Online Masters to Traditional Doctorate

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by JoshD, May 30, 2019.

Loading...
  1. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I still have a couple of years before I would even begin a doctoral program. I know that should I decide to pursue a doctorate degree, it will be a PhD in Finance at an AACSB accredited business school. I am curious though, since my MBA was done 100% online and my MS will be done 100% online, will that hinder my ability to get accepted into a PhD program? I am very pleased with my education thus far and in no way do I believe that my education is inferior but I am not a PhD admissions committee.

    Has anyone done their masters level coursework solely online and then go to a highly reputable university for a traditional PhD program?
     
  2. Nemo

    Nemo Member

    Not sure for finance, of course, but I can tell you in applying to a few PhD programs myself (in PA and CJ), I was asked a total of zero times if my prior degrees were earned on campus or online, and my transcripts don't say either way.
     
    JoshD and chrisjm18 like this.
  3. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    I doubt that will be an issue since they probably will never ask whether you earned your degree online. I was able to get faculty recommendation letters from professors in my M.S. in CJ for doctoral programs. If you can furnish those recommendations, they won't even know you haven't met the professors in person. I don't think anyone will even raise that question in your case because I assume you live in OK and all your degrees are from OK universities. Though this is not a research doctorate, I know someone who earned their bachelor's at Ashworth and is now attending Widener University Law School. Additionally, UPenn Law School admissions page state that they accept online degrees for admissions to their law school.
     
    JoshD likes this.
  4. AlK11

    AlK11 Active Member

    They might not ask, but if you have to submit a resume or work experience, they might be able to tell. My MEd was done online but I worked on campus at FPU while completing the degree so my resume matches that the degree could've been on campus. My MS was also done online, but my resume pretty clearly shows that I was living in Florida during the entire time I attended a school in Kansas. It's clearly online. If you live near the school your online degree is from, no one will probably have any idea unless you specifically tell them.
     
    JoshD likes this.
  5. SnafuRacer

    SnafuRacer Active Member

    Last month, I called the program coordinator for the PhD in Business Admin at Kennessaw State to inquire about their program.
    I explained that I'm accepted to LSU-Shreveport for their AACSB-accredited MBA and would like to continue at an AACSB-accredited program. She strongly hinted that since it will be completed online (knowing that I am in TX at the moment), that I might face opposition for consideration when the time comes. After explaining that I am in the military and going overseas, therefore, needing to complete it online. After she gave me (the oft-gratuitous , it seems nowadays) "Thank you for your service", she repeated us while still inviting me to apply anyway when the time comes and see about my luck with them then.
    YMMV though!
     
    JoshD likes this.
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  7. FTFaculty

    FTFaculty Well-Known Member

    By the way, I teach in the same state and know some of the people in the B-school at KSU. It's a solid university, pretty big, too, about 35,000. Hope you're able to get in. Any PhD admissions at big traditional schools is more a matter of the right fit and everything lining up just so. There's also UNC-Greensboro, all the DBA programs, and a number of Brit schools. You get in typically by taking a lot of swings and missing every time but one.

    By the way, the department chair of accounting got his PhD at Union. Brilliant guy, goes to show you can, under the right conditions, go pretty high with a nontraditional degree. http://facultyweb.kennesaw.edu/ssmalt/index.php
     
  8. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    During the 9 or 10 years that I was doing marketing in North America for the 100% online MBA of the Edinburgh Business School (which, at the time, became the largest MBA of any kind in America), we surveyed 50 of the top-ranked (USNews) business schools (ones that had doctoral programs) to ask if the degree would be acceptable for admission to their doctoral programs. Every single one said yes. (I enjoyed the U of Chicago response. "Edinburgh has a Royal Charter. If it's good enough for the Queen of England, it's good enough for us." (A few questioned the fact that EBS, then and now, is 100% exam based and, as such, does not require a Bachelor's degree, or even a high school diploma, for admission. But once we explained, and they saw some sample exams, they were OK with it.)
     
    JoshD likes this.

Share This Page