tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post734990307890522569..comments2024-03-25T02:33:41.590-05:00Comments on FemaleScienceProfessor: MS v. PhDFemale Science Professorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-32768741783666869282012-01-21T09:31:02.806-06:002012-01-21T09:31:02.806-06:00I think its great that you are honest. Frankly, in...I think its great that you are honest. Frankly, in the experimental sciences, I would tend to agree with you--its hard to get anything out of MS students because they are on campus for such a short time. <br /><br /><br />However, in more maths heavy engineering, papers can be published in a very short time (6 mo. and less) because the experimental load is often less. If we use Parkinson's law (work expands to fill the time allotted), often MS students in engineering are a great value. They know they'll be here for a year or two so they'll compress their project, stay up late, come in on weekends, etc. The PhD student may be here for 5 years and will focus on classes, making social connections, throwing down roots, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-13291896078088732832008-12-16T10:04:00.000-06:002008-12-16T10:04:00.000-06:00This is actually rather disturbing for me to hear ...This is actually rather disturbing for me to hear - I'm looking to complete my education as an older student (25 is old enough to have people question your capability, apparently). To hear that my credibility and attractiveness are going to be fighting a two-front war because my academic goals are concise is very discouraging.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-61096354159022119432008-12-04T13:11:00.000-06:002008-12-04T13:11:00.000-06:00A wonderfully self-centered and capitalistic pers...A wonderfully self-centered and capitalistic perspective on a student's degree! I don't blame you. Most graduate student advisors I have seen are like you.<BR/><BR/>(f.y.i I published two papers just with my masters.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-44533085125846320362008-01-04T12:55:00.000-06:002008-01-04T12:55:00.000-06:00I was going to write a comment but it got out of c...I was going to write a comment but it got out of control, so I decided not take up too much space here.<BR/>Here it is:http://okham.livejournal.com/2015.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-20057944373182452152007-12-17T23:12:00.000-06:002007-12-17T23:12:00.000-06:00The key thing is that I feel a lot less obligation...The key thing is that I feel a lot less obligation to provide a stipend for an MS student (none if they are in engineering) than a PhD studentEliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-47655933721264054882007-12-14T18:12:00.000-06:002007-12-14T18:12:00.000-06:003 questions (being from europe):1) Are you allowed...3 questions (being from europe):<BR/>1) Are you allowed to make a Ph.D. without an MSc? <BR/>2) Is there a constraint on the number of years?<BR/>3) So why should one do a MSc if a BSc is sufficient in general for jobs & research?mentaerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06337822862621103715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-54842534229128269602007-12-14T02:58:00.000-06:002007-12-14T02:58:00.000-06:00Greetings from a consolation-prize MS-recipient! ...Greetings from a consolation-prize MS-recipient! I'm curious about how you ended up with .5 of a waste-of-time TMS student. Were they a co-advisee, or did they drop out halfway through?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-43856602617461189032007-12-13T23:38:00.000-06:002007-12-13T23:38:00.000-06:00Do you always have so much trouble understanding t...Do you always have so much trouble understanding the use of the past subjunctive tense?Female Science Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-60791912293346738982007-12-13T23:31:00.000-06:002007-12-13T23:31:00.000-06:00Do you have the same self absorbed attitude about ...Do you have the same self absorbed attitude about teaching undergraduates?Gary Carsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08353561351308596608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-71296655406765967422007-12-13T21:44:00.000-06:002007-12-13T21:44:00.000-06:00Cost effective, huh? That's kind of insulting, eve...Cost effective, huh? That's kind of insulting, even though I can see where you're coming from. <BR/><BR/>I'm one of those students like thm mentions. My thesis advisor is still capitalizing on my chapters, more than I can, since he's the 'senior' author and I'm just the first author (who had all the ideas and did the vast majority of the work, but nevermind). <BR/><BR/>In my field (much like drugmonkey's, I think), I have a hard time telling students to go to PhD programs. <BR/><BR/>There just aren't enough jobs for them afterwards. I also have a hard time telling students to stay when they want to quit. I tell them, quit now, get a TMS, get on with your life. Don't stay here if you're miserable. <BR/><BR/>And if they're not sure, then I tell them to go work as a technician for a year and get sure, because grad school of any kind is not for the faint of heart. <BR/><BR/>But, I have a hard time