<p>As I stated in another thread, I’ve seen many people earn an MS in engineering without a BS.</p>
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<p>It’s not unfair. People make the mistake of thinking of an MS as an advanced BS, and a PhD as an advanced MS. They’re not. They’re different degrees that enable you to do different things.</p>
<p>BS = a generalist degree in an engineering discipline (e.g. Chemical Engineering). You know a little about everything and can solve a wide range of fairly complex issues.</p>
<p>MS = a specialist degree in a particular area of engineering (e.g. Catalysis). You know a lot about a few things and can solve a narrow scope of highly complex issues.</p>
<p>PhD = a research degree in a very specialized area (e.g. Nontraditional Template Synthesis of Microjagged Bismuth Oxide). You are trained to solve highly specialized problems with no known solution using a specific technique or research methodology.</p>
<p>If you want someone to work in a chemical plant troubleshooting and optimizing a chemical reactor and other unit ops, a BS-only would be fine and a BS + MS would be helpful. You wouldn’t hire an MS-only or a PhD.</p>
<p>If you want someone to specialize on managing just the catalyst in your chemical reactor, an MS-only is fine. A BS-only wouldn’t be your first choice unless she has extensive experience. A PhD is not necessary.</p>
<p>If you want someone to work in a lab and develop new improved catalysts for your chemical reactor, then a PhD is required (or maybe a thesis-based MS with supervision or additional training). An MS-only (which wouldn’t be thesis-based) or a BS-only would not be sufficiently trained.</p>