how much harder is a masters compared to a degree?

spl2nh

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misskool

Are you doing a taught masters or a research masters? A taught masters is a lot of work, lectures, classes with essays and most of them will require you to write a dissertation. Most masters are nine months, so it will be rushed.

Barcode

I suppose it depends on:

(i) Is the MA in the same subject as your BA? I can just imagine somebody going onto the MA and then doing badly if they are not familiar with how to construct an argument. It has taken me about two years to be able to use words like 'a-priori' in the proper context, so for somebody with not much prior experience, I can see that they might find it really difficult.

(ii) Depends on how well you did in your undergrad degree? My MA offer is conditional upon getting a 2:1 or 1:1, presumably, because that's what I need to cope with the course.

(iii) It's going to differ from institution to institution? Mine will be a research MA, so I've a dissertation of about 15,000 words, a few essays and exams. I treat my degree like I do a full-time job, so find it difficult to believe that the MA will be a massive jump from this come October.

melancholly

masters courses usually require much more independent work than in an undergrad degree - it may not be necessarily much 'harder', but you be expected to use your own inititive a lot more, rather than being given more help from tutors.

i think the conditional offers do indicate that you need to be good at the subject to continue with it to masters level, but it's having the motivation to do it as well. generally speaking you will be being compared against other masters students who got very high grades on their undergrad course - so while it may not seem much harder, you may need to work harder to gain the same grades since the peer group should all be very capable (does that make sense?!)

Gem_

The general feeling is that an Masters is the same amount of work as a Ba but done in only 1 year - having done one I would tend to agree!

They really are a full time job and you will find you have a lot less time than with an undergrad. I worked 20 hours a week during my undergrad, easily, working 10 hours a week during my MSc practically killed me.

It does really depend on what the subject is (and what undergrad you are comparing it to). Science courses are going to be a much heavier time and work comitment than non science (but then that is the case at undergrad as well).

If you give us some more info about the specific course/ subject then there is probably someone on the board who can give you better answer.

HTH

G

fran_from_willesden

I'm doing a Masters now in Environmental Engineering (taught). We have block modules so we have a week of lectures then a reading week to do coursework/notes/research. At the moment there aren't enough hours in the day to finish all of our work!

In a week, I've gone from having one piece of coursework due on the 3rd of March (worth 30% of a module), to having work due on the 17th (30%), 20th (75% of a module), two pieces due on the 24th (one worth 50%, the other 10% of my final dissertation work), plus two pther pieces due in April and two exams to do! I'd definately agree that it's like doing 3 years of an undergraduate degree in 12 months!

good luck

fran

DJ1UK

I have just completed my masters last year. It was a taught masters over 9 months, then 3 month dissertation period. Lectures were also most days and covered 9-5 with 1 or 2 hour breaks in the middle.

I would say it is a lot of work - maybe not much harder, but usually covering new topics and it depends how you work. It was usual to have at least 3 projects / essays / coursework’s running at the same time and usual to have multiple deadlines on the same day.

A lot of it is down to the student completing independent research - and so it takes up most of your evenings as well. Basically I had a lot more social time at undergrad level than post grad level.

It is a big decision to make, I wouldn't say it increases your employability drastically, but it is down to the individual to see if they want to push themselves further (academically).

DJ

readingsaver

It seems there are quite a few ways of getting your Masters degree. Agreeing with some on here it is mostly about your own work. Going off and researching and a fair bit of presenting in either presentations or essays or alike.

I myself am doing a 4 year MPhys in Physics, but I didn't graduate at BSc. So basically, I do 4 years of work and end up with an MPhys. This of course makes me an undergraduate so still get to pay 'normal' tuition fees. :rolleyes:

ronaldmacdonald

Gem_ wrote:

It does really depend on what the subject is (and what undergrad you are comparing it to). Science courses are going to be a much heavier time and work comitment than non science (but then that is the case at undergrad as well).
G

I would second that, some masters are less "intensive that others" - and by god you will know if you get one of the "intensive" ones and you have been used to 3 years of undergraduate slacking lol

ladywood

I'm a lecturer and teach both undergraduate and masters. There are several kinds of masters - research masters which are basically a year long independent study with a large dissertation to do, "advanced" masters which assume the student has done an undergraduate degree in the same subject and "conversion" masters (though we are no longer allowed to call them that!) which are in completely different subject to the original degree. All tend to require 2:1 or above for entry which reflects the level of ability needed.

All of them are more intensive than an undergraduate degree - usually a year. The conversion type may cover similar material but will do it more quickly and expect deeper understanding.

The key difference in them all is the depth of understanding and critical ability expected. At masters level we would expect all work to be critical, to evaluate sources and make judgements (no just repeating what it says in the source!). We'd expect students to be able to assimilate material more quickly and to be able to select and apply methods to different situations. We'd expect an element of original research in all masters - obviously more in a research masters than a taught masters.

Overall I would say it is harder but more stimulating if you are interested in a subject because it is more focused and you can really get to grips with a topic.

spl2nh

Wow, thanks for all your replies. I think I'm begining to realise that its harder, but not that much harder. I have been accepted on an MA in Social Work (2 years) but I honestly couldnt say if this is a taught subject or not. My degree was in Social Policy so is kind of similar. Thanks for all your info.