Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mastersdegree

Tips on doing a master's degree in a second language

so much modern time — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:10:35 -0800

Tell me about your own experiences and tips on surviving and working through a master's degree in a second language that you are NOT fluent in. I am currently a master's student in Beijing, studying a major that will train me to become a Chinese teacher. This major is specifically geared to foreign students who will teach Chinese outside of China, so it includes courses in Chinese history and linguistics theory, as well as advanced Chinese.

My class is composed of about 15 students, about half of which are Malaysian students who are native or near-native speakers. The other half is composed mostly of students who have gone through the university's Chinese language studies department at various levels. That half, which includes myself, is nowhere near the Malaysian students' level of Chinese. (FWIW, I have just concluded a year's study in Chinese at my school, ending at upper intermediate.)

In our first day of classes, I realized that I would have to do some serious self-study to keep up. In our lectures, which were on the centralization of government power from the Qin to Yuan dynasties and linguistics theory, other than the very broad outlines, I didn't understand a thing. It was certainly interesting, and if it was in English I would have been fascinated. I was trying to keep up with translating phrases in the Power Point presentations, but I was literally translating every single phrase in order to understand a single sentence. Heck, I nearly died when our professor started talking about Chomsky, whose theories are difficult enough in a language I do understand.

How on earth can I survive this? After one day I'm already thinking about quitting! It's clear that it'll be a long time before I can get to the level where I'll be able to ask critical questions, and then, actually be able to understand the answers. Luckily it's not just me who feels like this, the non-Malaysian half of the class felt quite overwhelmed as well.

Possibly related: To say that I have a lot of ambivalence about doing this degree is an understatement. Before I found out that I had received the scholarship, which, since it is China, was at the last possible moment, I had actually already made up my mind to go home and repatriate. After four years abroad, I feel that my time in China is finished. My gut feeling on this is making it very difficult for me to commit to doing the master's degree, especially I have little intention of actually becoming a Chinese teacher, and I can't even say why I am doing this degree except that it is free education and will allow me to put those letters "M.A." after my name. I just have to wonder if there are better ways to spend two years of my time than struggling to understand Chomsky in Chinese.

The Tortoise and the Ant and the ...?

Nonce — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:15:10 -0800

If you wanted a stable, boring (but really only boring in scare quotes), modest life, what career paths would you take? Emphasis on path; I want to come out of this post with a course of action. If you get a masters of library sciences, can you reasonably expect to get a job starting out in the high 20s/low 30s in a place where that's sufficient to be comfortable, with pay increases and advancement on the horizon? Or are there too many people competing for the same jobs for that to be the standard path? Is the digital age cutting funding for libraries, or increasing opportunity? Are archivists able to get work?

I'd love detailed responses from the perspective of work and life that is possible for a liberal arts (English lit degree) college grad who does not want to take on the world, but rather live in it, enjoy it, have space to be aware of his (feel free to substitute her) own thoughts, and avoid any races that center on rodents rather than on the sheer joy of running.

I'd really like special attention paid to practicality and stability. Also, interaction with the public is not a negative at all. In fact, I'd love to avoid interacting with a computer all day, as good at that as I may be. Light exercise and some sun could only improve the equation.

I'd like to assess myself, and my options, and then head in a direction that, barring any black swans, will bear steady fruit I am comfortable with while allowing me to grow in whatever direction it winds up I grow, rather than trading my mental and physical health for high pay.

Is there a way to cheat at life? To wind up doing something that refreshes your soul for eight hours a day, and leaves you more you at the end rather than less? Or at least pays the bills while you fill the rest of your time with art, literature, travel, and companionship (frugally, of course)?

I could see myself building trails, leading tours, researching, tagging, and photographing for the park service, and never feeling like I'd sold a second of my time doing anything I wouldn't have done for free. If I get a master's degree in conservation or forest management, would it be difficult to find a position in the park service a few years from now?

I cannot stress how much I don't want to gamble. Nothing is certain in this life, but there is a certain difference in job prospects between getting that MFA in creative writing so you can teach college and getting that state teaching certificate so you can teach high school. Not that taking a detour to get an MFA precludes anything else at all--but I'm sure you get the picture.

Or at least I hope you do, because I sure don't and I could use a hand.

MLS = Man, Life Sucks

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:36:10 -0800

Should I/how do I propose the idea of getting a masters degree to my boss? I have been working as a programmer at a state organization for a year and a half. It's my first job out of college. As jobs go, it's great, even though I quietly feel underworked. I have always intended to go to grad school at some point, most likely towards an MLS or MIS. (A little family and peer pressure mixed in, too.) I graduated with a BA in computer science but I want to move away from the code monkey pit. My organization offers tuition reimbursement for two 3-hour courses a semester (!) at a mega-good state school down the street.

I'd need to propose the idea to my boss first. I have the feeling that asking in the wrong way could jinx my relations with him. Is a year and a half of employment too soon to pursue career advancement? My boss is using the same program to pursue a PhD, but he's been here since 2001. He only does one course a semester, which is what I would do as well...two courses + work = death.

If you can resolve the 'if' for me, there's still the 'how.' What do I say to my boss so it doesn't come across as 'I secretly hate you and this job.'?

Can I get a job in the States with an MA from an online UK program?

Ghidorah — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:47:45 -0800

I'm looking at online degrees (needed for work), and I'd like to know if a Masters in education from British universities are considered valid (or equal to) for employment in America. I'm currently teaching English at a university in Japan. I do not have an MA, and I have been told that if I want to stay longer than the three years (I am in year two) offered in my contract, I will need to at least be pursuing an MA. While I'm not sure if I want to stay at this university or not, I do realize that having an MA will help my career here in Japan.

The thing is, if I'm getting an MA, I'd like to be able to use it back home, if I decide to leave Japan, preferably to go into teaching high school in the States. Previously, I had considered returning home to enroll in an MED program in Chicago, but I can't realistically put my life here on hold for two years. That's why I'm looking at online degrees. Co-workers have introduced me to some very nice online programs in the UK (particularly at the University of Bath). These programs are less than half of the price of many US MA online programs, and if possible, I would like to avoid spending up to $20,000 US on this degree.

On the other hand, if getting a UK MA will be largely useless for teaching in America, I'll start concentrating my search on schools in the States. So, people in education, is a UK MA valid in the States?

How can I improve my odds of getting into graduate school for economics?

boots — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:32:46 -0800

I want to get a Master's in Economics in a few years, probably focusing on real estate finance and affordable housing finance. How good are my chances of getting into a good program, and what can I do to improve them? I graduated from a good but not great university (NYU) with a good but not great GPA (3.2) in a related but not directly related major (urban planning and architecture). That was in May. I have since landed a good but not great job working for the NYC Dept. of Housing. I haven't taken the GRE yet, but I have a knack for standarized testing, and expect to finish somewhere in the 90th percentile.

With this sort of academic background and work experience, I figure I'd probably have a good but not great chance of getting into a great graduate program (i.e. Columbia), with one caveat: I never took any math, statistics or economics courses in college. I took calculus BC in high school and aced the AP, but I never so much as brought a graphing calculator to class in college. This, correct me if I'm wrong, whittles away my odds to pretty much nil, even at a more modest program (i.e. Baruch), right?

So, let's say that you were in my position, with the goal of going to a great graduate program in Economics in a few years. What would you do? Take night classes? Take online classes? Read books? Write papers? Get a different job? Move to a different continent? Despair?

Thanks so much for any advice.