I went straight from undergraduate into a PhD program and skipped the master's step. I was incredibly fortunate to find a supervisor who thought master's were a waste of time and was happy to state my undergraduate study was sufficient for him to take me on. That outlook and position saved me a tonne of money and a year of life.<p>I say this because he was damned right and wish more people would just say master's are not a requirement for pretty much anything. Prior to getting into a program "early," I was going to go do a master's just to be allowed to apply to PhD programs. The courses i was looking at offered me nothing but a badge. I found those who wanted to go do master's were, more often than not, just lost people who thought it was the natural 'next thing to do' after undergraduate study; like they were in a video game and the master's was the next harder level to beat.<p>The only good thing I've found worth doing a master's for is to retrain and specialize, but I find this is more reflective of having not really utilized your undergraduate degree than anything else. It's a welcome second chance, but gosh, it's a racket far too often. F anyone who thinks you need one to do anything.