Education is important for anyone? Agree right? Because, with education we can see more clearly ‘a brighter future’. Moreover, if the education you take is getting higher. Well, for those of you who have successfully gotten a bachelor’s degree, you can already use it as a bridge to success.
But, if you still love learning, there’s nothing wrong for you to go back to higher education by continuing S2 study. So, you can get a Masters or Masters degree or equivalent, after you graduate.
But, even if you already have the desire to continue your S2 studies, you may still feel doubt or doubt. Whether to take graduate school or not. Can it really provide benefits for life later. Can you do it well? And what should be prepared?
These questions may cross your mind. Well, for that, for those of you who are still confused about things about this S2, you can listen carefully to this article. Because, we will review a little about various important things you need to know before deciding to choose to continue your S2 study.
Chapter List ☰
Determine the Purpose: Why Must Continue S2?
Of course, you have to know the reason for continuing your S2 study. Do you just want a degree? Do you still love learning? Want to be a lecturer? Want to be more easily accepted to work? Or as capital to submit a proposal (to prospective in-laws)? Wow wow …
Learn whether your goals can be achieved by pursuing S2 studies. If you really want to be a lecturer, then of course you have to continue to master. But if you get a S2 just to make it easier to find work, then you need more consideration.
Remember, the higher the degree, the fewer job opportunities. However, of course the available workforce or your competition is also more limited. However, what needs to be considered is the desired target work location.
If you are in an area far from industrial centers and offices, and don’t want to switch residence from there, then your Masters degree will be difficult to use to find work. Because, only a few people who need and are willing to pay dearly.
But if you are already working, you can ask about where you work, whether your diploma will be influential for promotion.
Must Be Ready to Study
Continuing Masters studies means you must be ready to return to being a student. That means, you also have to be ready to learn. You must be diligent in studying, reading, and making assignments. Don’t complain that it’s hard to take lessons for various reasons, such as work or family care.
Determine the Right Course
Deciding on a master’s degree is important so that later, your degree and knowledge can be more precise and useful. Because, not a few people who mistakenly determine the majors of S2, and then regret or have to take college again for other different majors.
To determine your major, this goes back to your college goals. If you want to become a lecturer, it is compulsory to take a linear course (parallel) with S1 studies and studies that you want to teach later. Learn about linearity so you can better understand it.
If you want to enrich knowledge according to your interests, get to know your interests deeply. Don’t forget to also consider about your abilities. If you are majoring in a different course from undergraduate, then you need to take matriculation.
Matriculation is learning basic courses as an introduction to understanding studies in certain majors. Typically, this matriculation must be taken for students who take master’s studies across majors. Some charge extra for matriculation, but some don’t.
Determine the Right Campus
Similar to determining majors, determining the campus is also important. Choose campus after you know what department you want to enter. To determine the right campus, you must look at the campus profile in depth.
The main thing you need to know is about the campus accreditation and the accreditation of the department you want to take. Avoid campuses with C majors or less. If you can choose accreditation A, that’s better. But if it’s only B, that’s enough. Accreditation can be very influential to apply for job applications later, both in SOEs, private or as teaching staff.
Next, get to know the facilities provided by the campus and also the teaching staff. The teaching system, subjects, tuition fees, and access to the campus also need to be studied as a foundation for choosing the right campus. Domestic or international campus must also be determined. Remember! Not all campuses hold postgraduate studies.
Prepare for Academic Tests and English Language Tests
Almost all campuses require tests of academic potential and English language tests to enter the Masters program. It’s just that, the term used to refer to the test can be different. Provisions on the grades and test methods for each campus can also be different.
There are campuses that allow outside testing, then the results are collected. There are also those who only accept tests held on internal campus only. Most important, you must prepare for both tests.
Academic potential tests are very similar to psychological tests, or prospective civil servant tests, or STAN entrance tests and the like. So, you can learn from similar problems. The point is to sharpen logic and general knowledge.
Whereas the English test is generally similar to the TOEFL or TOEIC or IELTS test. For score conditions can vary. Usually the minimum value is equivalent to TOEFL 450. There are also those who require more than that. But, it is very rare that requires a value of less than that.
Prepare a Research Theme for THESIS
Not all campuses ask for a thesis research theme at the beginning. But, most will ask for it. Moreover, if you take a S2 study with a by research scheme . It’s just that, most campuses in Indonesia do not hold S2 by research studies .
Usually, the research theme for the thesis requested at the beginning is only a general description. In addition, this theme is not required to be used as your thesis later. Generally, the theme of the thesis can still be changed. The description of the research is usually only used to test your interest in the related theme according to the direction you wish to take.
Sharpening Writing Skills
Masters studies will require you a lot to produce writing. Either as an ordinary task, essays , papers , journals and most importantly is a thesis. So, it’s important for you to hone your writing skills. Many events, S2 students are not smart and even lazy to write.
As a result, in addition to the difficulty in doing the assignment, he had to take this Masters study for a long time only because of difficulties in making a thesis. Even if you only write, but if you don’t like this activity, you can be very difficult.
Prepare Costs: Choose Personal Funds or Scholarships?
Cost is also important in S2 studies. The cost of S2 studies is certainly relatively more expensive than undergraduate studies. For a small private campus, fees per semester are generally more than 5 million per semester.
As for the favorite public and private universities which are quite large, the cost can reach more than ten also each semester. This fee is usually reduced when you have taken two years of education, and have completed all theoretical courses.
So, if you want to continue your S2 studies with private funds, make sure you have sufficient funds. But, if you want a lighter fee, you can try looking for a scholarship. There are many S2 scholarships available that you can try. Unfortunately, most S2 scholarships are aimed abroad.
Whereas S2 domestic scholarships, usually the availability is more limited. Public domestic scholarships that are available almost every year are Flagship Scholarships and LPDP Scholarships. If for lecturers, you can use BUDI or Indonesian Lecturers’ leading scholarships.
There are also other scholarships from companies that you can use. To get it, you must be diligent – check the existing scholarship information.
If you are interested in overseas scholarships, then you better consider a scholarship that provides full funding for study and living expenses.
Pay attention to Ipk S1
Most campuses provide a minimum benchmark IPk S1 as a condition of registration. Most favorite campuses even set a minimum Ipk of 3.25 to be able to continue their studies to a master’s degree at the campus. However, most only set a minimum Ipk of 3.00.
Pay attention to Ipk S2 if you want to continue with S3
Well, this is also a special preparation going forward, you still want to continue S3. Pay attention to the GPA that you get in S2 later. Don’t let you get a low grade. Because, the requirements for entering S3 will usually require a relatively higher GPA.
Most of the conditions are a S2 GPA of more than 3.25. Some even asked for a GPA of more than 3.5. So, if your S2 is less than that, you will have difficulty continuing to study S3.
Pay Attention to Target Study Time
The average target duration of S2 study is two years. Some can be less than that, some can take longer than two years. However, it is very rare for a Master’s degree to study for less than 1.5 years. Moreover, majors are categorized as difficult, such as engineering.
Usually, semester 1 and semester 2 are theory classes. The next semester is the preparation of the thesis. If the thesis is fast, it means you can graduate faster.
The latest government regulation limits study time to a maximum of 6 semesters for Masters. However, sometimes there are exceptions so that you can buy more than 6 semesters of study time. Depending on the policies of each campus.
Well, that’s the important things for you to know as a form of preparation for postgraduate or postgraduate study. Have a try. And hopefully the knowledge you get will be useful later.
