MA-only programs
I hope I don't come across as ridiculously ignorant with this.
I was looking at the graduate program posters from different universities on my university's philosophy department bulletin board. Although it is still too early to gauge how competitive of an applicant I'm going to be since I've only finished about a quarter of my major coursework, I already know that in terms of GPA, I'm not going to be that outstanding. I've been set on going for an MA first instead of heading straight to a PhD program, but a lot of these universities that are being advertised on the bulletin board are MA-only. I think that means they'll be less selective since you're not competing for spots with those applying for the PhD program, and they would offer some kind of funding for MA students, which is what I was hoping for since I'm an international student. However, would an MA-only program make it harder for me to apply for PhD programs if ever I choose this path in the future?
(edit for clarification since I'm not sure I was phrasing everything correctly)
What I meant with MA-only programs are those such as the ones in the philosophy departments of MU Ohio and Georgia State that don't offer coursework beyond the MA level.
I was looking at the graduate program posters from different universities on my university's philosophy department bulletin board. Although it is still too early to gauge how competitive of an applicant I'm going to be since I've only finished about a quarter of my major coursework, I already know that in terms of GPA, I'm not going to be that outstanding. I've been set on going for an MA first instead of heading straight to a PhD program, but a lot of these universities that are being advertised on the bulletin board are MA-only. I think that means they'll be less selective since you're not competing for spots with those applying for the PhD program, and they would offer some kind of funding for MA students, which is what I was hoping for since I'm an international student. However, would an MA-only program make it harder for me to apply for PhD programs if ever I choose this path in the future?
(edit for clarification since I'm not sure I was phrasing everything correctly)
What I meant with MA-only programs are those such as the ones in the philosophy departments of MU Ohio and Georgia State that don't offer coursework beyond the MA level.