Higher education is to the US as Bieber is to Beliebers. In other words, each has a lot to give to the other (Read Why International Students are good to the US economy).
Maybe that is the reason that USA still attracts a large population of international students to pursue the heavy weight degrees of PhD or Masters/MS. Nearly 65% of the million plus international students flock their respective US embassies for admissions to graduate school, the rest getting into various undergraduate programs.
In spite of what may only be described as the twilight years of immigration policies, indicating a possible slow down of international student admissions (Read Is enrollment slowing down?), the number of GRE test bravers was still in the neighborhood of a million, in 2015-16. And most of these applicants are clearly in team MS.
Take the numbers from the Council of Graduate Schools for the year 2015. 538,617 students graduated with an MS, that year, compared to 78,240 that graduated with a PhD. And the individual field percentage distribution between the two degree levels is shown in the image below.
If a student is unable to or unconvinced about continuing with his PhD, he can, in principle, get an early release with an MS degree, if the credit requirements are fulfilled.
So, if you were a first time applicant and undecided on whether your future holds a research career, with a PhD, or employment right after an MS, you may need some help in finding out which path would be right for you – a straight up MS degree program OR an MS-PhD program with the option of bidding ciao when the going gets tough! In this article we will lay down the pros and cons of each class of the two MS degrees – MS vs MS en route to a PhD.
The popularity of the MS-PhD degree is evident from its increasing statistics, from the 1950s to the current decade. STEM field PhD graduates have gone up from 9,000 to about 55,000 (NSF.gov). But this just tells us a part of the story. A large percentage of enrolled PhD graduate students quit during the course of the program.
You see, the structure of a PhD degree is designed to transform a student from the well rehearsed course work, and exam, curriculum to a more adult form of education whereby the onus of finding research worthy problems falls on the students themselves.
The interactions with faculty, in any doctoral program, is of the nature of working with academic colleagues who may or may not have the solutions to many of those problems. And sometimes students may find it hard to deal with the stress of research, lack of solutions and clarity about the course of their graduation (Read PhD Stress and Disillusionment Management).
In fact, the PhD Completion Project, studying the attrition and completion rates, for the period 1992-93 to 2003-04, compiled by the Council of Graduate Schools shows the following broad field based finito rates.
Ten Year PhD Completion Rates for Selected Disciplines Source: Council of Graduate Schools |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Engineering 64% | Mathematics and Physical Sciences 55% | ||
Civil Engineering | 78% | ||
Mechanical Engineering | 66% | Chemistry | 62% |
Chemical Engineering | 63% | Physics | 59% |
Biomedical Engineering | 63% | Mathematics | 51% |
Electrical Engineering | 56% | Computer Science | 41% |
Life Science 63% | Social Science 56% | ||
Genetics | 69% | Psychology | 65% |
Microbiology/Immunology | 69% | Economics | 52% |
Neuroscience | 65% | Anthropology | 46% |
Molecular/Cell Biology | 64% | Sociology | 45% |
Biology | 59% | Political Science | 44% |
Many drop out early with an MS degree under their belt. And sometimes for the better, depending on the field and specialization they belong to (Read Is your Phd worth it?).
Well, as mentioned before, a PhD student can qualify to receive an MS degree upon completion of a requisite number of credits. The actual requirements may differ between schools though.
Let us list out the pros first.
And now for the cons.
Overall, it is essentially your judgement call as to what would suit your needs. A regular MS is clearly the right answer if you are absolutely sure of having nothing to do with research. An MS-PhD is definitely the right answer if you are absolutely sure of wanting to do research.
As for all the in-betweeners, find out where your scale tips and decide your best course of action. An MS-PhD will give you the taste of research to convince you either ways while a regular MS will give you the option of planning your next move once you graduate.
The world is your oyster, which you with your application will open…paraphrasing the Bard
Here are some useful links.
Author bio: Rakhi Acharyya is a Physics PhD from Michigan State University, an ex-teacher and a former employee of Corporate America.
