’t remember he had any research experience either but he was accepted to PhD to Stanford, well at least according to his wife, during the dot com bust because she mentioned stipend. I believe he had very good GRE scores and he had work experience.
Stanford (I believe) currently either only does non-thesis degrees or overwhelmingly does, and uses it as a weed out process for its PhD program. I know a professor who left Stanford over that policy because she felt like it really hampered her ability to recruit the people she wanted.
I’m not yet certain that he’ll want a masters, but it certainly would be the most efficient to do it at Cal Poly if he does as some of the upper level hours can be double counted towards BS and MS. I guess the other option would simply be to finish early. Even though he’s just now at the end of his first year, he’ll have to start thinking about options soon. He’s already beyond the 50% completion point.
My daughter will not do Masters either. Well at least that is what she claims now. I did the same thing years ago. But when employers offer free tuition, I couldn’t help but taking more classes. At her school, it also offers BS/MS degree and she did ask me if it was worth it to pursue but I thought she should not get graduate degree from the same school. If she works in Silicon Valley, she can do Masters at Stanford. 2 schools, two sets of alumni to networking with. That was my thinking. Or she might do an MBA, who knows.
In my field, physics, it is often the case that new graduate students need to take about 1.5-2 years of coursework and the courses are more or less the same for Masters and Ph.D. After the coursework, and having passed the qualifying examination, students can really get into their research. For a masters student this means that a thesis masters will take up to 1 year longer than a coursework only degree and it is only really worthwhile if the student is not interested in continuing for a Ph.D. If a student does a Masters thesis and then a Ph.D. it can take as much as 7 years total and that is a long time to be earning graduate student wages. My son has been in this situation and while he took time off between each of his degrees, he has finally reached the end of his Ph.D. with a lot of frustration which could have been avoided by taking less overall time.
Most of our Masters students opt for a non-thesis degree for that reason and then either go on to a Ph.D. with little or no additional coursework necessary or find a job. Of course, this varies field by field and some students find that doing a Masters thesis gives them an edge in getting into a Ph.D. program. In general, I recommend a non-thesis Masters for the 4+1 students if they do not have a promising research project started by their 4th year in college. If they have that kind of project it is possible to finish the MS with a thesis in 5 years total.
This does not mean that the students should avoid research altogether. It is a good thing for them to have such experience in general and particularly if they go on for a Ph.D. but the writing of a thesis document itself is not so necessary. From a professor’s perspective, a Masters Thesis is often a waste of time. Usually it won’t result in a publication and it is hard to integrate this relatively short research experience into a funded research program effectively. I have a colleague who has supervised 64 Masters Theses and while I admire him for his patience, it absolutely hurt his career as a published scientist.
Thanks everyone!
Another option your son might consider is a Senior Thesis.
The demands of completing a thesis teaches one a tremendous amount beyond the academic. On a resume it’s an indication of work ethic and a sign of maturity. Also, your son would get a fantastic recommendation from his thesis mentor.
Another good option. I’ll pass that on. Thanks!
Check if there is any difference in financial assistance for the two programs. My D is opting to stay a fourth year at RHIT to get her MS ChE (she gets her BS this weekend!). At Rose, MS tuition grants are keyed to GPA and type of program. Students get up to 100% grants for a thesis-based MS, but only 40% for coursework MS.
Coursework-only MS or MEng degrees are very rarely funded. RHIT students in that situation should count themselves lucky. Thesis-based MS programs almost universally have the possibility of funding, but they don’t always provide it in practice.