What actual benefit is there over a PHD over a masters degree in physics?

Can somebody please tell me the answer?

If you have a PHD, you could be a professor.

I don't want to be a professor.

You can make people call you doctor

Why would I spent three years getting a phd solely to be called a doctor

Because you want people to call you doctor

You made that assumption that I would want to be called a doctor despite saying I don't want to be a doctor.

Then dont become a doctor. For real tho: More and more people are taking masters, so with a PHD you might be more likely to get a job.

You can become a professor with a Masters too. None of my proffessors are Doctors.

People without an MD, outside of an academic institution asking you to refer to them as "doctor" are morons. The only application a philosophy doctorate has is on a campus; hate to break it to you non-MDs, you're not "Dr." anybody.

We're talking about universities, not community colleges.

Wrong

He's not entirely wrong, a lot of the liberal arts teachers I've had (I go to a school with core requirements) are in the process of writing their dissertations and have to teach intro classes as part of being in the school's doctoral program. Haven't had a math or science teacher in that position though since normally the material can't be properly taught by someone who doesn't have a firm technical grasp on the topic.
A master's degree is typically to show that you have, unsurprisingly, a mastery of a topic, whereas a PhD is essentially a research degree. If you don't plan on doing research or publishing anything, then there's not much of a point in getting a PhD unless you just want to wave your dick in front of your lesser accomplished friends. But it's probably not worth going through the grueling hard work in that case. If you want a good industry job, just get your master's and you'll be fine.

Both prestige and a demonstrated higher level of accomplishment. It used to be that a BS meant you were trainable, an MS meant you were trained, and a Sc. D or Ph. D meant that you had made an original contribution to the state of the art in your field.

The real question is why wouldn't you

>He's not entirely wrong, a lot of the liberal arts teachers I've had (I go to a school with core requirements) are in the process of writing their dissertations and have to teach intro classes as part of being in the school's doctoral program.
Stem grad students sometimes teach 101 classes themselves as well.

You will live pretty comfortably on your stipend in a phd program, probably not so with a masters

This is why you should desu. At my uni (top 5 EE) an MS might not provide much funding, maybe half tuition. A PhD student on the other hand gets full tuition paid for and at least $28000 stipend per year. Hell even if you dont want a PhD, just apply for one and then when you get the MS on the way just drop out

>Hell even if you dont want a PhD, just apply for one and then when you get the MS on the way just drop out
I don't think your grade advisor would like that user.

A MS is just some coursework, maybe a thesis. You do it in 2 years or less. You pay tuition.

PhD is that same coursework plus several years of research totaling 5-7 years, ending with a dissertation and oral defense. You also have several more layers of written and oral exams. You don't pay tuition, you get a stipend.

MS gives you a bump in pay over a BS. PhD gives you a slight bump in pay over a MS, but the big difference is what jobs are open to you. If you're interested in doing research, either in academia or in industry, a PhD is basically required. That's really the only incentive for doing a PhD over a MS - research work.

I've had some as TAs but never actual professors.

Yeah if you plan staying in academia it is best to stick it through, if you just want to leave for good then it doesnt matter really. Many people leave PhD after getting MS. Some plan to do so from the start, some just have a change of heart and it is perfectly acceptable to leave if you dont think it is for you