Originally Posted by xo.monica

reeves, shut up.
you're just jealous that I have such awesome inspiring best friends that have faith in me, and that I have even MORE awesome mathematical skills.

... just shut up! :(
you're mean.

Yeah that's it. Or I've seen your math in action. I forget. :p

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you also have to complete a Bachelor of Education degree (usually 1 year) before applying to a teacher's college in Ontario.

Originally Posted by reeves

Yeah that's it. Or I've seen your math in action. I forget. :p

-_-
The only reason I sucked when I was learning that math was because it was hard and stupid.
AND because Mowicz was teaching it!!
He is SOOO intimidating, doing math grad school and stuff. :(

I totally kill high school math, though.
I'd pull it off.

Originally Posted by KayakerDan

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you also have to complete a Bachelor of Education degree (usually 1 year) before applying to a teacher's college in Ontario.

Really??
=/
What's a Bachelor of Education degree, and where can you get one?
:O

Originally Posted by KayakerDan

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you also have to complete a Bachelor of Education degree (usually 1 year) before applying to a teacher's college in Ontario.

If that's true, its new. My friend is a Math teacher in Toronto, in his 5th year teaching, and went straight to teachers college with a Comp Sci degree.

I thought your B.Ed. was what you received after completing teacher's college?

Yeah, first you complete your undergrad degree. Then you go to teachers college and get a bachelor of education.

To become a certified teacher of the Ontario College of Teachers, you need to

• have completed a minimum three-year postsecondary degree from an acceptable postsecondary institution
• have successfully completed a one-year acceptable teacher education program

Originally Posted by Kevin S

Then you go to teachers college and get a bachelor of education.

Ah, that's where I got things mixed up!

Originally Posted by KayakerDan

Undergrad = 4 years
Masters = 1 or 2 years
PhD = 2 or 3 years

I think it's possible to go from Undergrad to PhD, but that's just a rare case.

The years vary really by program. For example there are some engineering masters I believe that are one year. Looking into a masters of science you're looking at two years, whereas a PhD would run you around 4 years.

Just a random fact to consider when you do decide... it's that the more education you have, the more likely you'll be overqualified!! Employers may not necessarily want that...

Doesn't the length of a Ph.D vary quite a bit depending on how fast you finish your research and thesis?

Just a word of caution regarding teachers college: There is currently a surplus of teachers (which would hopefully fix itself 4 years from now, but just a word of caution).

What does this mean? Well, for instance, my girlfriend is an "Intermediate-Senior" Math and Physics teacher (meaning she can teach from grade 7-12). Being a rare combination, she should be in demand...and most other years she would probably have gotten a job very quickly, but it's been a rollercoaster ride, haha. She's applied to at least 60 or 70 different high schools and finally got put on the supply teaching list just last month.

So if you're afraid of hearing things like "180 people applied, 3 were interviewed and only 1 gets hired" then heed my warning!

--------------

Jeremy: I'm pretty sure it varies, but it's at least 2 years...this is because there is usually still some sort of course-based requirement, and the designation of a PhD is highly subjective...there are things like the dreaded thesis defense, that prove to complicate matters.

Not to mention, if I were to go so far and be a PhD candidate, I'd milk the university for all it's worth (and stay a solid 4 years) because I can either finish in 2 years, and continue learning for 2 more years, or I can finish in 4 years, ultimately knowing the same amount of information but having been paid for 2 extra years.

And That's assuming you finish your PhD and are succesful, which some people tend not to be even after 4 years.

Its also noteworthy that unless you complete a Post Doctorate you wont be able to research at any University in Canada (not sure about the United States). So for those of you who'd like to become Professor's, it's a long long road, and even after that it doesn't remotely get easier, what with just getting a position and hoping to be an assistant professor...:crying_a nim:

I don't think more degrees makes you necessarily overqualified - obviously it depends on the job, but more and more careers out there require higher degrees. We can all forget about jobs at McDonalds now, because we're already overqualified for that... but I would think we're going to university so that we don't end up with a job at McD's. :]

I'm going for a masters, because what I want to do sort of requires it -- but I think I would've gone to graduate school no matter what I chose to do.

Originally Posted by xo.monica

Does anyone know what professions require which degrees?
I know to be a professor, you need a Ph.D, obviously.

Not completely true. You can teach with a Masters, and in some cases a BA, but it depends on the discipline (languages, for example you can often get away with not having a Masters or PhD).

As for the list of what professions need which degrees, the lists are long, and it depends on the industry, the location, and if you have relevant work experience.

Some government jobs require PhDs. Some need only a bachelors. A lot of degrees that involve classifying quantitative data you need at least a Masters, from what I've seen. If you want to be a principal in a school you need a Masters. etc etc.

There is no one single list.

Also, for a lot of Masters programs, it is actually 12-20 months, not 1-2 years. A lot of "one year programs" require three terms of study, which can be consecutive or non-consecutive.

Like Danielle's pointed out, it depends on the program and the institution of study. (I take it you're asking particularly in regards to teaching?)

The 'short answer' is that it depends how much expertise is required. Whatever level of the subject you're teaching, you typically add 2-4 years of 'extra study' to teach it.

-If you're teaching grade school, you only need high school...but now because almost everyone has high school, the requirement is university even though you don't necessarily need university knowledge to do so.
-If you're teaching high school, you need a 3 or 4 year Bachelor's degree (4 is preferred)
-If you're teaching something in university which requires a solid highschool foundation (like say, Physics, Chemistry, etc.) you need an undegraduate degree + 4 extra years of study, usually amounting to a PhD. (In some cases, such as a collegiate level, you only need a Masters)
-If you're teaching something in university which doesn't require a solid foundation (I could be wrong, but like let's say History, which in many cases is not cumulative), then a bachelors is enough
-If you're teaching graduate level (Masters) courses, you need a PhD.


Why do you need 4 extra years of study? If you've gone above and beyond the material, then you have a better mastery of the material and are better equipped to answer questions.