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When considering
whether or not to take a post graduate course you should ask yourself
the following types of questions.
- Am I good enough?
Do you have the correct skills, qualifications and
experience the course requires? Ask your current tutors for an honest
opinion about your ability to cope with the subject and level of
your chosen course.
- How competitive is the course at entry point?
Use prospectuses (use the link below to find postgrad
prospectuses on the web) to find out what selection criteria (academic
as well as post-experience) to see how you match up to the entry
requirements Find out as much as possible about the content, teaching
and assessment methods.
- Am I motivated enough?
The non-completion rate for Masters and Doctorates
is high. It can be difficult to sustain self-motivation over a long
period of time.
- Are you committed to the hard work that will be needed for a successful
result?
- Would you rather study full time or part time?
- What is the main reason for choosing your course?
- Would you be more suited to a vocational or academic course ?
If you are attracted to a field of study that is
substantially new to you, it would be prudent to look at your Vocational
Profile to see how congruent it is with your intended course.
- Can I afford it?
It's not just a question of affording the fees but
taking into account the cost of being a student, and the loss of
income because you are not earning.
No postgraduate field of study automatically attracts funding .
Various Research Councils, professional bodies and grant-making
trusts or charities provide competitive awards, depending on your
choice of subject and institution; and your employer may sponsor
you if your study complements your work.
Increasingly, postgraduate students work part time for financial
reasons. In any event it pays to compare costs at different universities
as they can vary substantially. For more information, see the postgraduate
section of the Careers Information Room and relevant databases.
- What are the potential sources of funding?
- What is the content and subject matter of the course?
How is it delivered and assessed (consider timetable,
amount of staff/supervisor-student contact hours + private study
expected)
- What level of support is available from tutors (taught course),
from supervisor (research), and in terms of IT, library and laboratory
facilities, as appropriate?
- Is it recognised by a professional body (if vocational course);
does it give any professional exemptions?
- Is the qualification a requirement for any specific career you have
in mind?
- Is it recognised abroad, if appropriate?
- What is the location of the institution that delivers the course?
Here you will need to ensure that it is somewhere
you are happy to live for the duration of the course.
- How successful is it in terms of value for money?
One way of judging this is by looking at destinations
of alumni: how many successfully entered employment? What type
of employment and with which employers?
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