I am in a terminal masters program at a state university, which means that no thesis is required as a graduation requirement. This means that at that university, I will not be allowed to pursue a doctorate. Is it still possible to pursue a doctorate at other schools, even though no thesis was completed in the masters degree? (Frankly, I have no interest in pursuing a doctorate, but I'm curious about this thesis issue at the masters level and the consequences it could have in the future).
Admission to the Ph.D. in theology/religion at Potchefstroom University requires a master's thesis, or a D.Min. dissertation. Russell
Does Nova requite a masters thesis for entry into their doctoral program? Or how about other schools? Or if a thesis is required, are exceptions made? (No, I'm not trying to slip through the cracks. I'm just curious...).
Nova does not require a master's thesis for admission to PhD. I believe that this is the standard practice. I was offered admission by three other traditional universities and none requires a master's thesis.
This is good to know. However, I've heard so many horror stories about how hard a doctorate is so that I don't want to put myself through that rigorous, time-consuming ordeal when I'm not sure that: 1. I have the time to do it. 2. It will help me. 3. It will help me help others. Thanks for the input.
I don't know the numbers (and I wish they were knowable), but there are many many doctoral programs that do not require a Master's at all, much less a thesis, for admission. This is usually because they offer their own Master's along the path to the doctorate, typically when certain qualifying exams are passed. As I've mentioned, for instance, my wife did not need an MA for admission to her Ph.D. program at Vanderbilt (although she had one), and she was given Vanderbilt's MA when she completed her four 36-hour qualifying exams. (Vanderbilt process: for each of the four subject areas, a month or so apart, they give you six questions to consider for five days. On the morning of the 6th day, you come in to the department office and roll a ceremonial die. Whichever number comes up, you then have 36 hours to write a 20-page paper on that topic. An archaic and, some there feel, barbaric procedure.)
The SJSU requirements were there had to be a "culminating experience." One way to do this for the MBA was a business simulation, the other was a thesis- which was to produce a strategic business plan. The two profs that taught the capstone course (which facilitated the experience but was not actually part of the class) each took one of the two methods. So, if you didn't want to do the thesis, you did the project. However, I was never asked to produce my thesis for any of the DBA programs I researched. I would think the thesis requirement is more on a school by school basis, and isn't necessarily a requirement for all programs. I worked with a Hah-vahd MBA. He was not required to write a thesis. Of all places that I thought would require a thesis, that would be the place.
I chose the non-thesis track for my Master's degree, and the Ph.D. program to which I'm in the application process "strongly prefers" a Master's degree for admission. There wasn't a requirement of a thesis, but they did want to see a writing sample. I supplied a copy of a 30 page paper I had written for a required class, and the admissions committee seems satisfied with that. Bruce
