Different School for MS vs PhD

Currently, I have my heart set on eventually completing a PhD at the local University in Computer Science & Engineering (University of South Florida.) You will probably think this odd, but I haven't even entered graduate school at this time; however, I need to develop some criteria for choosing a school for a Masters degree and my current thinking is that it is better for this degree to come from a different institution than USF because I want more breadth in my overall course selection than I could get from going to USF alone. The USF CSE grad school seems very concentrated in AI and robotics. Luckily, that's what I am most interested in; however, they are anemic in other areas of Computer Science (i.e parallel/distributed systems, software engineering, operating systems.) Now that I've come up with a good reason to NOT to choose USF for a Masters degree (and hope that I can get accepted there for a PhD), can anyone give me some counter arguments why I should choose USF and therefore acquire my MS and PhD from the same institution?

I'll give you one reason that I've come up with:

Due to some VERY poor performance in my early (over 20 years ago) academic career, my GPA calculated using the USF method (all hours after the first 60 hours) will be marginal. Although I have a 4.00 over the last 54 hours, even if I ace the rest of my courses till graduation my grade point will just meet the minimum requirement of USF. So, given my marginal grades, if I apply to USF grad school and get accepted, I should attend USF because I might not be accepted later. If I'm not accepted well, I'll apply again after I get a Masters elsewhere giving me two chances to get into the school of my choice for a PhD.

Are there other reasons that I should consider?

 

I agree with the different school MS and PHD theory

However, there are valid arguments both way so it boils down to personal preference I guess. In answering this question you must ask yourself and the USF several things:

1. Is it possible to enter the USF PHD program with a BS? Some schools allow you to go straight to the PHD from your undergrad. This would make your problem moot unless, as you seem to indicate, less than stellar undergrad grades hinder admission to a PHD program.

2. What type of schools feed the USF PHD program? If you see from a perusal of the USF students CV's that they come from large B&M research universities, it could be a hint they may not look positively upon a purely DL degree. Get your masters from a school which gives you a chance to enter the program.

3. If you cannot go straight into the PHD program with your undergrad, it is not always advantageous to get your masters from the same school where you desire to obtain your PHD. Some schools have unofficial policies limiting accession of their own students into their PHD programs. It prevents inbreeding so to speak. Example; if USF accepts six PHD students, no more than one of which may be a USF masters student, you could actually hurt your chances of attending USF for your PHD if you graduate from their master's program.

This is not an easy dilemma. What would I do? Talk to one of the students and get his or her input. From them, get the name of a professor who would advise you on the matter, meet with that person and get their input. Then, make your decision based on their input and your desires.

Good luck!

 

How about these reasons?
1) It's a good school
2) With a good reputation
3) And you like the program
4) And the faculty
Good luck in whatever you choose.
Jack

 

JoAnnP38,

IMO, USF is a good school, so if you were to get a masters and a doctorate from there, then it would not hurt you. I have a friend who got his bachelors and his masters from USF -- and now he wants to get his PhD from there. It won't hurt him in the least.

I understand your illustration about gaining "academic breadth" by getting degrees from different institutions, but since USF has such a good reputation, it would not be a handicap to have all your degrees from that school. Given the opportunity, I personally would choose different schools, but that's strictly a personal choice. Naturally, your last degree will make the loudest statement, so you want to ensure that it is a high caliber institution.

To enter graduate school at USF, I believe that they calculate the last two years of your undergraduate work to determine your GPA. Consequently, your undergraduate GPA will be higher than you previously anticipated.

 

Plan of Action

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and suggestions. I think the suggestion from chris is a good one and I will definitely seek advice from current students and recommended administration. One point that will affect my plans is whether or not USF allows BS students to apply directly to the PhD program. While the USF graduate brochure states that admission into the PhD program requires that the student have a master's degree, a year ago I spoke with the program advisor and she said that they do accept applications straight to the PhD program. If this is actually true, I suppose I could apply to master's programs from other schools and apply directly to the PhD program at USF. If I'm accepted by USF I should probably just accept at the opportunity to go to the school of my choice for a PhD. And if I'm not accepted, I can always apply again after I finish a masters at another institution.

As stated previously, the best possible scenario would be to have my masters from another school (either U. of FL or FL Atlantic U.) and then complete my PhD at USF; however, its more important to me to complete my PhD at USF so if I can get accepted directly into the PhD program I will jump at the opportunity.

Thanks everyone!

 

Word from USF

I wanted to post an update to this thread as I met with Dr. Perez, a graduate advisor of the Computer Science & Engineering department at USF and he basically pointed out the negatives of getting a masters elsewhere:

1) You don't have the advantage of getting to know your potential PhD advisor well in advance. He stated that USF masters students have a slight advantage over other masters students because they may have already made favorable contact with professors.

2) USF requires that students take three core classes during their masters course work and the student is tested on these subjects in the PhD qualifier exam. Regardless of whether you took the same courses in a different program, you would have to retake them at USF.

After he pointed out the negatives I asked him about the advantages of having a broader exposure to the field and the fact that USF isn't as accomodating to part time students as some other schools. He seemed to whole-heartedly agree and in the end he admitted that it would be better if I got my masters elsewhere and then applied to the USF PhD program. I was surprised with his advice, but I'm going to take it.

 

Re: Word from USF

I think that his (Dr. Perez’s) advice is sound and reasonable providing your bachelor's degree was earned from another university. Like he said, enrolling for a doctorate in the same school that awarded your master's degree will offer you a greater opportunity to be acquainted with your professors. It will additionally help you to fathom their research interests as well as their areas of expertise.

Ike Okonkwo, PhD

 

Re: Re: Word from USF

I think that Ike is right, any advantage that you can get (acquaintance with professors, research style, etc.) can only work to your benefit. It sounds like you will have a sound educational background and you should have no problems! Good Luck!!

Mike

AA Burlington College, NJ
BA TESC, NJ
MS SMSU
PhD NCU (Feb 04)

 

Am I missing something?

I take it he advised her to go somewhere else for her masters.

 

Re: Am I missing something?

Yes, he actually did and that's what I found surprising! After agreeing with me on the following points:

• USF is not strong in all areas of Computer Science
• USF doesn't support part-time students as well as UF or FAU

He then basically said he thought that it would be better if I got my masters elsewhere and then apply to the USF PhD program. This is probably what I'm going to do; however, I'm still unsure how I'm going to overcome the disadvantage of not getting to know the potential professors that I might work under during my dissertation.

As a point of interest, he said that USF doesn't support the FEEDS program (DL) very well because they didn't want to dilute the attention full-time, traditional students received from the faculty. I guess everyone has to make resource-based decisions.

 

It isn't that big a deal...

to know the professors. If it was, the majority of people would get their masters where they get their PHD. The opposite is in fact the norm. You already know one now anyway. Where did he recommend you go for the masters?

 

Re: It isn't that big a deal...

He really didn't say where to go, only that the University of Florida or Florida Atlantic University would be solid masters programs to attend if I were concerned about the breadth of my education. Not everyone is concerned about breadth and for those people, he says that he would recommend that they start and stay at USF.