Paths to Ph.D's? (1 Viewer)

[Survivor39]

PhD's are PhD's... it's not a classification between research and coursework, just the trends for which the qualifications such as business and research they are used in.

Masters by Coursework's only real benefit is that it provides the ability for a student to avoid doing a research thesis for their degree and replacing that thesis with extra smaller smaller assessments. Nothing else really changes besides the fact that sometimes many high postgrad degrees such as PhDs etc require a thesis for entry into the course.

The popular line of thinking is that 'why write a 20,000 word thesis when I don't have to'... and that's where the Masters by Coursework fits in.

hmm, it seems PhD doesn't really have a specific name for the area of specilisation. most of the time you just see PhD after some person's name, but bachelors are like B. A, or BSci, with names . just my observation

Why can't we have designated PhD names

 

[withoutaface]

20 000 words really isn't that much if you think about it, considering that even in high school a large chunk of people had problems compressing their essays down to less than 2000 words.

 

[shannonm]

survivor theres also doctor of science (Sc.D) which, depending on the uni or whatever, can be honorary only, or require a more original research than you would for a PhD, or the same as a PhD only given in classical science areas. all depending on the country and uni

raiksm ok then, excuse my poor vocabulary

waf, yeah but this is original stuff, not exactly leeched of the internet.
and 20k words? doctoral thesis' are usually over 75k words (widely regarded max is 100k words)
Just your thesis outlines/plans can be 4k words

 

[LeftrightOut]

You will find a lot of subject specialised Doctorates can have their own names apart from PhD.

For example in Education you can go up to a Doctor of Education (EdD). In business it's up to a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA). You can also undertake one in Psychology as a Doctor of Psychology (DPsych), and so on.

The major difference I can see with my limited experience is the specialised doctorates require more topic related coursework units whereas the PhD throws you straight into research with only a few research methodology coursework units.

Depending on your uni a coursework masters may be enough to get you into a PhD program as most coursework masters require original research work of at least 1 semester length. But you'd need to check with your uni first. The reason some people think you can't do it with coursework is because they are not aware it carries a research component most of the time. One of the entry requirements to a PhD is the selection panels impression of whether you can undertake independent research or not so if you have a research component they can take that into account if it's a high enough standard.

Specialised Doctorates also make you stand out from a crowd of PhDs

 

[shannonm]

well in maths yes there is a project for coursework masters but it hardly has to be original, either analysing a publication or a small project.
the reason some people think you can't do it with coursework is because very very few courseworks can go on to enter to the phd program (like 2 in he last 8 years, and both had high honors anyway)

 

[ziggyboy]

Some top unis only accept 1st class honours for entry to PhD programs.

 

[specialjenny]

So if you do crap with Bachelor and Master you have absolutely no chance of doing phd?

 

[Minai]

So if you do crap with Bachelor and Master you have absolutely no chance of doing phd?

Yes, because if you did crap, why would they fund you to do a crap PhD?

 

[ziggyboy]

So if you do crap with Bachelor and Master you have absolutely no chance of doing phd?

There is one other exception to this though this is *rarely* considered. You have to show them you are capable of research through published papers or inventions.

 

[+Po1ntDeXt3r+]

Some top unis only accept 1st class honours for entry to PhD programs.

usually if u do like extremely well in ure Bach
and u get hons. especially in Sci.
specifically 1st class honours.. u can do a PhD after

 

[LoneShadow]

Bachelors -> Honours Class 1/2a -> PhD
Bachelors -> Honours Class 2b/3 -> Masters -> PhD (if did good in masters)

this may sound silly...but could u plz explain whats "1/2a" & "2b/3"?

thnx

 

[hipsta_jess]

Ok, honours are broken up into classes

Class 1 is equivalent to a HD
2a- D
2b- C
3- P

 

[shannonm]

and 'university medal' means your too good to be known as 'just' a c1 honors, so you get uni medal

 

[Generator]

It isn't that simple, Jess... You cannot equate an Honours and an undergraduate grade in that way (well, you can, but it's hardly an indicative exercise)...

http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/history/ughonours.html

Students should be aware that a different marking and grading scheme applies in Honours programs and that a student who consistently scores '80' in his or her undergraduate work should not expect to achieve a similar mark in their Honours year by virtue of this fact alone.

I'm sure that this would be the case at each and every university.

 

[hipsta_jess]

Yeah, I was contemplating putting inverted comma's around the "equivalent" but must have forgot.
So, yeah...its a rough idea...but not entirely accurate.

 

[Minai]

and 'university medal' means your too good to be known as 'just' a c1 honors, so you get uni medal

There are different rules for different Honours programs across the uni's
For example, in the Commerce faculty at UNSW, Uni Medals are given to First Class Honours 90+ (and theres a limit I think)