What is graduate school like?

Question

Can you work any hours you want?

Answer 1

Graduate school is to advanced undergraduate classes as advanced undergraduate classes are to Freshman classes.

You do the same thing only in greater depth.

The typical graduate student takes three or four classes per term. The hours are the same as undergraduate classes.

Professional schools (MBA, JD, etc) are a little different -- as there is a lot of team work. This means that you need to consider the schedules of other people.

Answer 2

It depends largely on what type of graduate program you are pursuing. For a part-time Master's program (such as a night time MBA or, in some schools, MS in engineering or computer science), classes are for set nights and hours. For a full-time Master's, classes can be during the day or night, again with set hours.

At any rate, as stated above, for professional programs like the MBA or a law degree you will be working a lot with other students so you have to take their schedules into account as well.

Ph.D. programs are somewhat different. While you may spend the first few years taking classes at set times, eventually you will move on to the phase in which you are researching, writing, rewriting, and presenting your dissertation (note that for many Master's programs you have to do the same for a thesis). This is largely independent work which you can do at all sorts of hours. But you do usually have a deadline for completion of the dissertation, so you have to work closely with your advisor so that he or she can keep track of your progress, steer you in the right direction (hopefully), and make sure you are aware of the deadlines.

Answer 3

graduate school is like undergrad...just requires a little more effort. Your work schedule depends on what type of program you are in. Most programs offer night classes that usually start at 6 so you can work all day if you wanted to. Some programs also have day courses.