Grad School

[Telume]

So, I'm starting grad school in about a year.

I'm still taking classes at undergrad for pre-reqs and stuff.

And well, anyone experienced enough at grad school to largely tell me how it goes?

How does it compare to undergrad level?

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

No school for me anymore, sorry! Don't think I'll even have to teach Japanese this year. There's an institution called Kansalaisopisto here in Ylivieska though. This month, I'll start studying English and Spanish there again. I was about to take also Russian but probably won't since it's a relatively new language for me and I still need to recover from my hospital phase. Additionally, I have privately started to rehearse some advanced mathematics to find again the skills I had in high school.

Good luck, Telume!

[Perfect Chaos]

I feel you man, I'm trying to study for the PCAT right now to hopefully apply to NSU's College of Pharmacy. Which school are you going to and what are you getting your master's in?

[Telume]

I'm at FIU atm, going for a Masters of Science in I.T. (I'm still undergrad right now, which is why I asked, but I'm done, just going for pre-reqs at this point).

[Jeff]

I'm in the process of wrapping up my Bachelor's myself (Comp Sci, and I graduate in the spring!) and want to go for my Master's sometime down the road. My girlfriend just started working on her Master's, and from what I know so far, it's expensive. Her classes cost about 3-4 times as much as mine, but for what it's worth we go to different schools. She's at the University of Baltimore, and I'm taking online classes from UMUC. Still though, they are both part of the same university system, so I guess I can expect to pay about what she's paying.

[ChobiChibi]

The Masters system in the UK is different to the U.S., so I'm not much help either! However, there generally was a bigger workload, shorter deadlines, but less modules overall. Then again, mine's a Master of Arts, so it's still probably going to be completely different to yours again XD And mine was only a year long.

Arts are the best subjects anyway :3

[Oslo]

Congrats on getting accepted into a new program! I completed two master's degrees, one humanities-oriented and the other interdisciplinary, and the programs were very different from one another. If you want to know what to expect, your best bet would be to pick the brains of recent alums from the program you'll be completing.

There are a few similarities among most master's programs, though. In general, you'll probably find there's less emphasis placed on grades. Some programs use a pass/fail metric; in others, basically everyone receives grades in the A range, though you might score lower if you really shit the bed. Additionally, graduate programs teach with specificity rather than breadth in mind. Graduate studies isn't about developing an overview of your discipline, since you presumably would have already accomplished that during your bachelor's degree. Instead, your research will likely focus on creating a new contribution within a niche corner of a sub-discipline. Finally, master's programs generally require a greater investment of time and can be quite stressful. Expect to put in long days. My master's thesis nearly destroyed my brain. Completing it and then successfully defending it was the single biggest relief of my life.

But on the bright side, master's programs are a great way to meet like-minded peers who will join you when you want to drink yourself stupid at the campus bar after a long day of bullshit. Good luck!

[Magmar]

Oslo really summed it up quite well!

As overwhelming as graduate school is, if you prefer writing papers over taking exams, you'll be just fine