Salam,
I recently discovered that many students decided to pursue their higher education in UK. In spite of higher currency rate, based on the increasing statistics, I presume that the government still stick on their policy to send students to the Queen's Land. I was in London for my master few years back, hence, for my PhD, it was a big NO to UK's educational system. I didn't consider Europe (despite free tuition fees) or Australia at all when I filled in the application forms. On the side of the spectrum, I wanted to explore for a better one, which I found out that US's fits me comfortably.
Listed below are some of the comparisons I have made (This is not a rule of thumb, these are only applied to me);
1. I was majoring in Remote Sensing and GIS for my bachelor and Master. I totally diverted to a new major for my PhD. US higher educational system requires you to complete a certain number of coursework (in my cases, it is 48 credit hours) so learning new subjects and knowledge are crucial for me to be able to teach when I serve UPM later. Attending classes, doing homework, preparing for tests and term papers consume most of my time, hell yes, but without strong fundamentals in the new field I jumped into, I will be worth only a penny . I spent my first 2 years, solid, on taking coursework. No credit hours on research yet because there was an urgency to equip myself on learning new stuffs. Changing major is not an easy decision, and the "aftermath"? Well, I did really well so far (not to brag) with 4.00 CPA.
2. Many students have thoughts that studying in US in harder than in UK. Well, it is harder because you have to juggle between research hours and coursework, but harder doesn't make a system better. So, why then? It is really easy to get an A here as opposed in UK( an A in US worth 90, in UK it is 70), as long as you commit to your homework, assignment and exams. In many courses, I have an average of 6 exams per semester, a final, a term paper and bunch of homework. In a semester, I manage to take 9 -13 credit hours. I am not a genius at all, but the educational system here is designed such so that your grade / marks are partitioned into several sections. An exam may count only 15% of the total 100% mark, so you always have a second chance to improve your grade.
3. Your grade here is determined by your efforts, not by your final exams such in UK (again, this is based solely from my experience). Exam is not my strong point, I tend to flunk in a long exam session when I have to write 8 hours continuously in a day. Here in US, some of my professors, always give second chances to students. My committee member, Dr. Tina, in the mid of the semester, would call her students to inform them their performance. If you currently in the B jar, hye, it is not the end of the world. You still can get an A, but you have to do some extra works for me. It is not a free A. In another class, I asked the professor to check my term paper before the submission date and he returned me with 80% written on it. I did correct it for several times, resubmitted it, he recheck it, and by the submission date, he gave me 90%. The example does not stop here, I just list two.
4. Well, people may argue, is grade important in PhD? Well, that can get very subjective. For me, in a system where your performance is measured by a grade, then it reflects your efforts. In a system where grade is meaningless, like in UK (since there isn't coursework in PhD) then why bother? A good thing about maintaining your grade here is that it increases your chance to be granted by monetary award (Thus extra money for trip and shopping hehehe).
5. Research. This is the part I hate most. In US system, it is not mainly about producing novel works that will receive a Nobel prize, but it is all about learning process. Learning how to research and to be a good researcher. Nothing wrong to get a result that is against your hypothesis, but who would want that? You can get negative results, but you still can defense your thesis and publish. The reason is that, in future, no one will repeat the same work that you once thought it was a great discovery. Well, at least that sound better than trying to modify you results just to fit in with your hypothesis, but still, I hate to get negative results.
6. Time wise. In UK, I would say in average, students will wear their graduation robe in timely manner or plus minus an additional year. In US, the average program is about 4 - 5 years. Nonetheless, it is not possible to graduate in 2 years and half, provided that you can get your credit hours from your previous master coursework transferred. You may still have to take few subjects, but you have more times to spend on your research. In this coming Fall (it is called Autumn in UK anyway), I will be here for 3 years, yet my research progress is perhaps only 30%. That sounds bad, I know, but provided that I only started my research hours last Fall, it is actually not bad at all. The bad feeling will hit me only when I have to write a letter to the MOHE to ask for a semester extension.
After all, I guess it doesn't matter where students get their PhD. My friend said, tak kiralahlah dapat A ke B ke, janji dapat PhD. It is the Doctorate title that we are after for. It is very challenging to maintain your enthusiasm, passion and motivation during your PhD years, which I currently have that problem. I guess when you stuck and sleep with it for few years already, it just gradually consumes your passion from deep within.
