Can I go from Masters to PhD in 2 years?

[Gizmo j]

Im thinking I can get a PhD in Computer Engineering and was wondering if I can get a Masters at a cheap State school then get into a PhD program at another school and finish in 2 years.

Or do I have to do the whole 4 years after my Masters?

 

[ultimatebob]

Hey Gizmo,

How far along are you on your Computer Engineering undergrad?

 

[Gizmo j]

Hey Gizmo,

How far along are you on your Computer Engineering undergrad?

I haven't started yet.

 

[ultimatebob]

I haven't started yet.

Yeah, you should probably focus on that first. Computer Engineering is a tough degree, and a lot of people wash out in the first year due to the amount of high level math required.

That said, I think that I've already told you this before. Weren't you the guy who wanted to work for Nvidia?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Computer Engineering is a tough degree, and a lot of people wash out in the first year due to the amount of high level math required.

Raises hand.

Freshman Calc at 8:30AM (I am NOT much of a "morning person", or at least, wasn't then), was just too much for me to handle.

 

[Gizmo j]

I was wondering if I should do a Online School first as practice then go to a University after so I would me more prepared and earn a better GPA.

But I don't know if the Online School GPA would effect my real University GPA, does it?

 

[RLGL]

was wondering if I should do a Online School first as practice then go to a University after so I would me more prepared and earn a better GPA.

You are best to talk to the counselors at an institution you are planning to attend to get the best info.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I worked for a university with a computational engineering program. I want to say 3+ years is what I would expect. The amount of work required and course offerings just can't be rushed... usually because not all courses were offered every term. In many cases, there were only a few people in some classes and staffing vs research schedules made it difficult. Just shoot for Master's and see how much more debt you want to be in.

 

[snoopy7548]

Don't do it. You know what they say... Bull Shit, More Shit, Piled High and Deep. A PhD is a complete waste of time and money unless you want to teach at a college level or spend the rest of your life researching some hyper-specialized aspect of engineering, and an MS is debatable - experience is worth far more. Most companies will pay for you to get your MS degree.

 

[purbeast0]

I know computer science and computer engineering are different routes, but with computer science, getting a masters or phd really means nothing in the real world.

I mean sure it can help you, and if all things equal you and another person have the same exact skill set I'm guessing the person with the higher degree would get hired, but you can easily get hired with a bacherlors degree over someone with a masters if you are a better developer/engineer. A lot of the job requirements I remember seeing when hunting is that having a masters will cut off the years of experience required at some jobs.

 

[zinfamous]

I was wondering if I should do a Online School first as practice then go to a University after so I would me more prepared and earn a better GPA.

But I don't know if the Online School GPA would effect my real University GPA, does it?

You're in luck! All schools are now online!

Anyway, it's not so much about your GPA-- it's if a real school will transfer credits from an online-only school. So in many cases, you'll end up spending money and time taking courses that you will have to take again. ....don't do an online school. At least, find an accredited state or whatever school that also offers a strong online course component and start there. Most of them do this now. If you think you are better sorted to at least start online, then certainly do that but don't handicap yourself by doing some shit like University of Phoenix that will just get you laughed at.

PhD in 2 years after a Masters is extremely unlikely. Granted, I'm not that familiar with how it works in the engineering type sciences, but in my world, it's 4 years for the best of them, 5 years being typical (post Masters; Life sciences). Now, consider my world involves research projects that take years, because you are dealing with life cycles and numbers that simply take time to create and fiddle with, just to get to the data for analysis. We do have some purely comp-bio people in our area that fly through programs like shit through a goose, because they are working with available data sets, and while it may take them a week to run one model through the big data cluster, they already have the data and aren't subjected to things like, uh, hurricanes that can and absolutely will wipe out your entire project area and set you back 2-3 years from graduation.

Coursework, starting just out of undergrad, is pretty much 2 years (so, that's your masters; but even coming in with a Masters, pretty much all are expected to take nearly 2 years of course, and many teach throughout to earn cash to live).

Is computer engineering typically a paid PhD? I'm only familiar with/consider PhD if, in the very least, it's a paid thing. I know that isn't all of them.

 

[zinfamous]

I know computer science and computer engineering are different routes, but with computer science, getting a masters or phd really means nothing in the real world.

I mean sure it can help you, and if all things equal you and another person have the same exact skill set I'm guessing the person with the higher degree would get hired, but you can easily get hired with a bacherlors degree over someone with a masters if you are a better developer/engineer. A lot of the job requirements I remember seeing when hunting is that having a masters will cut off the years of experience required at some jobs.

yes, this is a very good point. These days, it's easier to grab that experience if you already have the paper, but experience still translates in near-equal weight to paper....just need to be able to get in the door to start getting experience.

Even in the advanced, high-education job world, experience is a big deal and bachelor's degrees can still get you most places, it's just harder and harder to start accumulating the experience when young. It takes more years of experience, typically, to equal the paper, but it can be done. And of course there's the benefit of being paid those first 5 years doing the work and learning, compared to still being in school...which might still pay you, but a much smaller percentage.

 

[zinfamous]

Don't do it. You know what they say... Bull Shit, More Shit, Piled High and Deep. A PhD is a complete waste of time and money unless you want to teach at a college level or spend the rest of your life researching some hyper-specialized aspect of engineering, and an MS is debatable - experience is worth far more. Most companies will pay for you to get your MS degree.

Well, that's not the only thing you can do with a PhD--various consulting positions, even far outside of whatever field that you think you will work in, which could mean tasty short-term contract work--and it does significantly cut down the time needed for higher starting salaries.

 

[BoomerD]

Im thinking I can get a PhD in Computer Engineering and was wondering if I can get a Masters at a cheap State school then get into a PhD program at another school and finish in 2 years.

Or do I have to do the whole 4 years after my Masters?

Hey Gizmo,

How far along are you on your Computer Engineering undergrad?

I haven't started yet.

How about graduating 8th grade? Don't you think you should concentrate on that first?

 

[ultimatebob]

How about graduating 8th grade? Don't you think you should concentrate on that first?

Once that happens, he'll be asking for interview tips for an executive position at Nvidia

 

[KillerCharlie]

In engineering you can skip the masters entirely and go straight to PhD... But don't even think about that.

At least half of engineering students drop out. It's not easy.

 

[Kaido]

Im thinking I can get a PhD in Computer Engineering and was wondering if I can get a Masters at a cheap State school then get into a PhD program at another school and finish in 2 years.

Or do I have to do the whole 4 years after my Masters?

What's your overall goal, what are you trying to achieve? Do you want to get into a career sooner? Do you want a better-paying job faster? Speed is doable, but the cost is you're constantly busy.