If you're currently finding yourself wondering whether to take on a postgraduate degree or not, you may have some questions similar to these below that PhD English Language student, Faye Chambers, can answer:
- When is the deadline to decide you want to do a postgraduate degree?
I’m not sure there is any deadline really – different schemes may have restrictions but as long as you have a 2.1 or 1st at undergraduate I think you can start an MA course any time in the future, there is no need to rush into anything. I feel like I rushed into postgraduate studies and that might have been a mistake. To get the free MA by research the deadline was having a start date within 12 months of graduating for undergraduate research, so I deferred for three months and started in the January after I graduated. Because I ended up being rolled onto a PhD scheme the deadline for that was very sudden – I had about a week to turn around a funding application and get onto the course so had no time to really consider the decision.
- What kind of funding is available?
The standard government student loans are available for course fees and living expenses, up to 10,000 a year, but you can borrow less if you don’t need it all. The thing to consider with these loans is that you will pay them back alongside your undergraduate loan so may end up with larger payments each month, but that’s only once you are earning above the graduate wage threshold (currently 25000 a year).
- Why did you decide to do a postgraduate degree?
Probably for all the wrong reasons! I’m really interested in my subject area [English language] so I think I would have done some postgraduate study eventually, but I don’t think I would have gone straight into it from graduating without the pressure from funding or from lecturers. Our university offered a free masters to students who got a first, but on the condition that you had to start within 1 year of graduating. My grades were really good so I felt I would be wasting an opportunity if I didn’t take the scholarship. The same thing happened with my PhD – I was partway through my masters and PhD funding was offered to me, and my supervisor said she thought I was capable and that it was normally really hard to get funding, so I threw myself into it without really considering why. I am very lucky to have these opportunities but at the same time feel I’ve ended up on a path I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen for myself.
- I don’t feel ready to leave uni yet… do you think it would be a good idea to stay in education until I decide on what I want to do?
I think if you enjoy studying and have an idea that interests you for a research project then absolutely. There shouldn’t be so much pressure to have a career goal at the end of what you are doing – learning for your own enjoyment is a great thing to do. But if the only motivation behind staying on at uni is that you don’t know what else you want to do I think it would be really hard to manage, both in terms of passing the course and on your own mental health. There are plenty of ways to spend your twenties if you don’t know what you want to do. Try loads of different jobs out with no pressure and see if you like them. Or do any job at all just to get a bit of money together and use the funds to enrich your life outside of work. Do a bit of travelling. Pick up a new skill you have always wanted to try. I don’t think anybody really knows what they want to do for a career so just do what makes you happiest.
- How much academic support do you receive from your university during a postgraduate degree?
There are taught masters with set lessons more like an undergraduate degree, but with research degrees, most of the planning and work is done by yourself. Usually, universities recommend one meeting a month with your supervisor, and then you can email them questions. There are also courses run by the library and postgraduate team each week if you choose to attend, but these are optional and quite general study skills sessions. There isn’t a lot of contact time at all.
- Are there many opportunities to get your work published?
Yes, but you don’t need to be a postgraduate to have work published! You will need to turn your research into an article and submit this to a journal in your field. Most journals have online submission guides so you can format your work to match what they are looking for, and they will review it, then come back to you with a decision. I suppose being a postgraduate will help because you will have more practise at academic writing and see work from fellow researchers, but you still have to put the work into your paper separately from your uni work. Also, submissions are judged blind so what matters is the quality of the paper, and not whether you’re an undergrad or a professor. I would say the more common way to showcase your work as a postgrad is conferences. Our department has an annual conference, and the university-wide one is also once a year, plus there will be opportunities for visiting conferences from outside organisations and other unis.
- What was it like going from an undergraduate degree to a postgraduate?
The most difficult part is not having strict timetables and deadlines to work towards, whereas undergraduate courses have several modules and you might have work to hand in two or three times a year, postgraduate research is all reliant on one thesis. There are no lecturers asking to see work from you every few weeks so it’s very easy to put off work by going ‘oh I’ll do it next week’, especially when your deadline is three years in the future. Then what happens is before you know it half the time has gone, you’ve wasted it sitting in your pyjamas, and you have 80,000 words to write!
- Would I be able to work alongside doing a postgraduate degree?
Universities advise against it but I think you have to, in order to live. Unless you are fortunate enough to get a huge scholarship or have some money to one side, it would be impossible to live independently without working. I think it’s very important to get the balance right – I work 4 days a week which is probably why I’m falling behind on my PhD because I’m so mentally exhausted from working that I have no brainpower left on my days off! If you plan and manage your time well I think it’s possible to do both well though. Also, lots of universities offer teaching work which they will pay postgraduates for, and this is probably a good option for anyone thinking of pursuing an academic career, giving you experience as well as some cash.
- What piece of advice would you give to someone who has decided to take on postgraduate study?
I’d say if you have decided on studying at postgraduate level, organise yourself and manage your time well. Set mini-goals or deadlines which are achievable so you don’t feel like you’re struggling in a huge void. But I think you need to ask yourself one question before you start; if I could do absolutely anything in the world, and money and circumstances were no object, would it be this postgraduate degree? If the answer is no then you should probably weigh up why you are taking on this huge amount of stress and work for yourself!
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