Master’s degree with a research component is a great way to get hands on experience and enter into your field of interest. Lets talk about how to do it well.
1. Find a lab/professor to do the Master’s degree.
Once you choose a school you want to apply and start the application process, you might realize they ask to find a supervisor (professor) who you will be doing the Master’s with.
An important thing here, which is repeated in our articles, is that you choose a lab and a professor who works on what you are interested in and care out about. We cannot stress this point enough since this will largely determine whether how you feel about your Master’s degree once you get it.
Use the DoR search or visit the university/institution’s department pages to find a lab that works on projects you find fascinating. Contact the professor to convince them you are the student for their lab. Here are some tips on how to email a professor.
2. Apply for the Master’s program.
Each school has their application process. Follow them faithfully.
Also don’t feel obliged to apply to one position. Just like applying for undergraduate programs, apply to all that fits your criteria and you can afford (application fees).
3. Apply for funding.
If you have done undergraduate research AND have a publication(s), you have superb advantage in doing well in your Master’s. You can read more about the benefits of undergrad research here. If this is the case, apply for Master’s scholarship (state/province, and federal). Getting a funding will open up resources for the lab and show your competence for what comes after Master’s.
But if you do get funding for Master’s, don’t sweat it. There is always a next chance.
4. Course work.
Most of us do not apply for graduate school in the ‘delightful’ anticipation of taking classes like in the undergrad. Depending on your appetite for course work choose your department/program wisely since the required course work differs largely from department to another; even within the university. Remember, “more course work = less time for research”. Having said that if the required courses genuinely interests you and will complement your Master’s, why not?.
We will assume a 2 year/4 semester Master’s program. Generally, students take all their courses during their first year, warm-up on the research portion and really focus on the research on the second year. Some distribute it evenly through out the two years. Which strategy you take is really a preference. HOWEVER, it is not advisable to take most of your courses on the last two semesters. You will be occupied with finishing your research (You will be working on it until the last moment. I have never seen a student not trying to add more data to their thesis towards the end) and writing your thesis. Not advisable to take most courses towards the end.
5. Oral presentation.
Many Master’s program will require you to give an oral presentation. Pro-tip: practice with your lab mates and fellow students. Ask them to ask you a lot of questions. You feel ready and be ready after third or so time of practice runs.
6. Thesis.
The final frontier to your journey. Everyone gets tired of writing their 50 – 100 page long thesis at some point. The trick is, you guessed it, to start writing NOW. Easier said than done so let me get concrete on how to simplify this.
The thesis is like a research article. The departmental guidelines may vary but the fundamental components of the thesis are the same as an article: introduction (background), results, discussion, and methods. Tackling the introduction early on will save you a lot of time and frustration of writing later on since it requires literature search on background, which cannot be done overnight. If you start by writing out a clear rationale behind your research and slowly add up background, writing the other sections will feel easy in comparison. Get started on just on the introduction and you will already be on top of the stuff by the end of your Master’s.
Don’t worry too much about making your thesis perfect. It won’t be and honestly it doesn’t have to be.
These are the broad strokes of what you will have to do to get your Master’s degree and some tips. I did not cover ‘Research’ since it quite obvious and the tips will vary depending on which field you are in.