Nina, who studied English BA and Philosophy MA at King’s, continues to write about her experience of postgraduate study:
Welcome to Part II of my article about the difference between postgraduate and undergraduate study! You can read Part I here.
At postgraduate level, I developed experienced a closer relationship with my lecturers and became part of the research community of your department. As a postgraduate, you are invited to conferences, talks, reading groups and research seminars, and you receive notices about scholarship opportunities and essay-writing competitions.
MA students have their own weekly research seminar, in which you can present your own work to fellow students and some staff members. Then, there’s the research part of the degree in summer: this is the time to make use of the supervision you get for your dissertation work. You can consider these supervisions as one-on-one tutorials: you get a full hour with your supervisor to discuss your work, ask them questions about your topic or about how to proceed with your thesis.
In addition, I can’t stress enough how important it is, as an MA student, to make use of office hours throughout the academic year! The effort you put in going to speak with your lecturers in their office hours means that they get to know you better and you feel more comfortable in an academic setting.
I have really enjoyed the new opportunities and responsibilities that studying a master’s provided me and hope that you will enjoy your academic journey if you decide to become a postgrad!
For more information on Postgraduate studies, read Elenora’s blog post: Postgraduate studies: should I or shouldn’t I?
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