A week in the life of a postgraduate student

Experience life through the eyes of a postgrad student and see how study fits into their day-to-day.

Planning your future studies can be difficult when you aren’t sure how a postgraduate course will fit into your lifestyle. Have you ever wished you could know what an average week looks like for a postgraduate student juggling other responsibilities?

Well, we’ve got just what you need! To help you figure out how study will fit into your life, we’ve spoken to RMIT postgraduate students to find out what a typical week looks like for them – and compiled a list of advice.

A student works on a laptop while two other students talk in front of a whiteboard

Know your campus

Finding your work-study balance is key to fitting postgraduate study into your life, but it’s also important to consider which campus you’ll be studying at. Though Melbourne is an incredibly well-connected city, it can be far easier to get to certain suburbs if you live or work nearby. For example, RMIT Juris Doctor graduate, Floyd, had an easier time getting to classes after work because both his job and classes were in the Melbourne CBD.

“With most [of my] classes starting from 5:30pm, it meant I could fit in my full-time workload and also study as well,” said Floyd.

For those who aren’t aware, RMIT has three Melbourne-based campuses each focusing on different study areas.

The inspiring spaces at our Brunswick campus focus on fashion and design. The high-tech marvels of the Bundoora campus cater to postgraduate early childhood education, health, medical science, and food science.  Meanwhile, the sprawling City campus covers everything else, from business to engineering to IT.

To find out where the course you’re interested in is taught, check the ‘Location’ tag in the top right corner of the course page. For example, the Master of Fashion (Entrepreneurship) is taught at our Brunswick campus, while the Master of Business Administration is taught at the City campus.

Three students working on a computer in a lab

Regular lectures, tutorials or labs

As a postgraduate student, you’ll have weekly lectures, workshops, tutorials, labs or a combination of these class types. The duration of these will differ from subject-to-subject and course-to-course, but we do have some examples to share that might give you an idea of the time commitment.

RMIT Master of Data Science graduate, Tony, had four classes in an average week. Most of these classes were two hours long and ran in the late afternoon or evening. Master of Business Administration graduate, Elza, also had four classes in an average week, though her classes were usually in the mornings and typically ran for one and a half to two and a half hours each.

Tony and Elza’s average weeks are good examples of a full-time postgraduate class load, though there may be weeks that this commitment varies. There is also some flexibility with these classes as lectures may be recorded, allowing you to prioritise which you attend and which you watch later.

Find out more about returning to study

Considering returning to study, but not sure where to begin? Download our return to study guide so you can get all the information you need to make a decision.

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Assignments and placements

Postgraduate study isn’t just about attending classes. You’ll also be developing skills and gaining experience with projects, assignments, and in some cases, placements. These will require a bit of time management. Your classes will be held during allocated times, but when an assignment gets done is up to you.

Don’t let this daunt you! These tasks may have deadlines, but they also give you the flexibility to complete them when and how you’d like.

In an average week, Elza says she spent at least 2 hours each weekday working on an assignment or research task. She had most mornings free so that’s when she did this study. Meanwhile, Tony did at least an hour of assignment work roughly every two days. His changing job schedule meant he had to take a slightly less structured approach than Elza, so Tony fit his assignment work in whenever he had free time.

Placements are another matter entirely. Some courses won’t require a placement, and if you already work in the industry that you are studying, you may be able to shorten your placement with recognition of prior learning. If you are required to complete a placement and you have existing commitments like full-time work, you may need to discuss an arrangement with your employer.

Two engineering students working on a project in the workshop

Working while you study

This is the big one. The big question mark that stands between a postgraduate and many full-time professionals.

You’ll be happy to know that hundreds of RMIT postgraduate students balance their work and study each year. So, not only is it possible, but you’re in good company at RMIT.

If you’re not confident that you’ll be able to complete a postgraduate on top of your work, there are a few options that might take some of the pressure off. Part-time study means half the usual study load and can give you some additional flexibility. Alternatively, RMIT offers online study options which let you study when and where you’d like.

We’ve got even more advice to give about balancing work, life and study, if you’re looking for more examples of how previous RMIT students have found their balance, check it out now.

Hopefully this glimpse of student life has shown you how study can fit alongside your life and work. The next step is finding the course that’s right for you – or if you’ve already got one in mind, all that’s left is applying!

Story: Jacob Johnston

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