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[phdny]

Hello All,
I know that some schools will not accept the application of some one who already has PhD for another PhD.
Would you please tell me if Ivy League schools do that.
Also,which schools of the top one according to http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges
accept applying for second PhD

[daniel_von_flanagan]

If you are basing your decision of where to go to school on these rankings, then you are not ready for your first another PhD.  - DvF

[mountainguy]

The OP may be a spambot, but I'm going to reply anyway.

I know of only one person with multiple PhDs. I, for one, could not fathom going through the whole process again, but I've never heard of a university prohibiting someone from earning a second doctoral degree just because they already had one. Their statement of purpose and letters of recommendation would probably get special scrutiny, as the admitting department would likely want to know why this person wants to acquire expertise in a second field.

As for your other questions, well, read the rest of this board.

[verysneaky]

You seem to feel you are facing some kind of competitive disadvantage, and I'm sorry about it, but this plan is not likely to work. You will have to find another solution.

Here's a blurb from Harvard's GSAS application, the only one I've seen to address your question directly:

"Persons holding a PhD or its equivalent, or who have completed most of the work required to earn the PhD elsewhere, may apply to a PhD program in the Graduate School only if it is an unrelated field of study. In view of the large number of excellent applicants for the limited number of places in the Graduate School, preference for admission and financial aid will be given to those who have not already had an opportunity to receive a doctoral degree here or elsewhere."

This outlook is going to be pretty typical among highly ranked U.S. schools: if they think you are simply trying to upgrade or update your current Ph.D., they will turn you down and give the offer to someone who really wants the training.

If you feel you are facing specific disadvantages due to the lack of recognition accorded your Ph.D., maybe you should give more information about your situation, and people might be able to help you think of alternatives. This is probably not a good plan, though.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

I've never heard of a university prohibiting someone from earning a second doctoral degree just because they already had one.

Actually, it is pretty common policy.  The usual rule of thumb is that if you are looking for a credential in a very very close field (eg Statistics and Biostatistics) then it is not acceptable; if it is in a somewhat-related field (eg, Physics and Biostatistics)  then the right solution is to get a masters in the second field; if it is in a completely distinct field (eg, Art History and Biostatistics) then it is OK. - DvF

[phdny]

Hi
Actually , am working on my PhD , am in the middle of the way , world- known universities will not accept credits done in another school , so transferring whatever credits I have done is not good idea , I thought that I could finish my PhD in my current school, and have some publications and have my professor recommend me to better school
my school has rank 90' nationwide .the idea is just to do the first phd for the sake of publications and recommendation ,some of you will suggest to use the credits to get masters frommy current university and then pursue phd in a better school do you think this is workable
I got masters in computer science   
but electrical engineering is my favorite subject
please give me examples of combo that you have seen
my objective of attending reputable school is the NAME
I know that us whatever I work on but also the name is important factor in finding a job

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Actually , am working on my PhD , am in the middle of the way , world- known universities will not accept credits done in another school

Most PhD programs, even the fancy ones, will accept course transfer credits from a graduate program from another R1 program, even one rated near the bottom of the top 100 (which BTW is still very good).  However, if those credits are used for another degree then you obviously don't get to use them again.

the idea is just to do the first phd for the sake of publications and recommendation

This isn't going to work if you want another PhD in a close field from another school, sorry.  For example, if you are getting your PhD in Computer Engineering (part of CS departments at some schools, and part of EE departments in others) no reputable EE department  will then let you get a PhD in this field from them.

,some of you will suggest to use the credits to get masters frommy current university and then pursue phd in a better school do you think this is workable

Yes, this is exactly the way to do it.

my objective of attending reputable school is the NAME
I know that us whatever I work on but also the name is important factor in finding a job

If you hope for an academic job, or even a quasi-academic one (government lab, major company like MS or Intel, etc.) then they might care about the quality of your department but will not base their idea of what that quality is on US News.  - DvF

[phdny]

Thank you ,Yes for example Columbia accepts credits if they are not used for another degree but I thought that they will not transfer all 21 credits that I have done.but Princeton does not accept any credits
would you please give more info  ,it seems that finishing up my masters here and then going to better school is the best choice thank you vey much
do you think EE and CS will not work?
But they are two different departments in Columbia thanks

[daniel_von_flanagan]

Thank you ,Yes for example Columbia accepts credits if they are not used for another degree but I thought that they will not transfer all 21 credits that I have done.

