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About to start a Master's program?
While some people feel excited about going back to school for their Master's degree, for others, it is terrifying.
Graduate programs are no joke, with one study finding that nearly 35% of graduate students dealt with anxiety!
As someone who's about to start the last semester of his Master's program, I've felt a LOT of anxiety. Thankfully, there were some things I learned during my program that made things much easier.
To anyone about to start their program, here are 3 things I wish I knew about taking a Master's degree program.
1. Start assignments early!
Many of us got away in undergrad with procrastinating on tasks.
As Master's students, we often balance work & school, so procrastination can make life stressful.
To avoid that, I used Google Tasks to get started early.
Here was my process:
Once I got a syllabus, I'd put all tasks into Google Tasks with a due date 3 days earlier than the actual date.
I'd set up alerts to tell me when I had a week left before my early due date.
I'd start working on each task 30-45 minutes a day.
This helped me finish my tasksearly, which gave me time to rest and greatly reduced my stress in my program.
2. Open up to your peers!
Nearly every graduate student will, at some point, feel like they don't belong.
I felt like an outsider because I felt alone in struggling, so I avoided my peers.
It wasn't until my third semester that, during a team project, one peer shared how they felt lost.
Their honesty led my peers to share their struggles, and it led to me asking peers for help, talking in my cohort's group chat, and finally feeling like I belonged.
It takes just 1 act to break the ice.
Quiz
You've just started your Master's program and you're struggling with feeling like you belong. Which of these actions could help you feel less like an outsider in your program? Select all that apply:
You feel more at ease and less like an outsider through any action that shows your own vulnerability. From just asking questions to your peers, to fully opening up about your personal struggles, those actions can help you break the ice with your peers and connect with them.
3. Ask for help from your professors
In undergrad, my classes often had 300+ students per professor, so it was intimidating to ask for help.
In my Master's program, classes had 20 students per professor, and I realized that professors care because they'd:
Emphasize that it's okay to pause school.
Give detailed feedback on major assignments.
Adjust due dates whenever asked.
I feared I'd look dumb if I asked for help, but in seeing their care, I took a risk, reached out, and got advice that positively shaped the rest of my program, and I believe every student can benefit from professors' advice.
Quiz
You find yourself overwhelmed with balancing problems in your personal life and school, and you're falling behind on your assignments. What should you do?
The best thing for you to do is reach out to your professors directly. Often, they'll adjust due dates if a student is facing outside pressures.
Take Action
Starting a Master's program can feel nerve-wracking, but with good time management and connecting to your peers and professors, it can feel much less stressful.
Have an idea on what school/program you're interested in?
This Byte has been authored by
Andrew Jonathan Casilang
Psychiatric Secretary, Prospective I.D.
BA Psychology