by Zeynep Bayhan

Created on: January 19, 2009   Last Updated: January 06, 2011

Briefly, it is the first degree that you would earn when you continue with graduate studies after receiving your undergraduate degree. It provides specialization in the area of study you choose. When you complete your undergraduate studies, you earn Bachelor's degree. Based on your field of study, you receive either a degree of Bachelor's of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor's of Science (B.Sc.). When you decide to continue with graduate studies, the next degree you are going to earn is the Master's Degree. Depending on your field, you earn either a Master's of Arts degree (M.A.) or a Master's of Science degree (M.Sc.). If you are a student in the field of social sciences, such as Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, History, Political Science, and Economics, you are going to receive a M.A. degree. If you are studying natural sciences, the degree you are going to earn is M.Sc. Almost all graduate schools require applicants to hold a Bachelor's degree.

Master's degree differs from bachelor's degree in many aspects. The first one is its duration. While the road to a Bachelor's degree usually takes four years of study, Master's degree generally requires two years of study. In many European countries, it only takes one-year of study. The intensity of the course work also differs. The requirements by professors for Master-level courses increase. Students have to read more, engage themselves in serious research, and have to produce well-written, well-thought papers, and projects. In order to receive their Master's degrees, students not only have to complete their classes, but also have to write and defend their theses. Students usually complete their classes during the first year of their studies, and focus on their master's thesis in their second year.

Holding a Master's degree is also a plus if you are thinking of applying for graduate schools. Although it is not compulsory to hold an M.A. degree in order to be accepted as a doctoral student, once you are in a graduate school, your Master's degree will save you a lot of time and energy. First, students with M.A. degrees would be familiar with the hardships of graduate study, and they would know how to study for graduate level courses. Moreover, since students can transfer their credits from their Master's , the duration of their doctoral studies would be lessened. (This happens when you remain in the same discipline for both Master's and Doctoral studies). Hence, they would complete required credits, and embark on their doctoral dissertation earlier than other students who started doctoral studies without an M.A. degree.

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