how much harder is a masters compared to a degree?

kar

Yep that's a taught masters. My friend did one in the same subject and now works as a social worker. You are going to be taught how to be a social worker basically so i'ts not research. My friend really enjoyed it but did find that there was lots of deadlines etc all co-inciding as others have already said but i do think that that depends on the insitiution. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it.

sockospice

spl2nh wrote:

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.

I'm doing that at the moment. It's basically the three year degree course taught over two years and marked at Masters level. Teaching methods depend on where you're studying, some courses are apparently better than others from what I've heard.

[Deleted User]

Well, I did a 3 years genetics degree at liverpool uni - unsurprisingly, it was quite hard. Being a glutton for punishment, i went on to do an MSc in 'Biosystems and Informatics', also at Liverpool. Got to say, I found the first term a doss. I'd reached a fairly efficient revision style by the end of my degree so I didn't find it hard at all, and got excellent marks (unlike my degree). The second term became a time-management challenge - the difficulty was up a bit, but the amount of work shot up faster.

I think a masters is in one way easier - we had a class of 13 students and a group of 4 lecturers.. compare that to my degree when we had 200 students and 8 lecturers. You also get treated far more like a grown up.

I also don't think it's in the university's best interest to fail people, as much as it is in an undergraduate degree... I don't think i worked THAT much harder but i recieved significantly better marks on my masters than my degree.

fran_from_willesden

ringo_24601 wrote:

Well, I did a 3 years genetics degree at liverpool uni - unsurprisingly, it was quite hard. Being a glutton for punishment, i went on to do an MSc in 'Biosystems and Informatics', also at Liverpool. Got to say, I found the first term a doss. I'd reached a fairly efficient revision style by the end of my degree so I didn't find it hard at all, and got excellent marks (unlike my degree). The second term became a time-management challenge - the difficulty was up a bit, but the amount of work shot up faster.

I think a masters is in one way easier - we had a class of 13 students and a group of 4 lecturers.. compare that to my degree when we had 200 students and 8 lecturers. You also get treated far more like a grown up.

I also don't think it's in the university's best interest to fail people, as much as it is in an undergraduate degree... I don't think i worked THAT much harder but i recieved significantly better marks on my masters than my degree.

I went to Liverpool too! (Although I did leave in 2003). I did what was commonly called Map Colouring (Geology and Physical Geography) for my first degree. My first semester for my masters was also quite laid back...I wish I could say the same now!!

[Deleted User]

I had a little chat with my brother (who's doing an MRes at Birmingham, first degree at York) and he also agrees - he also thinks the marking schemes seem easier now - I think so too.

There's probably a bit in it about your attitude - you realise that you're shelling out a lot more money (I paid about 3 grand) and that it wasn't a great idea to skip lectures or turn up with a hangover like it was in the 1st/2nd year.

I left Liverpool in 2002 btw. It rocked, and I miss it, but London is more fun now (but the nightlife sucks in comparison). There's nowhere like the Raz!

flikkerty

I would say that it depends on which subject. I did a philosophy one about 10 years ago but seemed to have more free time than those who did computer science - they were working night and day. I also had friends who did social work related courses and got on with it ok. It depends on what you want to do with it. Is it for 'pleasure' or to make you more employable? Or so you can earn more?
Degrees are expensive these days aren't they..

inkie

I did B Sc Hons in Health Care Studies and then went straight on to M Sc Advancing Clinical Practice - both taught, both p/t and must say that I did not notice much of a difference.

fran_from_willesden

inkie wrote:

I did B Sc Hons in Health Care Studies and then went straight on to M Sc Advancing Clinical Practice - both taught, both p/t and must say that I did not notice much of a difference.

Maybe because they were part time??

Doing a full time MSc is far harder then doing it part time. We have part timers on my course and they only come in for 3 modules a year. They don't have the added pressure of 7 major coursework deadlines in 6 weeks plus thesis research.

Ringo......agree with you on the Raz front. Did you ever get a membership card? I got mine laminated it was so special. Took me ages to get one though. I'll be using mine again when I go back next month for the Grand National!

greyster

Depends on a lot really. The main one probably being what university you go to.

If you're staying in the same school of the same university doing the same subject I guess you can pretty much determine the level of difficulty. As soon as the school/university changes you can't be sure.

Just remember it is a year (12 months not 9).. so a) there is only so much they can teach but b) they have to pack a lot in, so there is an intensity of study change.

I went from a Plymouth Computing BSc (Hons) to a Lancaster Management MSc course. Plymouth was about 20 in the league tables for Computing while Lancaster is joint #1 for Management. I noticed the difficulty change during the taught part of the course although one thing made life a lot easier; the fact you have 3/4 months just to do the dissertation while the last year of a BSc was a blood bath, juggling dissertation/coursework and exams.

Good luck. I really enjoyed my Masters.

Ah - I read the post about the marking scheme. Thats an important point. With a MSc its not so hard to fail but don't dwell on this point. Not many employers look for a MSc qualification, they'd rather you worked for an extra year from what I have seen! If you did your first degree with the attitute that the mark you get is the most important thing and not how much you took in, then you should try and change. As I said its much easier to pass + employers not looking for this qualification so the most important thing is that you do take in everything and get as much as you can out the course. Then the extra year may really work in your favour.

[Deleted User]

Never got an elusive Raz membership card, but i knew people with them. I once had the misfortune to fall on the floor in there. Yuk. Many a wasted night in that place

I've also had the privilage to teach a lecture on an MSc course(at Cardiff Uni), set and mark a workshop and homework. I expected a lot from the students and marked quite harshly. But hey, i'm mean.