# Survey for people with a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069 "2015-11-09T03:04:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/61 "2015-11-10T01:34:38Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Can I tag along? > > For those with many years between undergraduate and graduate, why? > > For those with less than 3 years between degrees, how come? E.g.: John Mace took 13 months to get an MS; Details? MBA requires experience, and then I got busy until I finally went back. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/62 "2015-11-10T01:45:12Z")
Bachelor’s degree – 28 yr, 10 mo (received eight days before it would have been 28 years and 11 months). Master’s degree – 35 yr, 5 mo (received five days before it would have been 35 years and 6 months). ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/63 "2015-11-10T01:51:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Bachelor’s degree – 28 yr, 10 mo (received eight days before it would have been 28 years and 11 months). > > Master’s degree – 35 yr, 5 mo (received five days before it would have been 35 years and 6 months). > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Can I tag along? > > For those with many years between undergraduate and graduate, why? I spent some years living in Thailand, then returned to the US for graduate school before returning again to Thailand. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/64 "2015-11-10T02:06:34Z")
B.A.: 20 years 8 months M.A.: finished my coursework at 26 years, 3 months, but didn’t defend my thesis until 32 years, 8 months (M.A. was in a different field than B.A. I had intended to use it as a stepping stone to a Ph.D. after 5 years working, but for various reasons that never happened. Also, the reason it took me so long to defend my thesis…well, a shattered tibia and fibula followed by 4 rounds of surgery, countless hours of rehab, and a full-time job throughout, followed by a dead committee chair and a flaky replacement chair and 3 extensions of the normally allowed time to complete all degree requirements from the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, were extenuating circumstances.) ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/65 "2015-11-10T02:10:14Z")
AB: 21 years, 11 months MS: 24 years, 11 months ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/66 "2015-11-10T02:42:52Z")
BS: 22 years, 7 months. MS: 25 years, 7 months. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/67 "2015-11-10T03:05:44Z")
S.B.: 19 yrs, 8 months M.S.: 20 yrs, 8 months, an on-the-way degree while working on Ph.D.: 23 yrs, 8 months As I was on my way to becoming an academic mathematician, there was no point in delaying going straight from my undergraduate school to a Ph.D. program. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/68 "2015-11-10T03:09:08Z")
BA: 22 and 4 months MA: 26 and 8 months? PhD: 33 and 8 months (there were speedbumps) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/69 "2015-11-10T03:20:47Z")
BS 20y2mo MBA 24y7mo MS 33y2mo ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/70 "2015-11-10T04:40:54Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > BS 20y2mo > MBA 24y7mo > MS 33y2mo Yup. Karachite. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/71 "2015-11-10T15:48:28Z")
Wow, slowest turnaround time for me to answer a question EVER. I just spent the last hour logging in to my university system that now requires a 12 character password. :rolleyes: It was a monumental pain in the ass to get to. BS 42y/10m MS 46Y/6m ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/72 "2015-11-10T16:06:42Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > A.S. - 51 years, 4 months. > B.S. - 57 years, 3 months. > > I was a bit behind the curve. Rats, I thought I had a chance at being the oldest grad here. Congrats. In my situation it was just a case of what I call real life taking precedence. I went to 1 year of college out of high school, got my 17 y/o girlfriend pregnant, raised 3 kids, next thing you know and bam! it’s 20 years later. What finally got me back off my ass was being laid off for the 5th time over the course of those 20 years; the last time was 10 years ago during the previous “economic down turn.” I decided to go back to school. My reasoning was very simple… If I couldn’t get a job interview, it wasn’t going to be for lack of education. A hiring manager once told me very candidly that there are always more applicants than openings; especially when the economy is down; and that hiring managers have to find arbitrary ways to whittle down 100 resumes into something manageable. [Lack of] Education is the easiest and fastest way to do that. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/73 "2015-11-10T17:52:27Z")
BA at 22y4m MSc at 51y9m ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/74 "2015-11-10T19:37:33Z")
BS at 38 years. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/75 "2015-11-10T21:35:21Z")
BA 22y8m MA 27y8m ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/76 "2015-11-10T21:40:34Z")
BS: 22 years, 9 months. MS: 26 years, 3 months. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/77 "2015-11-10T22:17:20Z")
BA: 21 years, 5 months MBA: 28 years, 4 months JD: 46 years, 11 months ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/78 "2015-11-10T22:44:51Z")
BS - 22 years, 4 months MS - 38 years (? months); primary reason for doing it was my company paid for it (every last penny!) and a bunch of us in our department did it together (it took 4 years to complete, one class at a time) ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/79 "2015-11-11T01:04:25Z")
21y4m 21y9m Pitt had a deal back then that with the dean of the departments approval, you could take Masters level classes as an undergraduate at the greatly reduced undergraduate rate per credit. I played this so that on getting my first degree, most of the second was already done and in the bank. Saved a lot of time and buku bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069/80 "2015-11-11T05:03:11Z")
BSBA. 24 years, 2 months MBA 27 years, 3 months [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survey-for-people-with-a-bachelors-degree-and-a-masters-degree/737069.md?page=5)