Master's vs. Bachelor's Applying for PhD

juillet
Sun, 25 Aug 2013 03:54:15 +0000

PhD programs are not concerned with being fair. They are concerned with getting the best students to lavish their time and resources on, who are going to be more successful in getting the PhD and in their careers afterwards. If the experience and preparation that having an MA or MS gives makes students more successful, then that’s who they’re going to select.

I would think that there’s no universal answer to this question, and that it varies by program. My department considers BA and MA holders in the same pool, comparing them to each other. In my own field, I’ve never come across separate programs/application processes for the MA-prepared vs the BA-prepared; in one of my fields it is required at nearly every program to have an MPH or the equivalent before applying. I am in one of the few programs that does not. In my other field, most entering students don’t have an MA because there aren’t many standalone MA programs in that field.

Also, the degree level doesn’t necessarily reflect leadership and experience. A BA with two years in an NIH post-baccalaureate program, or 3 years as a research coordinator, might be competing with an MA who’s only ever assisted professors in research or who’s been doing a non-research job for the last two years.