I have a master’s in psychology after having to master out of my MA/PhD program due to complicated circumstances. I am interested in getting a PhD eventually, but it seems impossible in the US without repeating five years of another MA/PhD program if I even get in. Why is this the case, and is there any advice?
Edit: Alternatively, has anyone gotten a Masters in the US then went on to Europe or Asia to get a PhD in 3 years (3 year PhD seems to be normal outside of the US from my limited knowledge).
Comments
Well, there’s plenty of programs that recruit more from Master’s students. But you are right, they don’t tend to give you *that* much “time in grade” benefit. But five years is on the pessimistic side, IMHO.
You might get more useful responses if you narrowed your post to a particular area of psychology, I think?
There are few set up that way, but as someone with an MA that interviewed at quite a few places, you can still transfer in credits at many of them and I found myself accomplishing a lot and being a very competitive applicant for postdocs because I came in with credits and work already done. I think whether or not that’s worth it depends on your goals- do you just want the letters and already have a job lined up, or do you plan to join academia?
PhD programs are intended in many, if not most, disciplines in the US to be an integrated five years. You develop a cohort, you network with a stable set of people, you take your time.
Masters programs are often cash cows. In many disciplines students are there to get a certificate, they are not intellectually ambitious. The Masters degree may be a consolation prize for those that don’t get the PhD. The logic of five consecutive years is good but it’s not always flexible for everyone.
I don’t know why you were “forced out” of your program but perhaps five solid years would be helpful to you. You might get credit for some required courses if you did well in them.
The limiting factor is mainly writing a thesis. Some students graduate in 3 years in the same programs that other students take 6 years to finish. If you already have a masters, you can probably finish more quickly than others without one. As long as you don’t get a shitty advisor that delays you to keep you working
Look into programs that will accept rollover credits from your MA. My PhD accepted 12 credits (4 classes) and it meant I was done with all but 2 advanced stats courses over the first 2 years, so I could come out of comps 2nd year and dive right into dissertation mode. (Did life allow that? No. But it could have happened.)
Because contrary to social media popular opinion, 18 credit hours of classes does not equal 2 years and US PhD programs are 5+ years because the standard takes that long rather than “because you get a masters along the way.”
The conventional wisdom I’ve heard is that each program/department wants to make sure you’re trained their way. Departments often have specific research methods or theoretical frameworks that they’re known for, and they like their grad students to be well versed in that style so they can keep a consistent brand. Plus, if you do your graduate coursework at one school and then go to another school for your doctoral work, the faculty there might not be well equipped to support your work and vice versa because you use different methods.