How did you do it and what timeline did you set for yourself in terms of gathering/ preparing application materials and submitting them?

Hey everyone,
Two years ago, I completed 90 out of 120 credits for my Master’s in Strategic HR in Sweden (all taught courses done). I ended up stepping away before doing the thesis because I got offered a great full-time job.
It’s been eating away at me that I never finished the degree, and I really want to wrap it up now. However, I’m working full-time, so I’ll be writing mostly on weekends. Going to campus or spending weeks doing primary field research (interviews, surveys, etc.) isn't an option for me.
I’m looking to do a purely desk-based thesis, something like a systematic literature review, comparative analysis, or secondary data study that I can research remotely.
For anyone who has been in a similar boat:
What kind of methodology or thesis topic works best for a purely literature/desk-based study in HR/management?

Any tips on balancing a full-time job with writing a 30 ECTS thesis on the weekends?

Thanks in advance!

I think I'm stressing myself out for leaving my full time job for grad school. I'll get a $15k stipend for each year and $1200 a month for doing some exam proctoring and more details are in the original post but I'm second guessing my decision to leave. Id, at max, be working 16 hours or less a week plus time Id need time for homework and any projects or what not too. It also pays a bit less than my current job a month after taxes (-$400 or so?).

Hi y’all! This is a total shot in the dark but I am at a loss. I’m a PhD in history desperately trying to get access to a database (Adam Matthew’s Popular Medicine collection). I go to a small school, so they don’t have access, the librarians said there’s no trial available and they don’t plan to purchase access. How do you guys navigate this? Do you just cut your losses and find something else??

Additionally if anyone has access and wants to make $20 please hit a sister up lmao

So, I finished my masters this year and now am trying to get my brain together to prepare to hack my thesis up to make it into a publishable paper and I suppose I don't know where to start.

I have the goal to try to publish before I start applying to PhD programs.

My advisor and I left on fairly neutral terms but we haven't spoken since I graduated. She was fairly hands off for the majority of my research and as a result I don't necessarily feel super comfortable asking her for advice. My thesis utilized geography+phylogenetics so if anyone has relevant experience and any advice on how to get the ball rolling, I would greatly appreciate it.

Did anybody pursue a master's in a discipline different from their bachelor's? Furthermore, did anybody go for a doctorate unrelated to one or both of their previous degrees?

Obviously for secondary education majors, there's gonna be a difference.

Any challenges you faced in switching between disciplines?

I was recently thinking back to my masters and remembered what an absolute mess it was from beginning to end. My advisor never responded to emails or reached out, so I basically had to track him down whenever I needed a form signed or had a question. Then my final project was…not awful but not great either. It was just probably more akin to a final project for a rather difficult class as opposed to a final project for a master’s degree.

Then I remembered that there were at least 2 different instances I’d heard through the grapevine of that advisor passing students just to get them out. The first was a master’s student who basically needed a babysitter for his poster session to explain things to people who had questions…and still repeatedly told people he had no idea what his poster said (I think he’s working on a nuclear sub now).

The other was an 8th year phd student with outside funding whose defense was the most boggling thing I’d ever seen. Not only was her research essentially gibberish but she had to be reminded multiple times to plug in his laptop. Yet, she was still allowed to pass simply because it’d look bad if she was failed after 8 years, especially since she already had a masters.

Now I’m starting to wonder if I should’ve passed too. I was certainly more familiar with my work than the two of them but still seemed a step behind everyone else presenting their research at the poster session.

So have you ever seen this happen?

I’m gonna be commuting to grad school for a masters. It’s around 50 miles away so let’s say 2-4 hour round trip (depending on traffic/weather). I technically only have classes three days of the week (all evening), but if I get a grad assistantship, I imagine I would have to be on campus much more often. So I guess just looking for advice on how to not burn out quickly from anyone who’s done something similar where you have your school life and setting vs. your home life (including weekly appointments you need to go to when not at school, as well as working near home if you did this without a grad assistantship).

Hi everyone,

I’m a 5th-year medical student in a 6 year undergraduate program ,turning 28 soon. Over the past few years I’ve realized that my real passion is computational biology, bioinformatics, and developing algorithms for biomedical research. My long-term goal is to work in academia or industry doing computational research rather than practicing clinical medicine.

I’m currently trying to decide between three possible paths:

MSc in Bioinformatics (under a Computer Science faculty). The downside is that I’d first need to complete about a year of complementary undergraduate CS coursework before officially starting the master’s.

MSc in Mathematical Biology (under a Life Sciences faculty). This wouldn’t require the extra year of coursework, so it’s a faster route. However, I’m wondering whether the degree title and training would carry the same weight for future PhD opportunities and industry positions compared to an MSc in Bioinformatics.

Finish my MD first, continue building my computational background independently (math, CS, programming, machine learning, etc.), get involved in computational research, and then apply directly to a PhD afterward.

My end goal is to become an independent computational researcher working on biologically and medically relevant problems, ideally at the intersection of AI, algorithms, and biology.
For those of you in bioinformatics, computational biology, academia, or biotech:
Which path would you choose?
Does the title of the MSc (“Bioinformatics” vs. “Mathematical Biology”) actually matter in the long run?

Would finishing the MD before pursuing a PhD put me at a disadvantage, given that I’ll be around 31 when starting a PhD?

I’d really appreciate hearing your perspectives, especially from people who have taken unconventional paths.
Thanks

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to ask for some advice from those who have done a Master's and/or PhD in a niche field; i.e., I will be starting a Master's in Strategic Studies in the upcoming fiscal academic year, and would like to know if anyone in the same field or adjacent (e.g., Political Science, International Relations, Public Policy, Military History, etc.) can offer some advice to an incoming, mature student.

I ask because my chosen field is quite obscure and not as, say, "commercial" as its close counterparts; so most information about it is largely relegated to outdated reading lists, overlap with business and corporate-oriented content, and old testimonies of students from various global institutions who also offer the program under the same name.

For greater clarity: I am coming from a humanities background and have work experience (via military service) relevant to my field of study, but thought that I might benefit from some of the personal experiences, anecdotes, and lessons learned, from those of you who have already (or are currently) versed in these areas of study.

I welcome any and all advice, and thank you all in advance- even for just reading this.

(And please excuse me if "niche" sounds a bit arrogant).