Masters / PhD??? 1

This will largely depend on the program you wish to enter. As a general rule, unless you have extensive experience in your chosen field of study or a post-graduate degree in a related field, your advisory board will require a minimum number of post-graduate classes before "officially" allowing you to pursue a doctorate. Since those classes also count towards a Master's degree, almost all students wisely elect to obtain a Master's degree (i.e. with a little planning, you can get the Master's while getting the required classes covered...just in case the doctorate falls through, you still have a degree to show for the time/money spent). So, to answer your question, at your experience level, you will likely find it difficult to find a quality program that will allow you to proceed directly to docorate level work without obtaining a Master's first.

I would recommend that you also get licensed as a PE.

I would suggest that you check with the university you are considering. Most PhD programs normally require an MSc but will accept exceptional students from a BSc program.

If you go direct from a BSc to a PhD program you will most likely do all the MSc coursework and research anyway, so why not get the piece of paper to show that you did the work. It also allows you a convenient stopping place if you need to go out and earn some money or get some industry experience for a couple of years.

Having the MSc first also allows you to change universities between the two degrees. This may be important once you find where the important research is being done.

I would also recommend some industry experience anyway because there is nothing like a little dose of the real world to shoot down some nice theories. It also shows you what is really important for those working in the field and gives some credibility to your teaching efforts later.

One final piece of advice that I have heard from PhD’s in various disciplines. Pick a thesis topic that has a yes or no answer. That way once your research proves the yes/no question you know you are done. Open ended research questions will result in open ended research programs.


Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

I haven't heard of anyone moving from a BS degree into a PhD program and I've been around and worked with many Universities.

It is a requirement of all Universities which I am familiar to require, as entry into the PhD program, a properly defended thesis. Certainly one thing this shows is the ability to cultivate an idea (many times someone else's idea) into a experimental progam and to be able to draw conclusions from the results be they good or bad. Most times you are being supervised carefully. In most cases, your work is part of an overall program that the professor has spent a good deal of time, money and effort on.

At the PhD level, you are expected to grow beyond that described above. To look beyond the norm, to strech the limits of normal and build on existing applications to provide innovation. Innovation that you can now substantiate scientifically.

Of course, along the way you will have taken many classes to help your understanding within your chosen field and will be able to help others learn from your experience inside and out of the classroom or laboratory.

I don't guess you will be heading to GA Tech?

Just wondering. If so, call up Dr. jacobs, or Earl babbit and talk to them about your options. If you are on a track to get your PE, I would go ahead and get it first, or see if you could start on your master's work, stay with the consultant firm and get them to pay for part of your school costs. I think the practical knowledge and the PE will still be of great benefit in the academic arena, and will help bring a bit more of the real world into the classroom. From where I used to sit, there was almost no real world knowledge being brought to class.

Good luck,

Daniel Toon

Try National University of Singapore; their web page is you are initially enrolled as master's student, and based upon your performance, you can upgrade to PhD.