Master a Master’s Degree

Congratulations! You’re studying for a Postgraduate degree or even looking to start a course soon.

If so, whether in person or online, I’m sharing tips that will hopefully provide a level of guidance and a cheat sheet to becoming a master in the academic world.

1. Plan!

Planning your degree is crucial for any success.

If you’re someone who goes with the flow and believes they can ‘fudge’ their way through the duration of the studying — I’ll recommend you change this approach. Otherwise, you may want to rethink your financial commitment and return on investment.

If you’re someone who structures every aspect of your life down to the nth degree with a control freak syndrome — Apply this mindset with added management.

Below is a snapshot from the spreadsheet I used religiously to track every aspect of my degree. Several classmates asked for a copy when they saw me updating it during classes, which looking back, I should have charged a small fee.

Be meticulous in filing away lecture notes. Create folders for every subject, every chapter, and every assignment. Finalise administrative tasks before the start of each semester.

Map out every course module option available to you throughout the degree. Then, review the assessments each course evaluates you on and strategically select the timing to study the modules.

For example — During each semester, I picked one module that had ongoing assignments in terms of presentations, group discussions and essays. Then one which only has an end-of-semester exam.

This allowed me to spread my time and energy throughout the weeks. I could concentrate fully on any ongoing assignments to lock in a strong grade early on. Taking the pressure of the last assignment, which may be worth only 10% and instead have the time for revision on the other modules 100% weighted end of semester exam.

Rather than being quiet with nothing to do during the first few weeks, followed by being super busy and stressed for the last few weeks.