Hello all. I have been following HSB since the past 3 months or so and it helped me immensely in almost about everything. I applaud the admin for this selfless and noble deed!
Read this post before continuing below – What Exactly is PhD?
I hope sharing what I know helps you out too! Like you, I am an aspirant for a graduate education too, starting next fall.
And just like the most of you, I was faced with the tough question : “Ph.D or MS?”
I am guessing most of you are aware of what these two terms mean.
PhD vs MS
MS is mostly a 2year course (however some universities can allow you a degree in less time than that, if some conditions are fulfilled, like completion of a project thesis and subject credits, for example).
But Ph.D is a variable-length course, with a minimum of 3.5 years and maximum of 7years mostly. It all depends on your work progress, thesis completion and approval of the same.
And another thing: unlike in India, both MS and PhD in US are termed as “graduate course” and not Postgraduate.
Your bachelor degree is “Undergraduate” course for them.
Now the biggie dilemma: MS or PhD?
Let me ask you a basic question: you must have planned for a higher education after your bachelors or other such equivalent course.
Why? Because you thought an added higher degree will give you a better edge over others (and I am not talking about people who do it just to get into US).
Very true! Similarly, Ph.D is obviously a higher and more valued degree than MS.
A common misconception is that PhD is done by only those who aspire for a career in the teaching profession. Wrong!!!
Nowadays, even R&D of reputed MNCs have started to prefer PhD scholars over a basic grad course. For those of you who are more bothered about the lucrative returns: yes, PhD will give you a fatter paycheck!
Pros and Cons
Alright now the pros and cons of the two. Beyond the fact that a PhD degree does have greater long-term benefits over MS, it has its own drawbacks too.
- First, it requires patience and a strong aptitude for research.
- Second, usually a university’s intake of PhD scholars is lesser than MS.
- Thirdly, the process is highly selective and generally requires a strong CV with some research publications in the related area (but not always; a buddy of mine got into Purdue 2years back without any research work; just a 9.2*cgpa and149o GRE score and a good BTP, didn’t get funding though).
And now the good part:
- PhD students get higher funding than an MS one and even if you do get into a university without a funding for the first semester, chances of your getting a scholarship from 2nd semester is higher than that in MS.
- Secondly, the credits required for completing PhD is far lesser (24) than MS so that ways, you can finish them off in the 1st year itself and then chill off, as most do (And by that, I don’t mean no-work-no-study, you have to work on your thesis!).
- Lastly, if your long term aim is PhD, then I suggest you to skip MS totally: it saves 2 years worth of time and money!
But then again, if you do get into an MS in US then getting into a PhD next in a good university is damned easy, in fact they prefer students from US universities for PhD.
Like, I am interested for PhD now, but I must kiss away any wishes of getting into MIT or Stanford or UCB, etc for that but if I go for an MS in some other univ (even if lesser ranked) now, there’s a tenfold chance of getting a chance of PhD in the above said univs after that.
But that is a big IF. If you do get a chance at PhD, just go for it!! Sometime in the future, you will be grateful that you did that, believe me!
The positives I mentioned attracted me and hence I am opting for PhD coming fall. I just cant wait to be done with my education ?
PhD and Professors
The above said, be careful when you do it. It is better to contact professors beforehand and communicate with them that you are interested to work for your PhD under their guidance.
And be very careful when you choose a professor. Check his profile, how many PhD scholars he has guided, what are his publications and awards, his project endowment, everything.
It is vital: it can make or break or career.
Remember there is nil value of a PhD degree if you have nothing commendable to show for it!
Don’t expect to be cooed and coerced and spoonfed in any kind of research work by your professor (be it MS or PhD); you have to work hard at it.
Everything said, I do realize the decision might still be confusing!
The pros and cons of each weigh each other out heavily!
When you apply for a univ, it requires you to specifically mention if you are interested for an MS or PhD.
Very rarely, univs like Purdue, for e.g. allow more than one option in your application or even evaluate your application for both degrees. It’s a tough call indeed! But who said it’s going to be easy??
Goodluck!
Following post was shared by a reader who requested to stay anonymous.
But, anyone deciding between PhD or MS, this post has highlighted several aspects of PhD that stands out from MS.
hi
I am in final sem of msc chemistry,planning phd from abroad.can u give me detail about stipends and scholarship on gre marks..and is it so tha most of universities want subject gre scores.. pls help me
Hi Milind,
PhD students are generally offered financial assistance in form of RA/TA positions. Stipends differ widely across Universities based on the availability of funds with the concerned department and living costs in the state. But yes usually the amount is sufficient to help you self sustain. Other than this many students are able to get tuition waiver as well which helps a lot. For your knowledge, stipend could be close to $20-25k per academic year.
Many schools offer integrated MS-PhD to students who have completed their BPharm. But my question is, since the basic requirement for employment in any institution under AICTE is an MPharm, will my application with a PhD straight after BPharm be entertained? Or will they cite not having an MPharm degree to reject my application?
Hi Barsha, Ideally you should be looking for a Masters programme at the moment. PhD admissions are tough. Check through the profiles of students who are currently pursuing a PhD program at an Australian University. If you have completed some decent projects at bbachelors level, you can plan for a PhD. Otherwise MS is what you should be looking at.
All the best!
Hello,
I have completed my BSS in International Relations from Dhaka University. There I secured first class number. Can I complete my M.S or PHD in any Australian unicersity?Now i am in a dilemma whether i will go with M.S or PHD. Which one will be the best one for me.