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12 Comments
I have done Btech in IT and going to complete MBA from JMI University Delhi, Would i be able to apply for PHD in management. One more concern is- I am doing Executive MBA which is for working professional who have more than 3 year industry program, So it would be consider for PHD.
In principle, yes you can. The motivation should be clear though. Unless you are looking at a future in teaching, research, consulting or some high ranking position in top businesses, you will need to reconsider why you want to get into a management PhD. Whether it is executive or full time MBA is irrelevant. PhDs, by definition, are quite rigorous and demand time and excessive amount of effort. So talk to individuals who have a PhD in Management and get to know what you might be expecting in terms of career options.
Hello sir,
I have done my graduation in biotechnology with 8.1 CGPA , post graduation in biotechnology with 6.7 CGPA from Amity university .Im preparing for CSIR/ICMR net. I have got a reply mail of phd application from Finland university of Oulu. My goal/ target is always pharma industry R&D jobs. So after get a phd degree from foreign university will it be fruitful to me to get a bright career in pharma industry in India??
For pharmaceutical research jobs, read the following article to get a better insight on options in India
http://www.careerizma.com/blog/pharmacy-careers-jobs/
For other pharma related job career guidance, read this.
http://www.careerizma.com/blog/career-guidance-pharma-jobs-india-abroad/
As a general observation though, foreign degrees are largely subjective to many employers in India. So if you are a graduate from a well known university, your chances of being hired may be higher than someone who has a degree from a lesser known, nonetheless decent, foreign university. So the exposure of the employer comes into consideration. Other than that, if you believe that the Finnish university has a good academic standing, you can consider it.
I am a masters student in Neuroscience. I want to do PhD. From 2 years I am trying to get one in abroad. Help me finding and give me suggestions.
Unfortunately, it is hard to provide a response without knowing the details. As for the general requirements for a PhD, abroad like in the USA, you need a decent GRE score, TOEFL (or equivalent English proficiency), SoP, letters of recommendations, and a good selection of universities spanning the range of ranking for the field. The best way to go about the research is to either select a few schools and go through the academic research in the individual schools to best suit you OR choose your desired field of research, within Neuroscience, and then select the schools based on the latest research and the institution affiliation of the researchers. In any of the above, you need to maintain a good academic record to be considered into any program.
You can even try to check out the online rankings but be informed that most of the university rankings don’t consider graduate research in their determination. You can also try and connect with the faculties to find out more about their research and your interest in working in the field. Some maybe just nice enough to respond and if they find you suitable, they may even help in your admission.
Hi, my GRE score is 317 (Q-160) and my undergrad CGPA is 8.45. I am from a mechanical background. So, can I expect an MS+Phd (integrated) admit from a good school?
Thank you
Hi i am UG student of Ravenshaw University , Odisha . I have completed my undergraduate in ENGLISH . I have also scored 280 out of 340 in GRE exam. I want to have integrated P.HD in ENGLISH. So what should i do now to get admissions to any University in USA.
RESPECTED SIR,
I am in a great confusion of selecting my course fr higher studies. I am a second year graduate doing b.tech biotechnology with a cgpa of 9.16.please guide me .
I have completed my Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from JMI Univesirt, New Delhi. I wish to pursue my masters from USA. What all integrated course options do I have and what all exams will I need to undertake?
Hello,
I am an automotive engineer with a B.Tech degree. And I am having a total 8 years of job experience. I want to pursue Combine M.S+Phd. In my stream. Can you recommend college to me where I can pursue.
Regards
Myself Rahul Raju Soundalgekar from India and I am currently in my second year of B.Pharm. As i wanted to pursue my (M.Pharm + Ph.D) or (MS+Ph.D) integrated Program in United States Of America(USA),I wanted to know the details of it.The Admission Process for it ,the documents required, entrance exams required for the top universities, the bank statement,fees structures,etc.Looking forward for your kind response.