A master’s degree offers a lot of different benefits to students. They can boost earnings by as much as 45 per cent but there’s much more to an MA or MSc than how much money it will make you.
A master’s lets you explore a subject that you’re passionate about to a much greater depth, which means you can really sink your teeth into the meat of the topic. They’re also essential if you want to go into academia!
With current world events, many people are taking an online master’s degree. This is uncharted territory for most of us: what is it like studying a Master’s online? What do you need to know to be able to succeed at this big undertaking?
In this guide, we’re going to give you some essential tips that can help when you’re getting your master’s degree. Whichever facet of studying you want to know about, we can help you.
Read on and let’s get started!
1. Explore Your Online Learning Environment
Getting to grips with new technology can take time and when you’re studying for your master’s degree, you’ll want to spend as much time studying as possible. Most universities will give you access to the online learning environment before the course starts in earnest, which means that you have a good amount of time to explore this new technology.
Getting a handle on what it’s like means that you have to spend less time sorting it out when your course has started: you can get your head down and start studying instead!
Don’t wait until the last minute to start learning how it works. Make it your top priority: once it’s done, you will never have to learn how to use it again.
2. Budget for Your Course
While you may not be studying your Master’s degree in-person, you’re still going to need to pay your tuition fees and have enough to support yourself. For many students, a masters student loan is absolutely vital as these can give you enough for both your tuition and maintenance costs.
Many postgraduate students also work to pay their way. This isn’t a bad idea but make sure that your job doesn’t take up too much of your time or you could find that it distracts from your course. You could also risk burnout if your work-life balance isn’t healthy.
There is also a good selection of charitable grants available for students but these are often only available to certain people. For instance, you may be entitled to access to a benevolent fund for a parent’s industry or you may be able to get money from a larger charity like the Prince’s Trust.
Charitable grants are often quite small, however, so don’t expect them to be able to cover everything.
Finally, you could also apply for scholarships or bursaries from your university, if available.
3. Don’t Be Scared to Ask Questions
When you’re studying a master’s degree it can feel as though you’re already expected to know everything. Your tutors will throw advanced concepts at you and you’ll have to deal with them: you are, after all, studying to be a master of this discipline.
However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t ask questions. It also doesn’t mean that you’re incompetent or stupid for needing to ask questions. Imposter syndrome like this is very common in academia.
Everyone, even the most revered professors in your department, feels as though they are winging it sometimes.
This means that asking questions won’t be met with derision: in fact, your tutors will be very happy that you have asked a question rather than gone away confused.
A good academic, regardless of their level, should always ask questions that help them understand. Don’t be afraid to pose your question.
4. Pace Your Dissertation
Most master’s students will need to write a dissertation. These are often around 20,000 words in length and will usually be the longest thing that any student has written.
Writing your dissertation is a massive commitment and the university will give you a whole year to write it. This means that you should pace yourself: don’t rush to write it by the end of your first semester and don’t leave it until you’ve got one month of your degree left.
Make steady progress on your dissertation over the course of the year. Put aside a few hours per week to research and write it, as well as the rest of your coursework. You’ll find that regardless of any speedbumps you hit during your research that you’ll make smooth progress if you pace yourself.
5. Reach Out to Fellow Students
You might be studying remotely but that doesn’t mean that your peers aren’t able to act as support or that you aren’t able to act as part of someone’s support network! Studying for a master’s can be a very stressful time and it’s important that you support your colleagues during rough times.
Reaching out to fellow students can also help you in your work. For instance, another student might be able to give you some great recommendations for what to research for your latest paper.
There’s another big advantage to reaching out to the other students and that’s networking. You never know, the friends that you make on your remote course might turn into important professional connections further down the line. Put the effort into making connections now, even if you’re studying online.
6. Take Advantage of Virtual Office Hours
Sometimes you need to sit down with your professor for 20-30 minutes and really talk about where you’re having problems. Office hours and tutorials are a common part of in-person master’s degrees and you can take advantage of them while studying for your online degree.
Get in contact with your professor and book in Zoom or Skype office hours and take full advantage of being able to talk to your professor at length. Many students go through their entire degree without ever going to office hours but they can be a massive help: take advantage of them!
7. Read Everything You Need to
When you’re a master’s student, you will need to do a lot of reading. There’s no way around this: there’s a huge amount of reading to do in any master’s course.
While it can be tempting to skip some of the material, we would recommend that you ignore this impulse.
The required reading is required for a good reason: it can help you a great deal on your course and in some unexpected ways. Even if you know exactly what you’re going to be researching, reading around this area can shed more light on the topic.
8. Understand the Formatting Style
When you write your papers, you’ll need to follow a specific style. There are tons of different formats for academic writing including APA, Harvard, MHRA, MLA, and more. Knowing which one to write in is absolutely vital: getting it wrong will spell disaster for any paper that you write.
Don’t assume that it uses the same style as your undergraduate degree did either, especially if you’re studying at a different institution.
9. Ensure You Want to Study An Online Master’s Degree
Studying an online master’s degree is a big commitment, just like studying any other master’s degree. It will cost you a lot of money and take up one or two years of your life. If it’s not a subject you’re passionate about, it’s very easy to burn out while studying for your master’s.
If it’s not something that you’re passionate about, does it have some other utility in your life? For instance, will it help you get a better job?
Not every degree needs to be a passion project but you need to be sure of your reasons for picking this course. Know why it is that you want to study this and not another degree: what is it that attracted you to the course?
Prepare yourself for the commitment that is a master’s degree before you actually start working: understand the rigour and the investment that it requires. Only sign up to study one when you know it’s what you want to do.
A Master’s Degree Could Change Your Life
Studying an online master’s degree could change your life in many ways. It could help you earn more money, help you get a dream job, or just be an interesting way to explore your passions. We hope that you’re now feeling much more prepared for the course!
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