A bit confused on European Education system

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pd
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:11 pm

A bit confused on European Education system

Post by pd » Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:56 pm

I'm considering applying for some programs in Europe for the Fall. (I'll have a Physics BS in May.) However, I'm a bit confused about how things works wrt grad school over there and want to confirm that I got it right:

When you have a BS, you apply to "diploma" programs, which are essentially equivalent to a thisis-based Masters.
Once receive your diploma, you apply to a PhD program.

Is this correct? (Put another way, I don't apply to PhD programs, but to diploma programs since I only have a BS.)

Imperate
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Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:01 am

Re: A bit confused on European Education system

Post by Imperate » Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:28 pm

Yeah, you wouldn't be eligible to start a PhD straight away in Europe with just a BS. In the UK the masters is 1 year long, most other places in Europe the masters/Diploma is usually 2 years long.

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Helio
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Re: A bit confused on European Education system

Post by Helio » Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:49 pm

sometimes they allow you to enter with a BS, but you will have to hand in a master thesis on the way.... IMPRES does that sometimes

tokamak
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Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 4:40 pm

Re: A bit confused on European Education system

Post by tokamak » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:42 pm

pd wrote:I'm considering applying for some programs in Europe for the Fall. (I'll have a Physics BS in May.) However, I'm a bit confused about how things works wrt grad school over there and want to confirm that I got it right:

When you have a BS, you apply to "diploma" programs, which are essentially equivalent to a thisis-based Masters.
Once receive your diploma, you apply to a PhD program.

Is this correct? (Put another way, I don't apply to PhD programs, but to diploma programs since I only have a BS.)
I studied in europe as an international student.....first of all there is no fall, some institutes may have admission seasons ....most of the time you just send an application letter with your CV as an email attachment for a specific phd topic....that's how simple it is..I got a couple of interviews based on just those two things, unfortunately my lack of language skills kept me out coz they wanted me to do some teaching duties and I needed to speak french.......also no need to spend tons of money....and also stipend is much better than (except in germany, but then again germany is cheaper than france or switzerland) most of the american universities offer and usually no need to work.....in germany you may be required to complete a master's first because in their experience master's from other countries are not upto their standards.....scandanavian countries are the best in terms of money, but you wouldn't wanna live there....I was in sweden for almost a year and I hated it....

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secander2!
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Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 12:25 pm

Re: A bit confused on European Education system

Post by secander2! » Wed Mar 18, 2009 5:24 am

I believe you actually can do a Ph.D. directly (skipping the masters) at UK schools. I know for sure that Oxford at least allows this.

pd
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Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:11 pm

Re: A bit confused on European Education system

Post by pd » Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:16 pm

Thanks, everyone.

tokamak: In particular, I'm looking at Austria. I did research there for a few months and really enjoyed it.



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