What is life like during your Masters?
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When you are finishing your degree, or even before, it is common to wonder about the future, the next steps and, often, an answer that seems appropriate is to do a postgraduate degree, such as a master's degree.
This type of training can guarantee greater mastery in the area of activity and provide better opportunities for growth in your career, but before following this path you need to know what to expect from life as a student in a postgraduate course, such as a master's degree.
In this text, we will help you better understand what a master's degree is, what the routine of this course involves and, consequently, what life is like for a student during the master's degree.
What is a master's degree?
In Brazil, postgraduate courses are lato sensu, a Latin expression meaning "in a broad sense", such as specialization programs and designated courses, such as the MBA (Master in Business Administration), for example.
In this modality, training is more focused on professional practice and the job market.
There are also stricto sensu postgraduate courses, a Latin expression meaning "in a specific sense", which refer to master's and doctoral programs.
In this case, the courses are more geared towards academic life, because they are focused on research and scientific production.
Life during the Master's degree
Because it requires more in-depth research and analysis of the chosen area, a master's degree usually lasts longer than specializations, for example.
The course lasts, on average, 24 months. However, the workload may change depending on the operation of the programs and the number of credits.
Typically, in the first year of the course, theoretical subjects are studied. Afterwards, the student begins to develop his/her dissertation.
This means that during the master's degree it is necessary to set aside a good amount of time to read, research, write and participate in scientific events, in addition to classes, guidance and practical activities.
Planning is essential to reconcile other activities with the master's degree and be prepared to make sacrifices at times, such as not going out with friends or seeing family.
There is also the financial side, after all there are expenses throughout the course that must be taken into consideration.
A master's degree is an investment in the future, meaning that the rewards can only be reaped after completion, and sometimes not until some time later. It is important to be aware of this before deciding to pursue it.
In the long run, of course, the result can be well worth all the waiting and sacrifices. With your master's degree in hand, you can take a public service exam, teach in public and private institutions and/or work in research.
So, can you imagine what life is like during a master's degree? If you still have questions, a good tip is to talk to people who have taken or are taking the course.
And to read more about this and other topics, just visit our blog!