I recently discovered that many students decided to pursue their higher education in UK. In spite of higher currency rate, based on the increasing statistics, I presume that the government still stick on their policy to send students to the Queen's Land. I was in London for my master few years back, hence, for my PhD, it was a big NO to UK's educational system. I didn't consider Europe (despite free tuition fees) or Australia at all when I filled in the application forms. On the side of the spectrum, I wanted to explore for a better one, which I found out that US's fits me comfortably.
Listed below are some of the comparisons I have made (This is not a rule of thumb, these are only applied to me);
1. I was majoring in Remote Sensing and GIS for my bachelor and Master. I totally diverted to a new major for my PhD. US higher educational system requires you to complete a certain number of coursework (in my cases, it is 48 credit hours) so learning new subjects and knowledge are crucial for me to be able to teach when I serve UPM later. Attending classes, doing homework, preparing for tests and term papers consume most of my time, hell yes, but without strong fundamentals in the new field I jumped into, I will be worth only a penny . I spent my first 2 years, solid, on taking coursework. No credit hours on research yet because there was an urgency to equip myself on learning new stuffs. Changing major is not an easy decision, and the "aftermath"? Well, I did really well so far (not to brag) with 4.00 CPA.
2. Many students have thoughts that studying in US in harder than in UK. Well, it is harder because you have to juggle between research hours and coursework, but harder doesn't make a system better. So, why then? It is really easy to get an A here as opposed in UK( an A in US worth 90, in UK it is 70), as long as you commit to your homework, assignment and exams. In many courses, I have an average of 6 exams per semester, a final, a term paper and bunch of homework. In a semester, I manage to take 9 -13 credit hours. I am not a genius at all, but the educational system here is designed such so that your grade / marks are partitioned into several sections. An exam may count only 15% of the total 100% mark, so you always have a second chance to improve your grade.
3. Your grade here is determined by your efforts, not by your final exams such in UK (again, this is based solely from my experience). Exam is not my strong point, I tend to flunk in a long exam session when I have to write 8 hours continuously in a day. Here in US, some of my professors, always give second chances to students. My committee member, Dr. Tina, in the mid of the semester, would call her students to inform them their performance. If you currently in the B jar, hye, it is not the end of the world. You still can get an A, but you have to do some extra works for me. It is not a free A. In another class, I asked the professor to check my term paper before the submission date and he returned me with 80% written on it. I did correct it for several times, resubmitted it, he recheck it, and by the submission date, he gave me 90%. The example does not stop here, I just list two.
4. Well, people may argue, is grade important in PhD? Well, that can get very subjective. For me, in a system where your performance is measured by a grade, then it reflects your efforts. In a system where grade is meaningless, like in UK (since there isn't coursework in PhD) then why bother? A good thing about maintaining your grade here is that it increases your chance to be granted by monetary award (Thus extra money for trip and shopping hehehe).
5. Research. This is the part I hate most. In US system, it is not mainly about producing novel works that will receive a Nobel prize, but it is all about learning process. Learning how to research and to be a good researcher. Nothing wrong to get a result that is against your hypothesis, but who would want that? You can get negative results, but you still can defense your thesis and publish. The reason is that, in future, no one will repeat the same work that you once thought it was a great discovery. Well, at least that sound better than trying to modify you results just to fit in with your hypothesis, but still, I hate to get negative results.
6. Time wise. In UK, I would say in average, students will wear their graduation robe in timely manner or plus minus an additional year. In US, the average program is about 4 - 5 years. Nonetheless, it is not possible to graduate in 2 years and half, provided that you can get your credit hours from your previous master coursework transferred. You may still have to take few subjects, but you have more times to spend on your research. In this coming Fall (it is called Autumn in UK anyway), I will be here for 3 years, yet my research progress is perhaps only 30%. That sounds bad, I know, but provided that I only started my research hours last Fall, it is actually not bad at all. The bad feeling will hit me only when I have to write a letter to the MOHE to ask for a semester extension.
After all, I guess it doesn't matter where students get their PhD. My friend said, tak kiralahlah dapat A ke B ke, janji dapat PhD. It is the Doctorate title that we are after for. It is very challenging to maintain your enthusiasm, passion and motivation during your PhD years, which I currently have that problem. I guess when you stuck and sleep with it for few years already, it just gradually consumes your passion from deep within.
hoih, tak kuasa ok nak sleep with PhD, bukan muhrim, hehehehehe
ReplyDeletekak mimah: eleh kak mimah, malu2 plak nak ngaku, padahal pelok cium gomol PhD tu :P
ReplyDelete