Master's Thesis vs. Non-thesis

kihyle
Thu, 22 Jun 2006 12:47:13 +0000

i do not think that non-thesis program raises any questions – it is not like anyone would intentionally avoid research – to the contrary, there is competition for research positions at least in my field – people who chose the coursework option generally have research experience elsewhere that they accomplished during summers or during undergrad academic years and they don’t want to waste another year prior to applying to doctoral programs – at least that is how it is done at my school

there is definitely no absolute requirement for someone who has at least a year of research experience to go into thesis master’s – an extra two academic years of research experience will give you a benefit, but not a significant one if you already could boast at least a year’s involvement – now on the other hand, if your GPA is low and you don’t have good letters or rec, then perhaps thesis option will improve your chances significantly – to apply with a new and hopefully cleaner slate so to say – but for someone with GPA above 3.0, at least one detailed letter of rec from a place of extended employment, and at least a year of research experience, a thesis degree will not significantly boost chances of getting into good PhD programs so you risk just wasting one more year plus having more stress in your life over having to complete a thesis

with non-thesis option it is possible to do research in a lab meanwhile – for me it was simply continuing my undergraduate research experience: taking 3 classes along with contributing at least 10h of research work a week – and there is that summer before the master’s program starts that you can also use for work or research

non-thesis programs are also low-risk in that they depend on successful completion of required courses and passing some exams in most schools – there is usually a definite timeframe in which you can plan to finish and be out of there – with thesis program you have no choice but having to complete your thesis prior to graduation – when you’ll be able to do so depends on how your work goes, which can be unpredictable if it is experimental in nature