One of my professors mentioned this, and I hope I remembered the term correctly. It was something about going from your undergraduate degree, skipping your masters degree, and starting work on a PhD. Anyone else heard of this? What are the goods and the bads to it?
A friend of mine is doing this. The main down-side is that you graduate with your Bachelor’s degree, which is probably the biggest thing you’ve ever done in your life, and immediately launch into post-graduate-level research, homework, teaching and stuff. Life? as in Social? Hah. We see her about once a month, and she looks like she’s been sleeping in her lab…
On the upside, if you can manage it, then you’ve got your PhD by, say, age 25 or so.
I have never heard the term “terminal PhD”, and it seems strange since typically PhD is the highest/last degree in any program that offers it. I have heard “terminal Masters” to describe a program that was not intended to lead to a PhD.
Many programs I’m familiar with discourage or prohibit a terminal Masters. The grad school I attended would not admit students who intended to finish with a Masters degree, so students who didn’t want the PhD either lied about their intentions or went elsewhere. In our program, grad students typically started their PhD research immediately, and were granted their Masters degree somewhere along the way. In my case, I ran several pilot studies in order to design my final research program, and I wrote up the pilot research as a Masters thesis. Note that this is not the same as skipping the Masters degree, it’s just that the granting of the degree was somewhat less formal than it might have been in a terminal Masters program.
I did that. I went straight from undergraduate school to a Ph.D. program in behavioral neuroscience at Dartmouth (I never finished BTW). Contrary to popular belief, there is usually no need to get a Master’s degree before you enroll in a Ph.D. program.
Many Ph.D. programs expect you to finish the entire program so they will not award a Master’s degree at any stage. Others award the Master’s as a mid-way marker in the program. These Master’s degrees are rather different from Master’s degrees from a terminal Master’s program. A terminal Master’s is a degree in itself. The Master’s as part of a Ph.D. program is largely ceremonial and having just that means that you haven’t completed the program.
Some people still elect to get a regular Master’s before they enroll in a full Ph.D. program.
Advantages:
- It can help you beef up your academic credentials to get into a better Ph.D. program.
- It can get you started in research.
- It can help you get more focused in your field.
- You may not be sure if you really want a Ph.D. so it can help you decide.
Disadvantaged:
- It may add on years to total time to degree for a full Ph.D.
- Masters program students may have to pay for some of the program while those enrolled in a full Ph.D. program are usually funded.
That’s what I did. I have a B.S. and a Ph.D., but no Master’s.
Many of the people I knew in graduate school got their Master’s first, then went on to the Ph.D. Some who intended to go directly for a Ph.D. decided en route they weren’t cut out for it, and wrote up their existing work as a Master’s. (This was known as "being let off with a Master’s.)
Going directly for a Ph.D. can save considerably in time and bureaucracy. On the other hand, doing a Master’s first can give you confidence and help iron out the kinks in your project before you try tackling a doctorate.
I also have never heard the term “terminal Ph.D.,” usually it would be “terminal Master’s.”
I did that. I went straight from undergraduate school to a Ph.D. program in behavioral neuroscience at Dartmouth (I never finished BTW). Contrary to popular belief, there is usually no need to get a Master’s degree before you enroll in a Ph.D. program.
Many Ph.D. programs expect you to finish the entire program so they will not award a Master’s degree at any stage. Others award the Master’s as a mid-way marker in the program. These Master’s degrees are rather different from Master’s degrees from a terminal Master’s program. A terminal Master’s is a degree in itself. The Master’s as part of a Ph.D. program is largely ceremonial and having just that means that you haven’t completed the program.
Some people still elect to get a regular Master’s before they enroll in a full Ph.D. program.
Advantages:
- It can help you beef up your academic credentials to get into a better Ph.D. program.
- It can get you started in research.
- It can help you get more focused in your field.
- You may not be sure if you really want a Ph.D. so it can help you decide.
Disadvantaged:
- It may add on years to total time to degree for a full Ph.D.
- Masters program students may have to pay for some of the program while those enrolled in a full Ph.D. program are usually funded.
Many of my friends are in academia and I have often heard of a terminal degree. It was explained to me as having a Ph.D or the highest degree atainable in your field.
Shagnasty, you post leads me to believe that a terminal PhD (if this is the correct term… for now we will just say it is!) is not considered “as good as” a “regular” PhD. Is this true? I was told it was considered the same. Was I told incorrectly, or am I misunderstanding Shagnasty’s post?
No, No, No. Like thers said, all Ph.D.'s are “terminal”. They are the highest degree in a given academic field. That is why people are wondering why you are using that term. It doesn’t mean anything.
Most Ph.D. programs accept students straight out of undergrad school. Some students may add a Master’s as a middle (but not strictly necessary) step. I outlined the pro’s and con’s of that choice above.
:smack: I am such an idiot! I was reading your list as advantages and disadvantages of getting a “terminal” PhD
Is there a specific term for this type of PhD, or is it just referred to as “yeah I skipped my masters and went straight for my PhD”?
That’s Ok. There is no special term because it is just a Ph.D. like any other. How you get there is your own business.
But, hey, if you want to call it a “terminal” Ph.D. then go right ahead. Just get used to all the confused stares 
My mother was Admin Assistant at a University where they had a lot of “terminal Ph.D.'s” She thought the term was hilarious. They used it for programs that ended in a PhD, rather than an MA or MS degree.
As mentioned, there is no need to get a Masters before a PhD. A big advantage of not getting a Masters at one place and then a PhD at another place is you don’t have to worry about differences in the courses you have to take. No taking something over just because it’s a little different, etc. The first 2 years of a PhD program is usually the same coursework as a “non-terminal” Masters. So avoid overlap/omissions in those 2 years, go straight for the PhD if that’s what you want.
(I got a Masters in another field, 1 year for me, and it’s only a line on my vita and nothing more. I could have gotten a Masters in my field during my PhD studies by paying $50. Wasn’t worth the dough.)