Timeline for Is it ethical to seek a PhD program if you suspect you may want only a Masters?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
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| Aug 7, 2014 at 10:47 | comment | added | user541686 | @StrongBad: In my experience that's not necessarily true -- it depends on the school and the professor. Some schools urge you to apply for a MS+PhD combo if you have any remote interest in a PhD (so they say apply to MS only if you're certain you don't want a PhD). In my case, I explicitly told a professor who interviewed me (over the phone) that I am interested but not 100% certain if I want to pursue a PhD, and it didn't hurt my chances in any way. YMMV. | |
| Aug 7, 2014 at 9:29 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @StrongBad: but that's just an instance of salesmen (in this case selling yourself as a candidate) being socially expected to lie. The problem is that someone admitting to only being 90% sure is presumed to really be much less sure than that. I'm 100% sure that nobody is genuinely 100% sure of anything ;-) | |
| Jan 12, 2014 at 19:09 | comment | added | BrenBarn | @DanielE.Shub: There's some truth to that, but I think it's only really true if you ask and then immediately apply to the PhD. If you ask and then, say, apply the following year with a good app, you can convince them you really decided a PhD was right for you. | |
| Jan 12, 2014 at 15:05 | comment | added | StrongBad | In my experience if you tell the admissions team that you are not 100% sure about a PhD than you have no chance of getting admitted. | |
| Jan 11, 2014 at 23:51 | history | answered | BrenBarn | CC BY-SA 3.0 |