This is possible, it depends on which courses they consider equivalent to courses they teach, there might also be an upper bound - after all, their name is on the degree that is eventually conferred, they have the right to decide what fraction of your courses they should teach for it to be a genuine degree from them.  7 courses is a year's worth of grad school, that's quite a large fraction of an MS

but Princeton does not accept any credits

The grad program at Princeton does not operate on a semester-hour basis, so there is no rational way to transfer credits.  You should be able tro take their exams after being there a year, while the average student might take 2 or more; this assumes that your 21 credits are relevant for their program.

Alternately, just consider programs which operate on a conventional semester-hour basis.

do you think EE and CS will not work?

I think this can be an excellent combination, but you will need specialist advice from the programs you are considering as to whether your particular MS-level work in CS will count for their EE program. That they are different departments might not be that important. - DvF

[phdny]

Hi,
I contacted McGill,they said that I can finish up my PhD here then pursue another PhD at McGill in the same field!
What do you think?

[cranefly]

You don't seem to be listening to the advice here. Why on earth would you want to get another PhD in a very similar or the same field? Because your current school is not highly ranked? What do you hope to do with your degree? 

McGill is in Canada--you do realize that the system there is different, right? And that you'd be paying foreign fees?

Why not just do your post-doc somewhere more prestigious? Excellent publications will get you a job, not just the name. I know plenty of people from Yale, etc. working in small, relatively unknown places.

For the sake of pursuing a job, you are probably better off spending the time learning to write in proper English if you hope for a North American job.

[luckychance]

I've never heard of a university prohibiting someone from earning a second doctoral degree just because they already had one.

Actually, it is pretty common policy.  The usual rule of thumb is that if you are looking for a credential in a very very close field (eg Statistics and Biostatistics) then it is not acceptable; if it is in a somewhat-related field (eg, Physics and Biostatistics)  then the right solution is to get a masters in the second field; if it is in a completely distinct field (eg, Art History and Biostatistics) then it is OK. - DvF

Is it worthwhile to do this as opposed to just learning the material on your own? I'm asking because I've thought about pursuing a master's in a 2nd area on the reasoning that I'd probably learn the material better and perhaps it might help me if I ever wanted to get a job in the 2nd area. I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap and I do already have a full-time faculty position to keep me busy.

[juillet]

Depends on the field.  I am getting my PhD in social psychology and public health, but I really want to do quantitative psychology and didn't know about the field when I was an undergrad.  If I could do it all over I would get a PhD in quantitative psychology or even biostatistics.  I'm instead planning on getting an MS in statistics or biostatistics to add to my PhD, in addition to pursuing additional research training in the quantitative side of psychology - so the goal would be to do a post-doctoral position that would allow me to earn that degree (and there are several in my field) or to write my own postdoctoral fellowship grant with the MS built in (also feasible).  I've discussed this with my advisor (who is a prominent quant researcher and methodologist in my field) and he seems to think it's a good idea. 

[luckychance]

Depends on the field.  I am getting my PhD in social psychology and public health, but I really want to do quantitative psychology and didn't know about the field when I was an undergrad.  If I could do it all over I would get a PhD in quantitative psychology or even biostatistics.  I'm instead planning on getting an MS in statistics or biostatistics to add to my PhD, in addition to pursuing additional research training in the quantitative side of psychology - so the goal would be to do a post-doctoral position that would allow me to earn that degree (and there are several in my field) or to write my own postdoctoral fellowship grant with the MS built in (also feasible).  I've discussed this with my advisor (who is a prominent quant researcher and methodologist in my field) and he seems to think it's a good idea. 

Interesting. How did you decide that that was worthwhile as opposed to learning the material on your own time? Was it that you would learn the material better? I'm guessing that you're hoping to get a discounted rate or complete tuition remission for the master's.

[sagit]

We got an application from a prospective graduate student wanting to do a second PhD in my department.  The prospective student's previous PhD field was too close to ours.  It looked to me like anyone with a PhD in the original field should be able to learn what they need to in my field to continue their research.

OP - If you don't have a masters yet, finish that at your current university and if you have research experience, publish.  From there, apply into a new PhD program knowing you'll probably need to start from scratch.  That's my advice.