Hi Barsha, Ideally you should be looking for a Masters programme at the moment. PhD admissions are tough. Check through the profiles of students who are currently pursuing a PhD program at an Australian University. If you have completed some decent projects at bbachelors level, you can plan for a PhD. Otherwise MS is what you should be looking at.
All the best!
I am doing my MS here in the USA, but some my friends says that you should not apply for Ph.D. in MIT, Stanford etc. for unless you are connected to some professors who are related to the above Institute, becoz they prefer someone who is known somehow
how can i know the vaccencies in us universities for jan 2013
I’m looking to take GRE before this September, and apply for MPH spring 2013 or fall 2013.
I am a dentist and plan on doing DDS after my MPH, and eventually practice as a dentist.
I wish to pursue DDS on loan (which is going to be a huge amount) so I do not want to pursue MPH in a costly university.
1. Could senior members here please give an idea how much an MPH is going to cost generally. I prefer applying only to the courses which have low fees, but in the same time are CEPH accredited.
2. Can anyone also give an idea how scholarships work in SPH? And what are the chances of getting (is it dependent on GRE score/ is it declared with admission or we get RA only if we are lucky and once the course starts?)
Any help would be highly appreciated. Thank you guys
hi,
I did masters in computer science and i have got 65% marks can i get admission to US universities MS or Phd program if i score high in GRE. i mean to what extent one’s academic matter. Any ideas?????????????????????????????????????????????
Hi,
My name is venkatesh & having 7+ years of Exp in IT. I have completed my M.tech.
Can you please tell PhD offered colleges in USA.
appreciate your help & response. Thanks
I am Assistant professor in Geography and very soon going to complete my Ph D in Geography in University of Pune . is there any chance for me to get any opportunity in foregin countries.
Hi everyone,
I am an a level psychology student in uk
Am in a weird dilemma.. can anyone tell me of wether it would be possible to do phd straight away after ur first degree(in psychology) or dø i hve to do MSC.??
Please help…
Best wishes,
Hina Muhammed
Hi, I am planning to do MS in computer science.. I wanted to know if the Fall semesters are better preferred than the Spring ones.. It is said that the Spring syllabus is tougher.. Is this true??
hi
i have done my msc in psychology and want to apply for phd in usa. can you tell me about am i eligible for phd or not.
sir i am sahithi studying my m.pharm pharmacology project work i so so intersted to do my phd sir how much marks i want to get in gre and at which month i should write exam to go usa in 2013 can u help me sir
hello sahithi me too doing mpharm(analysis & Q.A)interested to do Ph.d in Usa presently im prepearing for gre ( jan4th)gimmie ur facebook id so that we can discuss
ektupa says :
I have done my BE(EC) in June 2012 . By reading your Blog i made myself clear to do MS in US . My areas of interest are digital communication , basic electronics , mobile communication . Please inform regarding the opportunities at US in these fields . And the best colleges that offers good PG coarse in these fields .
sir,i finished in m.e(cse) in tamilnadu.my aim would do in phd with scholarship in abroad.now i am working assistant professor of one enggineering college.how do apply it?is it possible to get schloarship in ph.d any forign university like US,australia.when i will join any university in abroad how much money is needed?
Hii.. I am studyin in BITS Pilani.I have a cgpa of 9.15 currently.I will be writing gre by the end of this month to apply for fall 2013..I am not sure whether to apply for MS or PhD.But i dont have any publication.I do have done a few study oriented projects related to VLSI.Also i wanna get in VLSI(integrated design).I want to know how many colleges have the facility where a person can drop out of a PhD program after doing MS.Is there any fee that u need to pay if u decide to drop out?and with my projects should i hope for gettin into a PhD program of a good university
Hi HSB,
I have a GRE score of 1200 (AWM 3.0) & TOEFL 91. I also have 3 years of research experience with two international and one Indian research publication. Last year I applied for MS in food science in five universities, at the same time I was writing to many professors for PhD. I neither got a call for MS nor PhD.
Can you pls help me out in selection of universities specially for PhD as it is my dream love?
Lokesh,I can understand your situation and would suggest you search in internet universities in 1100-1200 gre range and then get in touch with a professional educational consultant and apply for it.
If i directly opt for an PhD will ma PhD degree be accepted in India?? Will i be accepted for a job in government sector…Look friends i am considering a worst case scenario wherein some political crisis occurs and if Indians are driven out of USA….Plzz solve ma query….
Hi,
I am interested for higher studies in USA.Currently preparing for GRE exam.Targeting a score of 1300.Trying to find a very good college for AI and Robotics course.Worked for 2 years in Tata Research and Development Design Centre as a developer for business data mining.Interested for Phd else MS then Phd .Need some funding .Please if possible can you provide me some options how i can and where (i.e which universities ) can i look for funding of my course.Please do mention the list of universities with professors in AI and Robotics.
Thanking you
Hi,
I have done masters in computer applications from India. It was a 5.5 years integrated course. Now I’ve been working with accenture for past 30 months.
I want to change my career and opt for humanities (phd in anthropology). Am i eligible? It will be of great help if you could tell me how to go about it.
Thanks!
Hi HSB ,
Im Prateek , im currently in 12th standard and i want to pursue a career in Computer science as its the only subject that attracts me and this is what i love to do. ,i would prefer a bachelor’s degree from India but then id like to get my master’s from USA. two big questions which haunt me every night are:-
Will i be able to get financial aid?
and if i opt for a loan then will i get placed in a company where i could AFFORD to repay the loan i took???
plz answer the above questions .Thanking you in anticipation
plz give the detail information about getting scholarship ……….
hello.
I am doing my M.PHARM . I want to give GRE….. plz tell me whether “subject based GRE” is better than “Normal GRE” for doing Ph.d in U.S?