Choosing Postgraduate Life
Postgraduate
Q&A
No one should embark upon a postgraduate degree with misconceptions about what it is really like. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before committing to postgraduate study. “Is this just my escape route away from the working world?” In the working world, it’s easy to get burned out and think about getting out of employment. Some working adults fall into the trap of jumping at full-time postgraduate study as a ticket away from their nine-to-five desk jobs. However, it is not advisable to think of a postgraduate course as a getaway from your working life. Although you may be free from your boss, office and workload, you will be faced with examiners, the library and deadlines instead. Neither is it recommended for you to pursue postgraduate studies simply because you don’t want to look for a job yet – more often than not, those who do so find that they have just prolonged their period of indecision.
“Am I under the impression that it will be just like my undergraduate degree?” Every stage of education differs when it comes to learning styles and expected outcomes. Before you undertake a postgraduate degree, make sure you are aware of what you are getting yourself into. Do not assume that taking a postgraduate qualification will be a similar experience to your undergraduate degree. For example, a research-based Master’s would be quite different from an examination-based Bachelor’s degree with minimal research components. Even if you are not pursuing a postgraduate qualification by research, the assessment and teaching methods may be significantly different from how you carried out your prior study. Postgraduate qualifications are pursued in different formats compared to undergraduate study and you should take note of these variances.
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2020/21
