What if I already have a master's degree?

Some of our applicants are admitted with a master's degree from another institution. These students can petition, after a semester of satisfactory work in the Department, to receive credit for up to eight relevant half-courses, the equivalent of a year's worth of work. However, many students in the program don't bother to apply for this credit, for the following reasons: it is exceedingly rare for a student to be exempted, by virtue of prior work, from any courses required by the department. In addition, the bulk of time in the doctoral program is spent on research projects, and the department very rarely exempts students from these. Even students coming in with a master's degree take between 4-6 years to complete the program, though an incoming student with more education may naturally be more focused at an earlier point in their program. By the time a student has finished all requirements for the doctorate, including research requirements, s/he will have many more than the required minimum number of credits.