[BORGUSX]

What is the different between a first professional degree and a doctorate degree?

Is it true that in order to get a doctorate degree that it would take about 7 years of being a full-time student after undergraduate study?

I found that people can bypass their study in order to obtain a master and instead start on working for their doctoral, but I thought you need a master degree before you can get a doctoral degree, but how is this possible?

I'm so confuse about the different types of degree there are and I'm going to be a college freshman this fall! i don't know what I really want for a career yet!

[marrymehyori]

Depends on what is meant by a "professional" degree - a JD or a MD? Those require 4 years undergrad, a couple of years of graduate school (equivalent to a masters degree - should be doable in 2-3 years if you're a full time student, a lot more if you're part time), then a couple years of residency (i.e. apprenticeship).

A doctorate often requires you first get a masters degree (depends on the program - check with the specific college you're interested in), which is generally 2-3 years for a full time student, 4-7 years for a part time student. Then most Ph.D. programs in the US will require a year or two of course work followed by the thesis, which often takes 2 or 3 years to complete. Indeed, few professors will pass off on a thesis unless the candidate has been in the program for 4 or 5 years, no matter how quickly the thesis may get to the point of being passable. They took that long, and by golly they're going to make YOU take that long! I've known a couple of people who have had that experience.

So 2-3 years for masters + 4-6 years for Ph.D. It's a long road, but if you can get that job as a professor, and then get tenure, it's worth it. Depending on your major and what school you teach at, some professors even START in the 6 figures, such as with finance majors. I wouldn't say you should expect it, but it does happen.

[BORGUSX]

For example, I'm planning to get a PhD or PsyD in the field of psychology, so how many years of college is that including undergraduate school if I was a full-time student? What is coursework and the thesis process?

[marrymehyori]

For example, I'm planning to get a PhD or PsyD in the field of psychology, so how many years of college is that including undergraduate school if I was a full-time student? What is coursework and the thesis process?

You should be able to complete your undergrad in four years if you are diligent.

At Georgia State (not saying it's the best psych school, I have no idea which schools are best for psychology, but it's the school I'm attending so I use it as an example), a masters in psychology is 33 credits. If you're full time, you should be able to complete a minimum 21 credits per year (9 in fall, 9 in spring and 3 in summer), some people can do more. If you skip the summer semester, it would take you two years to complete, otherwise 1.5 years.

The Ph.D. program at GSU is 62 credits beyond the masters degree (implying the MA is required, although it doesn't explicitly state that it is):
* 33 semester hours of program requirements and electives
* 9 semester hours of Reading for the General Exam (Psyc 9980)
* 20 semester hours of Doctoral Dissertation Research (Psyc 9999)

Which is probably a good 4 years.

So you have 4 years undergrad, 2 years masters, 4 or 5 years Ph.D.

You should ask around for what the good schools are for psychology (I have no idea myself) and visit the websites for those schools. Psych departments will usually be in the "liberal arts college" or "college of arts and sciences" or some such, so look for that. Then from there look for the undergraduate and graduate catalogs and look for a psych department website. Most college departments these days have websites that give you the requirements and course work, just gotta go find them.

[BORGUSX]

Are there any books/tips that you guys recommend about if getting an advanced degree worth the trouble going through graduate school?!