If you’ve recently finished your degree and will study as a post-grad from October, it’s time for a little break, maybe to earn some money and relax for a while. There is no harm in preparing for your master’s degree though, at least get some preliminary things out of the way before you start. More will be expected from you as a post-grad and things will be very different. Here are things you can do now in preparing for your master’s degree.
Core Reference List
Look at your core books and paper list now, and maybe buy one or two that may look as if you’ll be using them a lot; however, realise that the reading expectations will be different. Whereas your undergraduate degree was about sticking with a couple of core books, that will not be the case here. Preparing for your master’s degree doesn’t mean reading everything over the summer, but it helps to at least be aware of the content of some of the core sources.
Develop Study Skills
A night class or online course may be a good idea to develop your study skills. If you are doing a master’s in a single year, it will be a steep learning process and you will have enough academic work to do that it becomes effectively a full-time job. Preparing for your master’s degree means getting ahead of yourself and understanding what awaits you.
• “Read smarter” in understand the importance of not reading books and papers cover to cover
• Develop organisational skills and time management – you’re going to need them as term starts and you hit the ground running. We really cannot emphasise this enough
• Critical thinking – depending on the quality of your undergraduate course, you were generally not expected to analyse too much but were rewarded for it where you did. At master’s level, you’ll fail if you don’t
Presentations
Preparing for your master’s degree is, in effect, preparing for life as an academic. Amongst other things, this means delivering presentations to fellow researchers. You may have done one or two as part of your undergraduate degree and often in groups, but as a postgrad you’ll be expected to research a problem or issue and compile your own presentations which will include PowerPoint slides and photos. Some people get nervous and tongue-tied so it may be a good idea to practice delivering speeches.
Your Dissertation
Nobody is suggesting you should start it now, in fact you probably couldn’t because neither the subject nor the title would have been authorised – but based on your academic interests and skills, you should have an idea of what you want to write about. If not, then you could save yourself time later by thinking about it now, jotting down a few ideas and looking through the guidance to see if it is viable.