<p>Sorry if a thread like this exists already, but I couldn't find it. </p>
<p>Is it a general consensus that the "only" reason to get a PhD is for a career in research? I suppose I'm weighing getting Masters and a PhD, and my question is whether taking the time to do it v. actually working is worth it. </p>
<p>Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Generally, you should only pursue a PhD if you want a career in research. This includes academia and certain think tanks/organizations where it’s a requirement. If you have a high desire to explore a narrow subfield in greater depth, that’s another reason to pursue a PhD.</p>
<p>You should get an MA if you want to enter a professional field where it’s required for licensing and entry-level positions. It has a more practical purpose and is considered a better investment with your time and money. Of course, funding is limited for Master’s admissions. An MA is also another option if you want to switch careers. Sadly, a Liberal Arts MA is worthless. </p>
<p>Technically, you can teach with both degrees but the PhD is considered the “de facto” option at the university level.</p>
<p>tenisghs put it well, yes PhD’s main focus is in research, but recently I become interested in entrepreneurship. The few lectures I attended, few speakers have PhD degrees. </p>
<p>I suppose if you want to start your own business on something, you better know that stuff inside-out. For PhD you will be doing something extremely narrow and only a handful of people in the world will have same level of knowledge like you.</p>
<p>for example, Google was founded by Larry Page while he was doing PhD at Stanford. I know not many people want to go that road, but it’s just my 2 cents, anyone else agree?</p>
<p>What field were you thinking of? For instance in business, vs psychology, vs education, it means different things.</p>
<p>Well I want to get my law degree, but I want to probably focus on public policy, although trial work would satisfy me as well. In terms of what field specifically, I’ve been long considering education policy.</p>
<p>wouldn’t you be getting a JD in that case?</p>
<p>I am going to get a JD, but I was thinking about also getting an Ed.M or an Ed.D as well, or an mpa/mpp.</p>
<p>If you strictly want to do education policy, get an MPP or Master’s in Education Policy. I don’t see how the JD fits your interests unless you want to work for a law firm.</p>
<p>Without explaining my life plan, I will definitely use the JD. I was thinking about getting something else in addition, but I wanted some thoughts on it.</p>