How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??
Taking the next step in your studies? Here's where to talk about postgraduate study and courses.
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How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??Basically in terms of exam preparation do people usually go through a book or two and the lecture notes and then practice using past papers? Or it it much more difficult than undergrad level?
In terms of undergrad level most of my revision (same course but at undergrad level at a different uni) was done using past exam papers and lecture notes and seminar questions and was enough to get ~80% overall. The questions change from past papers but the structure and method for answering most questions are usually very similar if you know what you're doing.
I know grading at postgraduate level is more strict but in terms of the content that's likely to come up in exams, are they more or less similar to those that came in the papers before or are exams usually have completely different questions to previous ones?
Also more specific, I'm due to start the course MSc in Accounting and Finance at LSE in October and wanted some advice from people who've done the course before regarding the above in addition to how it is at other places.
Thanks.Last edited by loyan; 15-03-2012 at 16:03. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??I don't think the step up is normally that big. Masters degrees at some universities use modules from 3rd/4th year undergraduate courses, so the difficulty is essentially the same. I'm sure it varies from subject to subject and from place to place though, as does the difficulty of undergraduate courses.(Original post by loyan)
Basically in terms of exam preparation do people usually go through a book or two and the lecture notes and then practice using past papers? Or it it much more difficult than undergrad level?
In terms of undergrad level most of my revision (same course but at undergrad level at a different uni) was done using past exam papers and lecture notes and seminar questions and was enough to get ~80% overall. The questions change from past papers but the structure and method for answering most questions are usually very similar if you know what you're doing.
I know grading at postgraduate level is more strict but in terms of the content that's likely to come up in exams, are they more or less similar to those that came in the papers before or are exams usually have completely different questions to previous ones?
Also more specific, I'm due to start the course MSc in Accounting and Finance at LSE in October and wanted some advice from people who've done the course before regarding the above in addition to how it is at other places.
Thanks. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??You will probably have to do a lot of your own reading and self study. A lot more assessments may be essay style so there's less spoon-feeding. They're more about your ideas, thoughts and analysis. The dissertation is certainly longer. I think masters degrees are a lot more intensive as well.
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??This is the main 'hard' part. It's not like an undergrad project that you a get whole year for, and it can be just as hard.(Original post by Shelly_x)
Huge apparently. You have about 2/3 months for your dissertation o.o; -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??Work load - Slightly more intense than final year undergrad
Content - About the same as final year undergrad
As someone has suggested, it's really just a chance for you to explore more topics and enhance your critical/analytical thinking. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??I think it depends on the university and the subject. The best way to know is to take graduate level classes during your last undergraduate year, so that you know what you are getting into. It also heavily depends on your background, graduate school may even be a step down in difficulty if you switch to an easier subject, e.g. economics or applied statistics after pure mathematics. Each class will demand more work, the assignments will generally be longer, but you also generally take less classes each semester of graduate study.
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??Can anyone tell me, are Masters more focused in subjects, and require more understanding? Because I've been rather disillusioned with my degree so far, there's still the crappy "memorise XYZ" modules which I thought I'd seen the last of in GCSE
Bits of it have been about understanding and thinking, and I do well in those, but I just don't want to do these learn-by-rote modules any longer.. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??Well let's face it any subject involves rote learning. You can't operate in any field without having in mind at all times the fundamentals.(Original post by Architecture-er)
Can anyone tell me, are Masters more focused in subjects, and require more understanding? Because I've been rather disillusioned with my degree so far, there's still the crappy "memorise XYZ" modules which I thought I'd seen the last of in GCSE
Bits of it have been about understanding and thinking, and I do well in those, but I just don't want to do these learn-by-rote modules any longer.. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??It is significantly shorter than a PhD and is completed in 2-3 months rather than 2-3 years. It may or may not include original material. Basically it is a long paper about some advanced aspect of your subject. For instance it may involve reproducing some analysis on a new dataset or something like that.(Original post by ReTurd)
can someone explain to me what a dissertation is? is it just a project? like a PhD? (this may sound stupid, but i genuinely don't know)Last edited by Ghost6; 16-03-2012 at 13:04. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??(Original post by Mbob)
I don't think the step up is normally that big. Masters degrees at some universities use modules from 3rd/4th year undergraduate courses, so the difficulty is essentially the same. .Don't you find it a rip-off they are doing this to people?(Original post by ghanglish)
Work load - Slightly more intense than final year undergrad
Content - About the same as final year undergrad
The two posts I quoted above are true, so this would be wrong I'm afraid.(Original post by Ghost6)
It is significantly shorter than a PhD and is completed in 2-3 months rather than 2-3 years. It may or may not include original material. Basically it is a long paper about some advanced aspect of your subject.Last edited by kka25; 16-03-2012 at 13:07. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??(Original post by Architecture-er)
Can anyone tell me, are Masters more focused in subjects, and require more understanding? Because I've been rather disillusioned with my degree so far, there's still the crappy "memorise XYZ" modules which I thought I'd seen the last of in GCSE
Bits of it have been about understanding and thinking, and I do well in those, but I just don't want to do these learn-by-rote modules any longer..
And which course are you doing? -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??Visit the Uni first and see how they conduct the lectures. You would know because I would think universities have their own approach.(Original post by Architecture-er)
Can anyone tell me, are Masters more focused in subjects, and require more understanding? Because I've been rather disillusioned with my degree so far, there's still the crappy "memorise XYZ" modules which I thought I'd seen the last of in GCSE
Bits of it have been about understanding and thinking, and I do well in those, but I just don't want to do these learn-by-rote modules any longer.. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??ok, thanks. I heard that a PhD is about 60,000 characters or words ( i cant remember) which is about a book, but i know it may vary quite a bit.(Original post by Ghost6)
It is significantly shorter than a PhD and is completed in 2-3 months rather than 2-3 years. It may or may not include original material. Basically it is a long paper about some advanced aspect of your subject. For instance it may involve reproducing some analysis on a new dataset or something like that.
roughly how much would be the range be for a dissertation? -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??The number of pages/words depends on the subject. A typical math PhD dissertation is only about a 100 pages long. Humanities dissertations are significantly longer, sometimes over 1000 pages.(Original post by ReTurd)
ok, thanks. I heard that a PhD is about 60,000 characters or words ( i cant remember) which is about a book, but i know it may vary quite a bit.
roughly how much would be the range be for a dissertation? -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??I suppose it depends on the meaning you give to "advanced". To my knowledge master's dissertations often consist in the application of methods learned in one of the graduate classes or some kind of literature review of recent contributions. Perhaps some combination of the above.(Original post by kka25)
The two posts I quoted above are true, so this would be wrong I'm afraid. -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??Most likely words, definitely not characters(Original post by ReTurd)
ok, thanks. I heard that a PhD is about 60,000 characters or words ( i cant remember) which is about a book, but i know it may vary quite a bit.
roughly how much would be the range be for a dissertation?
My Masters thesis was 10,000 words, but I only ended up writing a bit over 7,000.
Masters theses usually range between 8-12,000 max -
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Re: How big is the jump up from undergrad to Masters in terms of workload??Perhaps, it depends. The idea of a Masters is to give you in depth knowledge of a particular aspect of a subject, so it might be appropriate to use certain modules from undergraduate courses. I wouldn't expect it to be exclusively like that though.(Original post by kka25)
Don't you find it a rip-off they are doing this to people?
The fourth year of a science degree is the 'masters' year, so I don't see a huge problem with overlapping content. Most people wouldn't do 4 year undergraduate and then a stand alone masters on top.
