Search the Community

Hi all, I am a current 2nd year in my PhD program. My program allows PhD students to tack on a master's in the course of their PhD by doing a little extra work (sometimes no extra work depending on which fields you choose). I am weighing the cost benefit at the moment, and I am curious if there is any added benefit to someone with no intention of quitting the PhD. Put a different way, beyond the improvement of your outside option, does having an intermediate master's listed on your CV matter at all after you have a PhD/when you go on the market? From what I gather it seems to open some internship doors prior to graduation, but other than that the value added seems small. All thoughts are appreciated.

Issue Question: Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field of study because acquiring knowledge of various disciplines is he best way to become truly educated. My response: Universities should basically keep a list of courses they provide before the student does their enrollment. This gives the student a brief sum up of what possibilities they can get during their course time. For a student aspiring any course he/she is recommended to take extra subjects which are out of their field of study. This is usually helpful for the students in the long run of their career. Let the student have a sense of satisfaction that they can get jobs which are out of their field.By giving the student education to varied feild courses the educators are basically creating a batch of students who acquire knowledge not just restricted to one branch but diversified by their application as well as area of intrest. This is hugely beneficial when students undergo industrial experience.For example let there be a person qualified from a masters in computers and a minors in business. This will allow that person to do a job in the IT sector of any firmthat it has a rudimentery knowledge of. This could be the major life changing factor especially in today's high unemployment rates as this would give an extra touch to his/her resume. However the students nowadays fail to see this point of veiw by which the syllabus makers do their job. Instead they consider this as extra work to be done during their studies. By not giving attention to that subject they ultimately fail in it degrading their moral. This could be the inly drawback for students who considers these extra courses not essential. For instance take a person who is aspiring core computers branch but have to also study useless (to him/her) courses which are not going to be helpful in the future even remotely. This would lead to less attention paid in the sujects of intrest. So basically students have to consider all future aspects of their decisions taken by them during the selection of their courses. This would provide them with great boon or would just be degradation to their current performance. Thanks in advance

If i stay an extra year in undergrad and improve my profile, such as through better math grades in advanced courses including graduate levels and econ courses) and through being involved in more research experiences and get relatively good LORs, will it still hurt my chance when I apply to PhD? (If I do stay and extra year, I'll be applying right after my senior year)