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Demiansmark t1_ja8humo wrote

Reply to comment by GaiasEyes in Eli5: what’s the difference between a graduate and undergraduate degree by deadpuppy101

It can often function a bit like an AA vs a Bachelor's degree - where after so many credits you can 'apply' for the AA.

In a doctorate program you usually have 2-3 years of coursework followed by a dissertation, which can take one to forever years. At least in my program at the University of Florida you could apply for the masters if you've completed the coursework. Often times, graduate programs that end with a masters degree are geared towards a specific vocation or profession, such as a MBA for business. In political science, the masters/grad programs were geared toward students wanting to enter something like public policy instead of academia/research.

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GaiasEyes t1_ja8nfe5 wrote

Yes but they’re inverse examples. It’s not unusual to go for an AA and parlay that in to a BS later. It’s unusual in nearly all fields I’m aware of to take a Master’s and then go for a PhD. In most cases a masters isn’t offered in the same discipline as the PhD (the big exception I can think of is public health). For example, my graduate program in Microbiology was a doctoral program - the way to earn a masters from that was either to decide to leave the program after the coursework was completed or to fail the qualifying exam. The masters wasn’t a program for which you could apply.

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Demiansmark t1_ja8nngp wrote

Correct. I meant more from the perspective that you sort of earn a hidden masters in the course of a doctorate program.

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GaiasEyes t1_ja8onx8 wrote

Correct. I wish they would confer both degrees and get rid of the stigma around “mastering out”.

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Demiansmark t1_ja8p24s wrote

Never heard that term, which is amusing given that is what I did.

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algorithm0r t1_ja8tqd8 wrote

>It’s unusual in nearly all fields I’m aware of to take a Master’s and then go for a PhD.

You keep quoting your own anecdotal evidence. Your experience is incorrect. Master's degrees are required for PhD in many fields and universities around the world.

Source: I was required to get a Master's before my PhD in Canada and this is the norm at Canadian schools.

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GaiasEyes t1_ja8u2ae wrote

I’ve edited my response to state that this is a US view. Your response is also anecdotal to your country of study.

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algorithm0r t1_ja8w3gu wrote

I'm not claiming that my anecdote is correct for everyone like you are.

I used my anecdote to prove your generalization was false.

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