Bachelor's in 3 or Master's in 4?

[Vivioviolet]

Hello there, incoming freshman majoring in physics here. My academic advisor couldn't really provide advice for this question, and I've been having a bit of trouble looking for guidance elsewhere. I was fortunate enough to rack up enough AP credit in high school to be capable of graduating in 3 years, but my school is also offering a program that would allow me to earn a master's in 5 years (about 4 with my additional credit). From what I've been told, getting into a position where you'd be able to actually study physics requires a doctorate, but I think I'd be better off securing an okay job before I go back and try to earn that, since I'll be sitting on a bit of debt from student loans. Which would be more worthwhile for securing something, doesn't really have to be related to physics, just something that would pay alright.

 

[Dishsoap]

Is it something you absolutely need to decide at the very beginning of your freshman year? There are an infinite number of variables here, so this question can't really be answered in my opinion.

 

[Dr Transport]

Why rush thru college?

 

[Roark]

Dr. Transport is right. Don't rush through college. Use that extra time you have to do research and get work experience.

For both graduate school and employers, your research or internship experience will mean much more than the fact that you graduated in 3 years.

Not only that, your experiences as an undergraduate will be highly educational. You will learn what kind of work you like and dislike, making it easier for you to make difficult career choices in the future.

Don't rush. Enjoy college. Explore opportunities.

 

[jtbell]

When you enter a PhD program directly after your bachelor's degree, you normally get financial support, usually as a teaching or research assistantship, that covers both tuition/fees and basic living expenses. If you maintain good academic standing, you keep that support all the way through,. You should not need to incur any additional debt. You might even be able to pay down some of your undergraduate debt if you live frugally.

In your school's combined bachelor's + master's program, would you be able to get similar support for the master's phase?

Also, make sure the master's coursework in that program would be accepted as part of your PhD. It may be true at your school, if you stay there all the way through. However, other schools' PhD programs may not accept that coursework, or at least not all of it.

 

[Vivioviolet]

Thanks for the input guys. This absolutely is not something I really need to be thinking about at the moment haha, I suppose I think a bit too far ahead at times. The 3 year thing would be achieved regardless assuming I take about 15-17 credits a semester, but I'll try to slow down a bit.

I will inquire about about support for the master's phase and applicability of the coursework for their PhD program though, the information provided online regarding it is relatively brief.

 

[Choppy]

Something else to consider is that university can be an entirely different animal than high school, even with AP courses. It can be easy to get in over your head by jumping into too many advanced courses in your first year of university only to find out that you're high school courses have been watered down, or haven't given you the preparation that you thought they did.

I would advise to focus on having the best first year of university you can, taking the courses that you want and are qualified to take, and making sure to build the best foundation that you can for long term study in your field.. Looking forward, there's no reason why you shouldn't orient yourself to complete the master's degree if that's what you think you want right now. If nothing else that will give you the opportunity to take some advanced courses. You can always alter that decision later.

 

[Dr Transport]

to add onto some of the comments, I'd retake ALL courses required for a physics major, regardless of the fact that you took them in high school for credit...

 

[Dishsoap]

Thanks for the input guys. This absolutely is not something I really need to be thinking about at the moment haha, I suppose I think a bit too far ahead at times. The 3 year thing would be achieved regardless assuming I take about 15-17 credits a semester, but I'll try to slow down a bit.

I will inquire about about support for the master's phase and applicability of the coursework for their PhD program though, the information provided online regarding it is relatively brief.

If you find that taking 15-17 credits a semester doesn't allow for research time, you'll want to cut back on that so you can get research experience.

 

[Vivioviolet]

Something else to consider is that university can be an entirely different animal than high school, even with AP courses. It can be easy to get in over your head by jumping into too many advanced courses in your first year of university only to find out that you're high school courses have been watered down, or haven't given you the preparation that you thought they did.

I would advise to focus on having the best first year of university you can, taking the courses that you want and are qualified to take, and making sure to build the best foundation that you can for long term study in your field.. Looking forward, there's no reason why you shouldn't orient yourself to complete the master's degree if that's what you think you want right now. If nothing else that will give you the opportunity to take some advanced courses. You can always alter that decision later.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to watch it and not overdo myself too early on, I keep forgetting that a bit of GPA padding helps as things start to get more difficult. I suppose the one thing I'm still a bit curious about is if the master's provides any signficant experience or prestige that would make you more hireable out of the gate.

to add onto some of the comments, I'd retake ALL courses required for a physics major, regardless of the fact that you took them in high school for credit...

I for sure am retaking mechanics and E&M again since it's been awhile, but I'm not too sure about doing the same for math and chem. My university's chemistry placement exam didn't place me in general chemistry 1 and I did feel pretty comfortable taking the course in high school. As for calc, I did calc 2&3 concurrently at my current university, so I'm not very sure that doing those again would serve much of a purpose.

If you find that taking 15-17 credits a semester doesn't allow for research time, you'll want to cut back on that so you can get research experience.

Alright, thank you very much for the advice. I should have a good amount of time over my summers to spread things out a bit as well.

 

[Choppy]

I suppose the one thing I'm still a bit curious about is if the master's provides any signficant experience or prestige that would make you more hireable out of the gate.

I'm not sure a Master's degree necessarily opens more doors, but I believe it tends to open higher paying doors with more specialization and more responsibility. A lot can depend on the master's specialization too. An accredited degree in medical physics or geophysics can be gateways into those professions respectively. A master's degree with a specialization in astrophysics is not likely to get you a job doing astrophysics and will be marketed in terms of the skills that you've acquired while doing it.

 

[Dr Transport]

Coming in with a Masters can be good and can be bad. In this day and age, corporations are under the gun to cut salary outlay, so when they look at candidates, they look at a Masters vs a Bachelors and pick the BS degree because they can pay them less money unless the Maters has the experience they desperately need, then they might make an offer. I can honestly say that I have been in these discussions and management will say, well, let's see if the guy with the masters will bite for a couple of grand more than the bachelors, if not, cut them loose and make an offer to the person with the bachelors only and make sure that the salary is well below the center of mass for the pay grade and that is usually only a grade one. (Mind you, a PhD with no industrial experience will come in at a grade 2 and below the mid point of the salary curve.)