Hi all

Two questions:

1) Which is considered the more prestigious degree - a PhD at University of Central Lancashire or an MA at Cambridge?

2) Is a PhD at University of Central Lancashire equivalent in stauture to a PhD at Cambridge?

Wanted to gauge opinions.

thanks all

Jesus wept, I hate these kind of questions...

1) Which is considered the more prestigious degree - a PhD at University of Central Lancashire or an MA at Cambridge?


A MA and PhD are different beasts, so I don't think you can compare them in this way.


2) Is a PhD at University of Central Lancashire equivalent in stauture to a PhD at Cambridge?

In theory, they really should be. However, there's a 'brand name' attached to a PhD at Cambridge (just voted the best university in the world, apparently), so you'd be a bit more likely to get a job in a certain subject area with the Cambridge badged one. Sort of like comparing a pair of New Balance trainers with Nike ones - people will go for the name. It's worth bearing in mind that the name of your external can be a mitigating factor, as can the number of papers you have published and the number of important conferences you have attended.

Come on guys - I'm after some responses on this one.
Any advice?

thanks

I think the difference in, say 'employability' between PhDs from Cambridge or Central Lancashire will be considerably smaller than the equivalent for undergraduate degrees.

Let's say you have a BSc, then employers will be considerably more likely to look favourably on a candidate who graduated from Oxbridge than someone with the same degree grade from a minor university, primarily because so many people have degrees these days and so the graduating institution becomes a way of weeding out competition.

For PhD, I'd wager that the originating institution would matter less to an employer since you'd be a qualified doctoral-level researcher, and plus there's fewer PhD graduates so the 'competition' from others is less important.

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Definitely Cambridge.

Do an MA at Cambridge, and if you want to then do a PhD you can do it at Cambridge, or at any other top uni in the world (much better than Central Lancashire). At that stage, you could probably get good funding too.

If you were comparing doing an MA at Cambridge to doing a PhD at say UCL, that would be a different question, as UCL is within the top 15 universities in the UK. But Central Lancashire uni may not even be in the top 100 in the UK (you would need to check).

A MA and a PhD are completely different.

Hey! These are two completely different degrees and as such are not comparable. Even if you have an MA is from Cambridge, you will not be able to apply for jobs that a PhD from Central Lancashire (or anywhere for that matter) would enable you to apply for (i.e. post-doctoral positions). If you were comparing an MA with an MA, then Cambridge has a much better reputation overall (obviously!). If you were comparing a PhD with a PhD then it would depend on the specialities that the two different universities offer, and the potential supervisors etc. All being equal, then again, Cambridge has a much better reputation. But the argument for choosing somewhere to do a PhD is a lot more complicated than just choosing the university that is higher in the league tables overall. I think you need to decide whether you want to do an MA, a PhD, or both, and then take it from there! Good luck with it, KB

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OK folks just two more questions from me that hopefully arent a pain to answer:

1) Is a Masters at Manchester beter than a PhD at Salford

2) At PhD level does the institution where the degree is taken matter less rather than at Master's level where the opposite is true?

Thats all from me!
cheers everyone.

I don't know why you can't figure this out for yourself, especially based on the answers below! You cannot compare different levels of qualification like this. An MA and a PhD are completely different beasts! If you have an MA you cannot apply for jobs that require a PhD. If you have a PhD you obviously can apply for jobs that only require an MA but you will likely be seen as overqualified. An MA is a one-year taught degree and a PhD is a 3 year research degree. They are completely different so stop asking these ridiculous questions!

Personally i don't think the rankings matter with science subjects at PhD level. I think it matters a little bit more at undergrad level (if you don't intend to continue your studies). The reason i didn't go to Cambridge at undergrad was because of money worries, i could have got in. But the reason i am not going to Cambridge for a PhD is because of PhD projects and department specialisations and reputation.

When you get to PhD level every department is so specialised- you can't compare. If i want to do a certain subject then there are universities lower in the ranking tables that are far better and far more universally renowned than Cambridge for that particular specialisation. I think it is really good to find a good university with a proven track record, and check where the PhD students end-up in the end, how many papers the group get out and the quality of them, the reputation of your professor/supervisor in the field, all those things are important, but for a specialised topic this doesn't correlate with university ranking tables.

It depends on the topic, and of course your interest will be in the actual projects available. If you intend to go for a job afterwards that doesn't relate to your science area then yeah the average joe on the street will think Cambridge is more impressive (even if it is not in that particular area).

these are the two questions i want answering if poss! thanks all!

1) Is a Masters at Manchester beter than a PhD at Salford

2) At PhD level does the institution where the degree is taken matter less rather than at Master's level where the opposite is true?

Thats all from me!
cheers everyone.

I think i already answered the questions, but maybe written more concisely (and only in my opinion)

1) No- in general most people will see a PhD as higher than a Masters despite the institution
2) Yes- as i said earlier- the institution, by league table rankings, doesn't matter as much for a PhD since league tables don't tell you which university is best at your specialisation. If you go to a university that isn't good at your specialisation then yeah that matters because you wont do very well. If you are going into industry research then yes it does matter more at Masters level which university you went to because of elitism.

If your looking for specific info about Manchester and Salford then i haven't got a clue sorry.

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If it's a choice between MA at Cambridge or PhD at Central Lancashire, go for the PhD. Why add on an extra year of study if PhD is your final aim? A PhD outranks Masters no matter where you do it.

If it's a choice of where to do your PhD (assuming offers from both), then obviously Cambridge. That said, I'd caution that by saying you should have a good look round the departments first and meet the people you'll be studying with and your potential supervisors or tutors. I would then go for whichever you felt most comfortable with.

It may be a more down to earth environment say at Central Lancashire may suit one or two people better.