Are there any practical reasons for choosing a master's degree or a
doctoral degree? Yes! Doctoral degrees will enable you to earn more money,
to work in positions with more responsibility (and status), and to have
more independence. Of course, doctoral programs are hard to get into, and
take more time and effort to complete--typically at least 4-6 years beyond
the bachelor's degree.
A master's degree gives you more occupational advantages than a bachelor's
degree, but fewer than a doctoral degree. On the other hand, master's
programs are easier to get into than doctoral programs; they are also less
difficult and take less time to complete (typically 1-2 years beyond the
bachelor's degree).
To determine the relative difficulty of the various degree programs (and
departments), you need to consider several factors. First, you need to
compare admissions standards (how hard is it to get in?). Second, you also
need to compare the graduation requirements in the programs in which
you're interested (how hard is it to graduate?). Is there a foreign
language requirement? written comprehensive and/or oral exam? a thesis? a
dissertation?
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