Today, I have weighed up pros and cons.
Background: I am on a four year course which will ultimately mean I will attain a MSci Hons degree in two years time, as long as I keep up or improve on the standard I am currently working at. A masters degree will be ever so useful when it comes to applying for jobs, and will be all round more impressive at the end of it, especially if I wish to go into a career related to my degree. However, I'm not sure that I do want to go into a career related to my degree, or that I am up to the motivation required to complete the four year course to an acceptable level. Therein lies the dilemma...
Four Year Course Or Three Year Course?
Reasons to stick on the four year course:
- More experience, better job prospects, improved knowledge, more impressive degree qualification etc etc...
- I am already on the course, it's easier to continue rather than quit and find I regret it.
- Don't have a clue what I would do otherwise - another year at uni buys more time to think this through, or put off the decision making, while opening more options for choice of career.
- Get to stick with the student lifestyle for a little longer - pfft, who needs to grow up? And then I could do a PhD, and be a post-doc researcher and never ever need to get a real job...
- Get to see all the people who have been away for third year, consolidate friendships, continue getting to know people, increase friend base, live away from home a while longer, keep up independance. If I switch to three years, all of this studentdom will be cut short.
- The idea of only having one year left at uni scares the hell out of me.
Reasons to switch to the three year course:
- I'm not sure I'm cut out for the stresses, independence or motivation needed in fourth year, or the constant strive to achieve and I fear I'd feel inadequate in comparison to everyone else and unable to cope.
- Most of the time is spent in the lab, working on your own project, which you are figuring out. Alone. It's worth a quarter of the degree as a whole. Do I really want to risk a year of misery?
- May require further qualifications if I decide to do something else, so what's the point in doing a masters in my current subject?
- If I switch to three years, it might give me the push I need to seek what I really want to do with my life. Or it could be another wasted year when I think - hey, I should have just gone through with the masters, it wouldn't have been that bad, right?
- Even having a BSc in the subject is a darn sight more impressive than most degrees on the market - I'd be well set up for most jobs, even if I don't know which to choose yet.
- The idea of spending every day in the lab scares the hell out of me.
So what do you think? More to the point - what do you think I think? Ask questions, give advice, opinions, personal experience, anything that'll make me swing more convincingly one way or another!? There's no specific deadline for this decision, but for my own peace of mind, I'd like to have it sorted in my head before the end of the summer, as planning for the next academic year often starts in the beginning of the current one. So, although there's no guarantee that I'll take anything of what is said to me...please, feel free to give your tuppence worth...!
Vote: Stick or Switch?
On the jukebox: The Monkees ~ Daydream Believer
I know nothing about Sciencey degrees, but I've always felt that a Masters is a bit something-and-nothing, if you know what I mean. Like...it's not a Batchelors, but nor is it a Doctorate. So, I guess...I'd say that unless you wanted to do a PhD, it's not worth doing the Masters, and you might do better to get out into the real world after your three years, and gain some real experience in your field or a related one.
ReplyDeleteNow, what was your gut reaction to me saying that?
Stick with it
ReplyDeletexx
If I was in your situation, I'd stick with it. It's one extra year, yes, but it would likely look more impressive on your C.V.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I started a new Livejournal because I was getting withdrawal symptoms after the demise of A Year Of Kindness. The irony of ending it after a month is not lost on me.
It doesn't have a definite focus, though, it's just an outlet for creative expression.
I'd evaluate it carefully, present a balanced argument and end up no closer to a solution than I started.
ReplyDeleteMasters looks good on a CV. A lot of people have a BSc, fewer have an MA, and the dedication you express worry about is something employers look for, and know MA graduates have. All well and good. Also, if you find something you're interested in, it'll be fun. Woo for fun masters.
Flipside, if you don't enjoy it you won't do well and you will be miserable, at which point it's probably not worth doing.
Hmm.
While I know how easy it is to emphasise the negatives over the positives ( - how many times have I muttered to my housemates over breakfast, "God, I'm not looking forward to [insert module name here] today"?), you don't sound as though you are really enjoying either Chemistry or university as a whole. Is that a fair assesment? Would you only be doing a fourth year for the letters after your name or because you would actually get something out of it?
ReplyDeleteThe real world's a scary place but unless we go into academia we will all have to enter it sooner or later :-)
Likewise, I don't know much about Arts degrees, but the MSci isn't a separate degree, more a continuation, and a natural one expected if I were to follow into the related field. If I did want to do chemistry at this point, or later in life, not having a MSci in the subject would put me at a severe disadvantage, as that is what most graduates I'd be competing against would have.
ReplyDeleteAlso, getting "real experienece" scares me almost as much as spending another year in labs.
At this point? I think I'll stick. Because it takes more guts to quit. Of course, it's easy to say that now that I still have two months of non-uni left and worries of labs have all but left my mind. From the beginning, it's always been "On four year course, subject to change..." My main fear is that I won't be good enough, and rather than get a decent BSc after three years of fun, I'll end up in a year of misery that wasn't worth the effort.
Why would I be doing the fourth year? a) because everyone I know is doing it, and I'm afraid I'll lose touch with friends b) because I don't know what I would do otherwise c) first year was a bit rubbish, but I did well on the academic front, second year was a bit better, and I did well on the social front, so I'm hoping the third year could top the both of them, and the trend could continue into fourth?
I don't want to go into the real world. Anything that prevents that has got to be a good thing, right? *looks into PGCE courses* ;o)
It sounds like you want to stick; but mainly because that's the easy option. Don't stick with easy just because it's easy - stick with it becuase it's what you want. Try to separate the two out and then see where you stand. I had to make that kind of a decision about a year ago and I really don't regret striking out on a new path, like I did.
ReplyDelete