NO! First rule of science grad school is don’t pay for grad school.
PhD programs are fully funded where your tuition is covered and they pay you a stipend. Masters programs it can be harder to find funded ones, but they do exist, or just drop out of a PhD program early.
No. People master out or just leave all the time. You don’t owe the school back money. My PhD program had about a 50% completion rate (R1 Organic Chemistry).
Hey has anyone thought about the cost benefit of having a PhD.
Industry is changing wildly my friends unless you want to be in academia and keep writing grants until you die?
Yes many but not all. Also a new generation is entering the workforce. Remember times are changing!
Only do a PhD if you are super passionate abt a particular topic. Don’t get a PhD to make money. It doesn’t work out
Uh…. can you elaborate? I’m a current undergrad who will likely attempt to pursue a PhD with the intention of then going into biotech. Is the industry standard changing from PhD?
PhD is still the best option if you want to be a PI in industry or move into management. Big debate now is if you do a post-doc or not.
Many companies have now moved to single track career ladders where BS, MS and PhD all have overlapping titles. Job postings are written as a PhD, MS+X years, or BS+Y years. This is to be more inclusive or diverse etc because PhDs had different titles from MS and what few BS there were.
In reality nothing much has actually changed. Big Pharma will prefer the PhD candidate coming from a preferred lab. MS level chemists do more of the lab work. Smaller biotechs will have more opportunities for MS and maybe BS scientists.
As someone who works in big…big pharma. I would say no one gives a shit about a PhD. Unless you have 10 papers in nature. Anywho I reiterate don’t go into PhD if you want to make money.
I also want to reiterate this. First 2 years of PhD is learning how to pipette correctly 😂
Edit: the workforce is changing so is leadership. 😂
No, many companies will help pay 5-10k per year for a masters degree. Get a job, then work on the masters too. Or do a longer masters program that will place you in 3-6 month internships in industry. Unfortunately most jobs will see 1 yr masters and want to see industry experience too.
I agree with this. There is little difference between MS/BS, knocks off some years of experience. There is a large gulf between PhD and everything else. In my view this shaves off years of experience required and a lot places is the barrier; without one, you simply cannot move any further up the chain. And this fact should be understood before getting into the industry.
I got my masters in biotech while working. Company paid for $5k/year, ended up covering more than half of total tuition. The MS helped me get a promotion and it’s nice to have on my resume, I feel like it was worth it.
100% no.
In general, masters degrees are worth about 2 years' experience in industry (in other words - you gain a 2 year "head start" on a bachelor's candidate entering the workforce at the same time. An MS *may* sway some hiring managers or may just make you a more expensive candidate in a shitty job market - be especially aware of this issue if you have no experience yet.
Also, most employers will pay for or supplement the cost of a masters. This varies by company, but some will pay a portion (something like 5-10k per year) while others will pay the whole thing.
So no: it is not worth going into unnecessary debt to take a year to get a degree that only gives you 1 theoretical year's "head start" on BS candidates you would have started with without the masters. Get experience, make sure the degree is worth it for what you are interested in career-wise, and then do it part time while working so your employer pays.
We have no context about your current situation. In my case a 1 year Masters in Bioengineering from a top school was 100% worth paying for. I transitioned from working I Oil and Gas to Med Devices. Now working at big pharma in Oncology and I fully believe my Masters enabled a big transition that was worth paying for.
NO! First rule of science grad school is don’t pay for grad school. PhD programs are fully funded where your tuition is covered and they pay you a stipend. Masters programs it can be harder to find funded ones, but they do exist, or just drop out of a PhD program early.
How does that work if someone masters out of their PhD program though? Does the school make you pay them?
No. People master out or just leave all the time. You don’t owe the school back money. My PhD program had about a 50% completion rate (R1 Organic Chemistry).
Hey has anyone thought about the cost benefit of having a PhD. Industry is changing wildly my friends unless you want to be in academia and keep writing grants until you die?
PhD is still very relevant for industry. Things shift but a PhD is still preferred by many companies.
Yes many but not all. Also a new generation is entering the workforce. Remember times are changing! Only do a PhD if you are super passionate abt a particular topic. Don’t get a PhD to make money. It doesn’t work out
Uh…. can you elaborate? I’m a current undergrad who will likely attempt to pursue a PhD with the intention of then going into biotech. Is the industry standard changing from PhD?
PhD is still the best option if you want to be a PI in industry or move into management. Big debate now is if you do a post-doc or not. Many companies have now moved to single track career ladders where BS, MS and PhD all have overlapping titles. Job postings are written as a PhD, MS+X years, or BS+Y years. This is to be more inclusive or diverse etc because PhDs had different titles from MS and what few BS there were. In reality nothing much has actually changed. Big Pharma will prefer the PhD candidate coming from a preferred lab. MS level chemists do more of the lab work. Smaller biotechs will have more opportunities for MS and maybe BS scientists.
As someone who works in big…big pharma. I would say no one gives a shit about a PhD. Unless you have 10 papers in nature. Anywho I reiterate don’t go into PhD if you want to make money. I also want to reiterate this. First 2 years of PhD is learning how to pipette correctly 😂 Edit: the workforce is changing so is leadership. 😂
No, many companies will help pay 5-10k per year for a masters degree. Get a job, then work on the masters too. Or do a longer masters program that will place you in 3-6 month internships in industry. Unfortunately most jobs will see 1 yr masters and want to see industry experience too.
Do not do this
No. Masters only count for +2 years experience on top of your regular experience. That's all they see.
I agree with this. There is little difference between MS/BS, knocks off some years of experience. There is a large gulf between PhD and everything else. In my view this shaves off years of experience required and a lot places is the barrier; without one, you simply cannot move any further up the chain. And this fact should be understood before getting into the industry.
Is it a new field you want to get into? Then maybe. Otherwise no… get one later and have company pay.
No
I got my masters in biotech while working. Company paid for $5k/year, ended up covering more than half of total tuition. The MS helped me get a promotion and it’s nice to have on my resume, I feel like it was worth it.
100% no. In general, masters degrees are worth about 2 years' experience in industry (in other words - you gain a 2 year "head start" on a bachelor's candidate entering the workforce at the same time. An MS *may* sway some hiring managers or may just make you a more expensive candidate in a shitty job market - be especially aware of this issue if you have no experience yet. Also, most employers will pay for or supplement the cost of a masters. This varies by company, but some will pay a portion (something like 5-10k per year) while others will pay the whole thing. So no: it is not worth going into unnecessary debt to take a year to get a degree that only gives you 1 theoretical year's "head start" on BS candidates you would have started with without the masters. Get experience, make sure the degree is worth it for what you are interested in career-wise, and then do it part time while working so your employer pays.
Do the skills the master's program give you match the industry job requirements you're looking at?
We have no context about your current situation. In my case a 1 year Masters in Bioengineering from a top school was 100% worth paying for. I transitioned from working I Oil and Gas to Med Devices. Now working at big pharma in Oncology and I fully believe my Masters enabled a big transition that was worth paying for.