Hey, everyone! I’m back with another article. This time, it’s about the differences between undergraduate and graduate students. For those of you who are unaware, I’m technically a graduate student now! I don’t really feel like one (yet), but I do have a graduate student status on all my NUS portals, so I guess I qualify.
Anyways, I decided to share about the life of a graduate student for everyone who might be considering graduate school. But before I do, I would like to clarify a few things: first, my program is slightly special in that I technically do both my undergraduate and graduate degree concurrently (you can read more about concurrent degree programs at NUS here); and second, this therefore means that certain graduate duties (e.g. being a TA, taking certain writing or ethics modules) are not mandatory for me. They are, however, mandatory for other graduate students — I believe PhD students have to do those additional things, and other masters students take certain mandatory modules that I do not have to do.
However, I can talk a little about the differences between undergraduate and graduate school and my experience so far, and my general advice for those considering graduate school. Let’s get into it!
Graduate School: The Difference
Now, for those of you wondering what graduate school is like, I can confirm that it is not easy. I do take less modules than an undergraduate student — for my master’s program, I only need to take four graduate modules (which is just 16 modular credits, or MCs). When you compare it to my undergraduate degree, it seems significantly less. For comparison, my undergraduate psychology degree requires me to take 160 MCs, 60 of which are from psychology courses.
However, this makes sense. Undergraduates come into university with limited foundational knowledge and understanding; the four years are meant to help with that. They are also, to some degree, supposed to prepare you for a future career, whether in academia or outside of it. Graduate school is for students who want further studies (i.e. more academia). They already have the foundation (you need to pass undergrad to take on further studies), and so what graduate school is doing is not teaching you the foundation but adding more specialized knowledge. You don’t really need four more years, and you don’t need to take a lot more modules because the foundation is there.
Additionally, all graduate students are expected to hand in a thesis — either a master’s or PhD one. This means that your time is not spent taking classes but focusing on your research. And if you’re a PhD student, you have extra duties and responsibilities: being a TA, helping your supervisor in the lab, proctoring exams and, if you are a clinical PhD student, seeing clients. And I will say that when you compare an undergraduate honours thesis with a graduate student’s thesis, there is literally no comparison. The thesis submitted by a graduate student requires significantly more work, depth, and is of a higher quality. This naturally means that you need to spend more time on your research, so less time is given for classes.
Graduate School: My Experience
What I will say is that there is a difference between graduate and undergraduate modules. For graduate school, less modules means less class time. It also feels more free-and-easy compared to undergraduate modules, where the two-hour lecture is strictly timed and is full of non-stop content. Graduate school classes are seminar-style, so for NUS students it’s like our 4k modules. It’s more close-knit, and if we really cannot understand the content, the lecturer can choose to postpone it to next week.
However, the content can be challenging. I am taking my first graduate module this semester, and it is on statistics. Statistics has never been my strong suit, and so I am naturally going to find the content more challenging, not necessarily because it is harder but because I find the topic (i.e. stats) more difficult to understand. But if I compare my undergraduate statistics class to my graduate statistics one, there is a very clear difference. My graduate statistics class adds on many concepts and data analysis as compared to my undergraduate one and requires more critical thinking and a deeper understanding.
I will say that the content of your learning is very dependent on what program you are in. For clinical students, they often have to see clients alongside taking modules and working on their thesis. And so they can be quite busy, and the modules that they choose to take may be more geared towards things like counselling. However, for NUS psychology, no matter what graduate program you are in, statistics will be mandatory. Every NUS psychology graduate student has to take two statistics modules before graduating. If you want to take more, that is fine, but you take at least two.
Graduate School: My Advice
Finally, some advice for those interested in graduate school, or thinking of further studies. The first thing is to think if you even want to continue studying. For many undergrads, studying is tiring. You spend four years as an undergraduate constantly studying, and you don’t make any money. Many might think of entering the workforce before pursuing further studies, and some may not even want to study anymore after a university degree. So, think about whether or not you even want to continue studying. If you are unsure, there’s nothing wrong with taking a few years off to work and think more about what you want.
The second thing is, if you do intend to take up further studies, to think about what specific degree you are looking for, and why you want to do further studies in the first place. If you are doing a master’s or postgraduate degree because you want to become a practising clinical psychologist, then I strongly suggest you choose a clinical degree program instead of a research degree.
I also strongly suggest that you do research into the specific requirements of the degree — that way, you can see the focus and requirements of the degree program. My degree is a research degree; this means that research is very much the focus. My thesis is one of the most important components, and things like presenting research and attending conferences are definitely opportunities. For other degrees, especially clinical ones, the requirements can be different. If you want more information, looking at the general degree requirements is a good start. You can also try and connect with people or seniors who are taking the degree. For further advice, you can always ask a professor or supervisor that you are close with for their opinion and input.
And that’s all from me! Of course, my current experiences and opinions are more geared towards NUS psychology graduate programs. Well, that’s about it, see you guys next time!
