3 ms·

I'm not sure about the US system, but here in Norway you'd probably have a hard time getting a PhD without a masters degree - but you can get a masters degree w

by e12e 6y ago

I'm not sure about the US system, but here in Norway you'd probably have a hard time getting a PhD without a masters degree - but you can get a masters degree without a bachelor degree. I'm not sure why you'd want to try for a PhD directly - but it might be possible to get into an MSc program?

cozzyd 6y ago
In the US you typically pay for masters programs but not for PhD. (And most if not all PhD programs don't require a masters degree. Sometimes a masters degree is given during the PhD, depending on the school).
- e12e 6y ago
  Oh, so it's typical to go from bachelor's to either master's or PhD, then? Sounds a bit odd from a Norwegian perspective - our former (German modelled) cand.mag + cand.scient was a bit like integrated master's + PhD - although we also had a PhD which was more like a post doc (depending a bit on subject - a medical doctor had a pretty "conventional" path without much research). The old cand.scient. was 2 years of mostly research. We do, of course, generally not pay for college over here, so it's a bit difficult to compare in terms of "cost" - but PhD is generally a salaried position. These days it's normally bachelor's > master's > PhD - which are 3.5, 2 and 2 years respectively iirc. Ed: it's not uncommon for an employer to fund a master's degree though - especially one based on experience rather than a straight bachelor degree. Eg you might write a compiler for a custom language, or do some machine learning or ux research as a masters while an employer pay for the work.
  - cozzyd 6y ago
    Yes, the European model of master's + shorter PhD is different from the US model of a longer PhD. There might be exceptions in less sciency disciplines (e.g. social work or public policy). And yeah, PhD programs in the US are typically funded (no tuition, stipend usually enough to cover cost of living) while Master's programs usually are considered cash cows for universities. Of course there are indeed people who get a Master's and then a PhD (sometimes because they're not sure they want to do a PhD, sometimes because getting a Master's might help someone get into a better PhD program than they would have otherwise).
  - convolvatron 6y ago
    yeah. traditionally in the US the top CS programs really only want to recruit candidates who were in for the full package. MS was really kind of consolation prize that started to shift about 20 years ago with professional night classes for MS students (I think modeled after the night school MBA programs). this is just a huge cash cow, and the programs aren't really very rigorous - you're not doing research - its more like undergrad++

by e12e 6y ago

cozzyd 6y ago

In the US you typically pay for masters programs but not for PhD. (And most if not all PhD programs don't require a masters degree. Sometimes a masters degree is given during the PhD, depending on the school).

e12e 6y ago
Oh, so it's typical to go from bachelor's to either master's or PhD, then? Sounds a bit odd from a Norwegian perspective - our former (German modelled) cand.mag + cand.scient was a bit like integrated master's + PhD - although we also had a PhD which was more like a post doc (depending a bit on subject - a medical doctor had a pretty "conventional" path without much research). The old cand.scient. was 2 years of mostly research. We do, of course, generally not pay for college over here, so it's a bit difficult to compare in terms of "cost" - but PhD is generally a salaried position. These days it's normally bachelor's > master's > PhD - which are 3.5, 2 and 2 years respectively iirc. Ed: it's not uncommon for an employer to fund a master's degree though - especially one based on experience rather than a straight bachelor degree. Eg you might write a compiler for a custom language, or do some machine learning or ux research as a masters while an employer pay for the work.
- cozzyd 6y ago
  Yes, the European model of master's + shorter PhD is different from the US model of a longer PhD. There might be exceptions in less sciency disciplines (e.g. social work or public policy). And yeah, PhD programs in the US are typically funded (no tuition, stipend usually enough to cover cost of living) while Master's programs usually are considered cash cows for universities. Of course there are indeed people who get a Master's and then a PhD (sometimes because they're not sure they want to do a PhD, sometimes because getting a Master's might help someone get into a better PhD program than they would have otherwise).
- convolvatron 6y ago
  yeah. traditionally in the US the top CS programs really only want to recruit candidates who were in for the full package. MS was really kind of consolation prize that started to shift about 20 years ago with professional night classes for MS students (I think modeled after the night school MBA programs). this is just a huge cash cow, and the programs aren't really very rigorous - you're not doing research - its more like undergrad++