picturing how I would handle this as a PI. I'd like to think there are plenty of good students and postdocs to go around, and I'd rather have the happy ones who know what they want to do and why. <BR/><BR/>I think it's really sad if students don't find out whether they like research or not until they're already in grad school. It's bad for them, and it's bad for the PI to have to give them the hard sell ... or risk wasting money by taking them and having them make no progress.Ms.PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06542602867472447035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-91989416776477702162007-12-13T21:30:00.000-06:002007-12-13T21:30:00.000-06:00That's very true, but at least Ph.D. students have...That's very true, but at least Ph.D. students have more time, and in theory each thesis 'chapter' is a published/publishable paper.Female Science Professorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15288567883197987690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-80354488782995132702007-12-13T21:16:00.000-06:002007-12-13T21:16:00.000-06:00It's not entirely clear that Ph.D. students are co...It's not entirely clear that Ph.D. students are cost effective either, relative to post-docs. Howard Hughes used to (might still) refuse to pay for graduate students, presumably for this reason.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-37607654875740116822007-12-13T20:04:00.000-06:002007-12-13T20:04:00.000-06:00In my department we were somewhat encouraged to do...In my department we were somewhat encouraged to do an MS first, because it made preparation for quals much easier. Starting as an MS student didn't seem to have much effect on the time it took to get a Ph.D, as the master's thesis would be done on a subset of the same research that went for the doctorate.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11348421230085362865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-18367310123568539812007-12-13T14:07:00.000-06:002007-12-13T14:07:00.000-06:00I was one of those students who came in as a MS st...I was one of those students who came in as a MS student because I wasn't sure about the whole PhD thing, and then realized I loved research in my first year. I'm glad my adviser gave me a chance to figure that out!Carriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01261116167144348387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-40810127874320587872007-12-13T13:00:00.000-06:002007-12-13T13:00:00.000-06:00"I am also not considering those Ph.D. students wh...<I>"I am also not considering those Ph.D. students who fail at the Ph.D. and get an M.S. as a consolation prize."</I><BR/><BR/>I advise people in my area to forgo MS programs and try to get into the PhD instead. There are several reasons and the usual YMMV caveats.<BR/><BR/>-the "consolation" Master's is still a Master's. So if one is interested in the credentialing aspect, this is as good as any other way. <BR/>-often the "consolation" Master's is easier to come by in terms of years and effort. <BR/>-frequently the RA/TA support is better for PhD students where MS students may be actually paying tuition and stacking up more loans. <BR/>-in many PhD programs, the pre-existing Master's gets you exactly nothing in terms of speeding / easing the doctoral studies. So if one does come to the conclusion that doctoral studies are in order, one goes right back to the start.Drugmonkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05414353815962084981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-34259300776944782882007-12-13T11:22:00.000-06:002007-12-13T11:22:00.000-06:00It's very interesting you mention this because in ...It's very interesting you mention this because in engineering it's a bit different. Almost everyone goes for an MS because PhDs are fairly useless. But then the job market for engineers is much better outside academia.<BR/><BR/>However, I can see that this is very frustrating for the profs in my department.<BR/><BR/>I actually intended to only get a masters in engineering while waiting for my husband to finish his PhD. I was aiming for more experimental background, since I had none, and then planned to go back to physics. I was even going part-time. I'm sure no one thought I was serious about finishing. Now I'm sticking around for my PhD.Cherishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17697201077514708901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29059245.post-59475099299035186952007-12-13T08:37:00.000-06:002007-12-13T08:37:00.000-06:00In the department where I was a grad student, stud...In the department where I was a grad student, students were only admitted to the Ph.D. program, but every year a handful opted for a terminal MS, for any number of reasons.<BR/><BR/>My advisor's most-often cited paper--the one which is often cited in introductions to any paper in its subfield, the one which really opened up this subfield, the one which set the direction for most of my advisor's subsequent research and really defined his career--was based on the work of a MS student, who was in fact the first author of this relatively famous paper.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com