Korean Job Discussion Forums

[timhorton]

What education or experience is considered beneficial for getting accepted?

Anyone have any advice on preparing for a Phd or Doctorate ( in education ) application process?

Does teaching experience in Korea add merit to an application?

What would you think makes a good candidate?

These programs seem really expensive. Anyone know of some good but cheaper programs?

thx

[Woland]

[timhorton]

Thanks Woland for the useful and interesting reply.

Does an applicant "need" a Master's degree to get accepted into a Phd/Doctorate if he/she has several years teaching experience
in Korea ( along with a BA and TESOL certificates ) ?

OR would an applicant 100% require a MA?

[tzechuk]

You don't need a master's degree to do a PhD. Heck, you don't even need a bachelor's degree to do a PhD... if you don't have a master's, they might want you to do a few basic courses taught at the master level, then they leave you do to your own research.

[mnhnhyouh]

I agree with Woland, there are three things to consider when deciding where to do your PhD.

1) the supervisor

2) the supervisor

3) the supervisor

the rest doesnt matter much.

h

[Woland]

I entered a PhD program without an MA (largely to get funding; this is given preferentially to PhD students). There's no requirement to have an MA, but requirements in the program will differ for people with different backgrounds. In general, without an MA, you'll be expected to do 3 years of coursework, with an MA, only one (This difference based on the idea that the MA has already covered two years of coursework).

The program I was in had an optional MA thesis along the way, which I skipped, so I have no MA at all. Looking back, I regret this choice. It would have been good for me to write a thesis before embarking on a dissertation. (NB to those ready to jump: I know that I'm using American terminology here and it sounds backwards to those from elsewhere. Sorry.) One reason to do the MA is to have something in hand should you decide not to finish the whole PhD.

If you are planning to go into education, you should look to find out whether the terminal degree a program offers is a PhD or an EdD (Doctor of Education). This may be important if you plan to work outside the US/Canada. In many places around the world, an EdD is held in lower regard than a PhD. It will be assumed to have required less work, even if this is not true.

I hate to disagree with Tzechuk, but I don't know of any place that wouldn't ordinarily require at least a BA to enter a PhD program. Exceptions might be granted to exceptional individuals, but I would imagine these are extremely rare. I've never come across it.

[tzechuk]

My Godmother (Canadian ) has an MA without any bachelor's degree. She had a bunch of diplomas and years of experience.. then she applied for an MA and was accepted onto the programme.

I have the INSEAD (biz school in France) prospectus in front of me, cos I am thinking of applying there for my PhD. They said that they have accepted students without any formal education onto their PhD courses, providing that they can demonstrate experiences in the business world with a portfolio blah blah blah...

But you are right - it is very rare for anyone without some sort of a degree to be accepted onto a PhD course.. you have got to be exceptionally gifted to do that.

I was just exaggerating a bit.. heh...

[ThePoet]

At the university I am taking my Ph.D., they require 81 post-graduate credits to complete the Ph.D., so if you do not have a Master's degree, then you take 81 credits through the Univervisty. If you do have a Master's, you get 30 credits completed before you even start (providing you had a minimum 30-credit Master's). However you do need a bachelor's degree before starting the post-graduate programs there.

They did not have an extensive pre-application procedure, but once accepted, you were required to complete a statement of intent (why you want your degree, what you will do with it, and how well prepared you are to do a degree by distance). I think this goes a long way to determine your writing ability, logical thinking, if you will succeed in the program, and if you are entering for the right reasons (for those of you who have never gone through the process of a statement of intent for a university - the right reason is never, officially, to make more money...it is more usually to contribute to the field and help others along the path of knowledge).

I am very satisfied with my choice to begin the progam and with the school I decided to go to.

You also asked about good, but cheaper programs. Most Canadian Universities are relatively inexpensive (compared to their American counterparts) for post-graduate programs. The same seems to be true of Australian Universities. However, I think the cheapest university I have seen is UNISA (University of South Africa) which, if I understand the fee structure correctly, offers a Ph.D. for under $10,000 USD. Perhaps I have misinterpreted the figures though. If you want to check it out, the URL is http://www.unisa.ac.za/

Another university throwing its hat in the ring for distance programs (Masters and Ph.D's is the University of the Philipines. The nice thing about there is, if there is a residency requirement, the Philippines are easy and cheap to get to during breaks, and on the weekends, beautiful beaches and wonderful diving sites are but 4 hours away. Their programs can be seen at http://www.upou.org/

Hope this helps.

Poet

[blackbird]

Applicants for the PhD in Education have notoriously low GRE scores. In fact, I think that those specializing in Early Childhood Education have the lowest average GRE scores of any discipline. Given the competition, it might be possible to score well enough on the GRE to qualify for a full or partial scholarship.