A day in the life of a postgraduate student

Rachel is a Master’s in History student. In this blog, Rachel talks about the differences between undergraduate and postgraduate study, a normal day, and the best place for lunch!
When applying to graduate school, there’s the burning question that arises: “How is graduate school different from undergraduate school? And, maybe more importantly, what do graduate students do all day?”
I’ve just started my taught MSc program, studying History, in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. With my first semester under my belt, I feel qualified to answer both questions. I thought that I would take you with me on a typical day as an MSc student!

This is my winning home coffee combo. I love my University of Edinburgh coffee cup! I think it is so cute!
8:00am – My day usually begins fairly early. Don’t let this fool you, it’s not because I’m suddenly more productive having earned my undergraduate degrees. Unfortunately, it’s because grad students are not spared the horror of 9am classes. This first hour of my day is usually a blind rush out the door, shoving food in my face. Make sure you eat before class, as some seminar rooms don’t allow you to bring in snacks!
Most of my classes this year were housed in the William Robertson wing of the Old Medical School. The William Robertson Wing houses seminar rooms, the history library, the postgrad common room, and many professors’ offices. I live close to campus, so I don’t have to go far to get to class.
11:00am At this point, I’m sat in class.
I thought I’d mention here that you don’t have class every day, or even multiple times a week. Coming from the U.S., often we’d meet several times a week per class. This isn’t the case in the UK. Last semester, I took three classes and only met three times a week. One meeting per class per week. That’s a lot more free time than I was used to in undergrad.
Class structure varies wildly based on professor and subject matter. However, something that I’ve noticed is a lot less lecturing. Instead, there’s a heavier reading load. You are expected to bring adequate background knowledge, understanding of the material, and questions to class. Don’t let that scare you, though! Much of the class is discussion-based, so if you found the material challenging, or even couldn’t finish every reading, your classmates and professor are there to help.

A view of the postgrad common room! As you can see there’s lots of different places to sit, and a little kitchen where you can make lunch or a hot beverage.
I enjoyed this format much more than that of lecture-heavy undergraduate classes. Not only have I felt much more connected to my professors and classmates, but also to the material. This format also held me accountable for staying on top of my readings. It is immediately obvious to your peers and instructors if you haven’t engaged with your readings. I even had a professor tell us to “not show up” if we hadn’t prepared. It can be nerve-racking at first, but I found a Socratic style of learning to be much more effective for me!
A view of the postgrad common room! As you can see there’s lots of different places to sit, and a little kitchen where you can make lunch or a hot beverage. Most classes are two hours long, which goes by very quickly. By the end of class, I’m usually ravenous. This last semester, I only had ten minutes between one class and the next! Luckily, they were in the same room, so I didn’t have to go far.
In between my two class periods, I would run to the café in the Chrystal Macmillan building. The Chrystal MacMillan building housing the School of Social and Political Science. It’s connected to the William Robertson Wing, so it’s super easy to get an inter-class caffeine fix. You’ll even run into your lecturers there, doing the same thing.
If I’m not heading to my next class, I’ll go to the Jim McMillan room, otherwise known as the postgrad common room. It’s a super nice space to hang out with your peers and get a little bit of work done. It’s cozier and more laid back than any of the libraries. Plus, there are often events in the common room, so sometimes you can snag leftover cakes and coffee!

The Picnic Basket. You can see the line inside!
1:00pm – If I’m just getting out of my second lecture or have been working on some readings, I’ll go and get some lunch around this time. There’s a lot of great options around campus. There’s so many, it’s hard to convince myself to bring lunch in.
My favourite spot is just off campus, called the Picnic Basket! They do a great sandwich. It’s a popular spot though, so if you get there at the wrong time, the line can go out of the door.
3:00pm – While it’s nice to sit in the Common Room and decompress, it can get a little loud. So, if I’m still in the building in the afternoon, I’ll move upstairs to the Postgraduate Research Room. There’s no talking in the research room, so whenever I need to really work, this is the place I go.

Lots of individual desks and big windows in the Postgrad Research Room. Also, it’s hard to see, but off to the left is a line of desktop computers for student use!
It can feel unreal that I spend five hours a day reading, but some days are like that! Every person has a different working style. I have found it most effective to treat my degree like an office job and work from 9:00am to 5:00pm, that way I don’t have to do work outside of those hours. Often, I’ll spend all or most of my day in the Research Room, or any of the libraries on campus. I spend a lot of time reading and, as the semester progresses, working on papers. I’ll also use this time to meet with professors.
I have found myself meeting with professors much more frequently than I did in undergrad. The material is more challenging, and I have more questions. Mostly, professors are happy to engage with you and help clarify confusing topics. Make sure you’re not coming in and asking something that can be googled, though! It’s also important to maintain a dialogue with your professors about assignments. You are expected to drive and pursue your own research questions, so ensuring that you’re working on something both feasible and within the scope of the class is crucial.
5:00pm – I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted. I’ll pack up and head home in the evenings, if I’ve managed to stay on task all day.
The most challenging part of my day-to-day life as a graduate student is how much more freedom there is. It’s partly the difference between British and American schooling, but also in how much academic freedom awarded to graduate students. You are solely responsible for your education as a graduate student. If you are not devoting time to readings, working on papers, and engaging with your classmates, it’ll be harder to succeed! However, you’re given lots of time and space to do that more intense workload. It’s tiring and challenging, but I like my graduate schoolwork and day-to-day line-up much better than that of my undergraduate career!
Make sure you save some time and energy for yourself, though. My favourite wind-down activity is pizza and board games with my friends. There’s even a board game society at the University of Edinburgh. Don’t forget how awesome a city Edinburgh is and leave yourself some space to experience all it has to offer!