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I've been wondering about what to do after college, and have a few questions I hope you can answer.

This fall I enter a college to begin working on my bachelors degree. I would really like to get a PhD later at MIT or University of Michigan (for aerospace engineering), is it possible to go straight from a bachelors degree to working on a PhD?

And if I have to get a masters first, would it be a better idea if I take advantage of how many colleges allow you to spend five years to get both your bachelors and masters at once? What if I could get sophomore standing due to credits for 8 AP classes?

By Itempest (Itempest) on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 01:12 am: Edit

I don't think you necessarily need a Master's Degree for a PhD. Especially if you're extremely forcussed and know what you want to do very early.

By Coureur (Coureur) on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 01:20 am: Edit

You don't need a Masters to get a PhD. If PhD is the degree you want there is no point in going for an intermediate degree first. Just apply directly into the PhD programs when you finish your bachelors.

By Mitwannabe (Mitwannabe) on Sunday, March 14, 2004 - 01:22 am: Edit

hey mattman, im actually in a very similar situation, except i dunno whether i wanna do a phd in aerospace engineering, or do something in combining engineering with an mba. my email's in my profile if u wanna chat about stuff. aerospace engineering is my passion, and i definitely wanna study it (or physics, but i wanna engineer) in college, and I'm just wondering what I should do after my 4 year degree.