Skipping the Terminal Master's?

musicprnt
Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:30:26 +0000

Just to chime in, if music is anything like non music Phd’s, as Stradmom said, you generally get a masters as part of the PHd program, the coursework of the masters is part of the coursework for a PHd (obviously if you have a masters then go for a PHd, you will already have some requirements fulfilled:). I have several friends who were in full time PHd programs who didn’t finish, but had enough work done to come out with their masters degree.

From what I am led to believe, getting into PHd programs is difficult in any of the areas of music,there just aren’t a lot of slots open and they basically have a choice among a lot of students. The reason these programs are usually tuition reduced or free is that students in the doctoral programs usually end up teaching, if the non music PHd track holds, a lot of undergraduate courses (especially low level ones), and things like labs, lab lectures and the like are taught by grad students, and grad students often act as TA’s for classes, grading tests and so forth. The free tuition and stipend is in effect ‘payment’ for teaching.

The best way to learn about these things is probably to look at the school’s website to see what they have to say, and then follow that up with e-mails with any questions you may have, I am sure they can answer questions like “If I want to go from my undergraduate degree, studying X, is it possible to go right from there into your PHd program? If not, what is the usual track”.