<p>Hello. I’ve been accepted into a few thesis-option M.S. programs in Civil Engineering. I have been offered a fellowship that states I must maintain status as a Ph.D. track student. At another school, I have been invited to a recruiting weekend when the event website clearly states the weekend is only for potential Ph.D. students. I’m a little confused by this. Do schools consider thesis-option M.S. students to be on the Ph.D. track?</p>
<p>Depends on the school.</p>
<p>At some schools, the thesis-based MS is a PhD track, either into their own PhD program or one at another school. There, most of the MS students who opted to write a thesis are planning on further graduate study and are doing the MS to boost their chances of being admitted to a PhD program.</p>
<p>At other schools, there’s more of a diversity of interests. Many or most of the thesis-track students may desire to get a PhD after the MS, but some, many, or most of the MS thesis-track students may have no desire to get a PhD, or at least not immediately. They may just want the thesis because it’s the more rigorous program, or because they want to work in research at the MS-level.</p>