I am wondering what a MA leads to as you are all PHd students i presume you did a MA? was it worth it?

Is MA masters?
Nope didn't do one, usually only done by people with 2:1 who are struggling or 2:2 because you need it
Or if you are undecided whether to do a PhD
I don't think its v. common in people who got 1st in their under grad degree (although this is only my own experience)

I thought MA was a masters of arts. Seeing as a lot of us on here are science phds, not everyone will have done one.

Ah!

An MA or MLitt are generally required for PhDs in the humanities. I've done an MLitt and I would say (if you do have a choice)that it is definitely worth it. It really helped me get my head around theory and concepts which I'm using now.

Yes, and absolutely yes...I'm in the arts and humanities and wouldn't have known where to start PhD wise without doing an MA first.

I got a 1st (admittedly in 1926), and also a Postgraduate Diploma (26-27), and still did an MSc.

Every one in my dept did an MPhil first as far as I know - we are a mixed bag - borderline humanitities/science. It's especially common if you are changing fields. I couldn't have managed without mine - it enabled me to switch fields and also made me familiar with some of the research methods.

My PhD is in the humanities but I didn't do an MA. I sometimes think if I could have done a piece of extended writing as part of an MA first it would have been less of a shock to be writing a thesis now, but it isn't causing me too many problems.

An Master of Arts was an absolute requirement for my PhD, regardless of undergraduate grades. This is because many arts subjects are not available at undergraduate level and, (with the possible exception of arts practitioners who have stacked up a wealth of professional experience), an MA represents the only way a university can evaluate your suitability to go for a PhD in the subject. In other words, for many arts students the MA is an actual shift in subject rather than the next step up - making it not a matter of it being worth doing, but obligatory.

Quite different from scientific PhDs (again in my expereience) where they are only really used based on what I said above - generally - I'm sure there are exceptions

Different fields though

golfpro, just doing the maths here...a 1st in 1926? When you would have to have been in your early twenties?

Nope.. didn't do an MSc.

BSc and then straight to PhD for me.

Arguably just felt like 1926.