Rationale
Direct continuation from a master’s degree to a doctoral plan of study is a desire of many students pursing graduate study. Many students who begin a master’s degree in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute decide that they wish to continue from their M.S. directly into the Purdue Polytechnic in Ph.D. To ensure that internal “applicants” are qualified and evaluated in a manner consistent with the review of external candidates to the Ph.D. program and to follow university policy, the described policies outline the procedures for requesting continuation to the Doctor of Philosophy in Technology.
Type of Master of Science
Procedures for students in the Purdue Polytechnic Master of Science (and its related concentrations) differ from those required for students in Master of Science programs in the college’s departments (specifically, AT, BCM, CIT, CGT, and IT). The following sections describe the procedures of these two types of M.S. students within the Purdue Polytechnic.
It is assumed that regardless of M.S. degree being obtained students wanting to continue to a PhD obtain thesis from their respective M.S. program. Additionally, all students wanting to continue directly from an M.S. to a Ph.D. in Technology should make the decision and begin the respective process outlined below at the beginning of their candidate semester (i.e., the beginning of the semester in which they intend to graduate).
Procedure for Students Pursuing the AT, BCM, CIT, CGT or IT M.S. degrees
Students pursing an M.S. degree in AT, BCM, CIT, CGT or IT wishing to continue in the Doctor of Philosophy in Technology program are required to apply to the doctoral program through the Graduate School’s Apply Yourself web site. Because departmental M.S. programs are different programs from the college master’s, students must apply to the Technology Ph.D. program (even though those departments are within the college).
Thus, these students must provide all requisite application materials and pay the Graduate School application fee. If the GRE was taken for admittance to the respective college departmental M.S. program, the applicant will not be required to take the GRE again. Students should provide a copy of the scores to the Purdue Polytechnic Graduate Studies office to be included in their application materials (if the scores are over three years old).
Students Pursuing the M.S. in Technology (or any of its respective concentrations)
Students who are enrolled in the Master of Science in Technology program are required to complete a Purdue Polytechnic Grad Studies Form 4, which records the student’s name, major professor, thesis title, M.S. graduation date and cumulative M.S. GPA. The applicant must also include a copy of their approved M.S. thesis proposal. The Purdue Polytechnic GS Form 4 and thesis proposal is routed to the major professor and committee members for signature and positive or negative recommendation for admittance to the Ph.D. program. Finally the department head signs the Purdue Polytechnic GS Form 4 and routes it to the Purdue Polytechnic Graduate Studies office.
Once received by the Purdue Polytechnic Graduate Studies Office, the form is reunited with the applicant’s M.S. application materials. This application package is routed to the respective department’s Ph.D. review committee for acceptance or denial into the Ph.D. program. If accepted, the Purdue Polytechnic Graduate Studies office notifies the Graduate School of the student’s acceptance and matriculation into the Purdue Polytechnic Ph.D. program.