Through this series, we will be sharing first-hand advice on applying for postgraduate courses. This time, Katie Birditt shares her own tips for choosing and applying to Masters courses after getting onto her programme of choice this year.
Applying to a Masters course can feel daunting. You must collect recommendation letters, update that CV from three years ago, and write a strong personal statement, often whilst juggling multiple other commitments. As someone who recently went through this process, I am going to share some of my tips on how to research different Masters courses and craft a good personal statement!
Research, research, research!
One of your earliest considerations should be whether you are interested in pursuing a Master of Research (MRes) or a Master of Science (MSc) degree. These two programmes have slightly different focuses and purposes. Although both involve independent research, the MSc is a taught programme aiming to expand your theoretical knowledge of a subject and provide some foundational training in relevant techniques and skills whilst the MRes is research-based and quite specialised with fewer taught modules. Coming from a Biomedical Science background rather than pure neuroscience, I selected an MSc style programme to diversify my research skills and broaden my knowledge on the subject. However, if you are passionate about a specific area of research or have a strong grounding in the subject already, see yourself pursuing a PhD so want to gain maximum hands-on research experience, or you simply hate the idea of long coursework essays, then an MRes is worth looking into!
It is then important to investigate the ways in which programmes align with your specific interests and ambitions. Have a look through their specialisations and faculty research output before making any firm decisions. Is the department renowned for a particular type of neuroscience, like behavioural or molecular? Who are some of the leading researchers in this field and are they working on projects that excite you? It is useful to ask yourself these questions early in the application process. Normally, all the course-specific information is available on department websites and will provide you with a good idea of how you could fit within the course and the wider department. If any burning questions are left unanswered by the website, then get in touch with the admissions team or perhaps even the course directors.
Everyone will have slightly different priorities when it comes to selecting a Masters course. An array of factors should be considered and researched, alongside the ones already mentioned. These could include the programme’s reputation and length or what the university’s surrounding city is like. I would be cautious about selecting a university based on prestige alone, as you wouldn’t want to find yourself stuck in a neuroscience department that is renowned for research you are not interested in or one that is in a city far away from friends and family.
Personal statement
Once you have thoroughly researched different Masters degrees and shortlisted a few, it is personal statement time. I believe that this component is one of the most important parts of the application. It is here that you sell yourself and place all the experiences and achievements your CV holds into a meaningful context that relates to your future ambitions and why the university and particular course are the perfect fit for you. An excellent personal statement coupled with good grades could be the reason you are selected for interviews at leading institutions. Now, how to begin writing it?
Overcoming Blank Page Phobia
In my experience the hardest part of personal statement writing is always starting. I struggle with that initial blank page. For anyone else who shares this fear I suggest brainstorming some ideas about why you are applying and writing down whatever comes to mind. Once those phrases are out the page, start slowly structuring them into sentences and paragraphs. There will be many iterations of the statement so do not worry about perfection in these initial stages. The main aim is to string your thoughts together into sentences and gradually start building up the personal statement.
Show your passion and commitment to a specific field
As an undergraduate the world of research can seem so broad and intimidating that it may be hard to select a single area of interest. You could be intrigued by two completely unrelated topics in neuroscience. If this is the case, I would suggest trying to focus on only one specific area because this makes your personal statement easy to follow and shows that you have given careful thought to further study. You’re not expected to have mapped out your five-year plan, so don’t worry! My advice is to simply be guided by your current interests and genuine motivations to study the degree.
Talk about relevant experience
Discuss any work experience that you have had and how it has influenced your trajectory up to this point. This doesn’t have to be laboratory placements or internship: you could talk about your dissertation, volunteering experiences, or any other experience that will show the person reading your application who you are or the passion you have for the field. Do not just list these experiences in your CV! There are very few spaces where you can boast about all you’ve done, so seize this opportunity to talk about how brilliant you are! It can be hard, but capitalise on your own unique selling points because this will give your application an authentic voice and make it stand out. For example, having lived all my life in Zimbabwe I am aware that there is not much research there on dementia. Therefore, I framed my interest in neurodegenerative disease research within this unique context to ensure that my passion for this area of neuroscience came across clearly.
When mentioning your experience, try using the Situation Task Action Result (STAR) method. The technique encourages you to talk about a certain situation and reflect on all the ways in which you worked towards achieving a desired outcome. This approach is effective in producing clear, concise sentences that demonstrate all you learnt or accomplished during an experience. However, course leaders are not only interested in how wonderful you are, but also if you would fit well within that Masters degree. Be sure to talk about why your interests overlap well with various aspects of a programme. Maybe UCL has a whole course dedicated to dementia and this aligns well with the experiences you have had in a patient-centred volunteering role. Perhaps Cambridge has a focus on computational neuroscience, and you have just used some of these methods in a dissertation. All these details will make your application interesting and memorable.
Some closing tips
Let other people read through your personal statement when you’re finished. This could be anyone, but ideally someone who is more detached from the work and able to provide objective insights and different points of view. Ask your academic tutor, friends or even parents. My mum is my go-to application editor, even though she is not a scientist!
Give yourself regular, frequent breaks throughout the entire process. Approaching the application with fresh eyes and a rested mind helps far more than sitting in front of a computer for hours, frustrated and uninspired!
Wishing you all good luck!
This article was written by Katie Birditt and edited by Ailie McWhinnie. Interested in writing for WiNUK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch!
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