Tina_HP Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Does anyone know do you get any vacation while in grad school for MSc? Do you get two weeks of vacation or can you take any days off? Do grad students usually take any vacation days when doing a MSc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 It completely depends on things like who your supervisor is and what your research is like, but it's generally pretty unstructured as far as time off goes. I'm sure some programs are exceptions to that, though, and if you happen to be somewhere where grad students are unionized, then things are a bit different. But when I was doing my MS (in the States, so there's no c at the end , I pretty much took time off whenever I needed/wanted to. I went home for Christmas, and for a week or two in the summer, and for occasional weekends if I had some reason to. No one ever had a problem with it. And now I'm working on a Ph.D., and I'm at the point where all my research can be done on my own laptop (and I don't have any classes), so I can take off for 5 weeks and no one cares. And I've done so several times. If you're working in a lab (I'm an astronomer, so I don't work in a lab), you'll probably have more schedule constraints. But generally it's not a problem to take time off, as long as your work is getting done. And you're not usually limited to X number of vacation days, at least not that I've ever heard of. But you are expected to spend most of the summer on campus, unless you're doing field work somewhere else. Most grad students that I've known take a week or two off at some point in the summer and spend the rest of it on campus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuma Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Grad students get vacation. It is alot like a regular job. When I did mine I can`t remember if it was 2 weeks or 3 weeks a year. But anyway, you have however many weeks a year and you just ask to have it off when you want. My supervisor was never really sticky about time off though. If I needed a day here or there he'd give it to me. He knew I was working hard and very long hours in general. So taking a day here or there was not really asking alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDMed Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 If you are OD'ing while in grad school you probably need a vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariostudent Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Every lab is different. Mine was entirely unstructured and I could take time off whenever I wanted, as long as my work got done. I just had to tell my supervisor I'd be away and make sure I didn't need to be around for anything specific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orange123 Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 If you are OD'ing while in grad school you probably need a vacation. LOL! I had the same reaction when I first read the thread title...I was like, huh? Overdosing?! lawl lawl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariostudent Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 Ohhh was that supposed to say "doing"?? Ha, that took me a while to figure out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orange123 Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 It completely depends on things like who your supervisor is and what your research is like, but it's generally pretty unstructured as far as time off goes. I'm sure some programs are exceptions to that, though, and if you happen to be somewhere where grad students are unionized, then things are a bit different. But when I was doing my MS (in the States, so there's no c at the end , I pretty much took time off whenever I needed/wanted to. I went home for Christmas, and for a week or two in the summer, and for occasional weekends if I had some reason to. No one ever had a problem with it. And now I'm working on a Ph.D., and I'm at the point where all my research can be done on my own laptop (and I don't have any classes), so I can take off for 5 weeks and no one cares. And I've done so several times. If you're working in a lab (I'm an astronomer, so I don't work in a lab), you'll probably have more schedule constraints. But generally it's not a problem to take time off, as long as your work is getting done. And you're not usually limited to X number of vacation days, at least not that I've ever heard of. But you are expected to spend most of the summer on campus, unless you're doing field work somewhere else. Most grad students that I've known take a week or two off at some point in the summer and spend the rest of it on campus. hey astrogirl, did you by chance do your MS through the fullbright program? I was thinking of going this route, i.e. masters in the states, as a back-up! Thanks! oh and BTW, how did you find it? Studying in the States, that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 hey astrogirl, did you by chance do your MS through the fullbright program? I was thinking of going this route, i.e. masters in the states, as a back-up! Thanks! oh and BTW, how did you find it? Studying in the States, that is. No, mine wasn't through the Fullbright program. I did my undergrad in the States, and then just stayed at the same place to do a Master's. I liked studying in the States. The US is much more different from Canada than most people realize, but it was nice to be there temporarily. One thing I should warn you about if you do decide to go down there is that the health insurance situation there really is as bad or worse than people say it is for low-income people like students, so if you have any chronic conditions then make sure you come up with a good plan to deal with that. There seems to be more of an emphasis on coursework in grad school in the States than there is in Canada. And undergrad education has more of a liberal arts emphasis down there as opposed to "some people are science students and just do science and some people are arts students and just do arts". Of course, I realize that I'm comparing one US school with one Canadian school, so those generalizations may be wildly inaccurate. Right after 9/11, being there on a student visa was a bit of a constant fiasco to have to deal with, but things have settled down a lot, and student visas are always easier at the graduate level anyway, so you shouldn't have problems on that end. If you do decide to go down there, you'll probably have a great time. I came back with a whole new appreciation of our neighbors to the South that I didn't have before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orange123 Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 No, mine wasn't through the Fullbright program. I did my undergrad in the States, and then just stayed at the same place to do a Master's. I liked studying in the States. The US is much more different from Canada than most people realize, but it was nice to be there temporarily. One thing I should warn you about if you do decide to go down there is that the health insurance situation there really is as bad or worse than people say it is for low-income people like students, so if you have any chronic conditions then make sure you come up with a good plan to deal with that. There seems to be more of an emphasis on coursework in grad school in the States than there is in Canada. And undergrad education has more of a liberal arts emphasis down there as opposed to "some people are science students and just do science and some people are arts students and just do arts". Of course, I realize that I'm comparing one US school with one Canadian school, so those generalizations may be wildly inaccurate. Right after 9/11, being there on a student visa was a bit of a constant fiasco to have to deal with, but things have settled down a lot, and student visas are always easier at the graduate level anyway, so you shouldn't have problems on that end. If you do decide to go down there, you'll probably have a great time. I came back with a whole new appreciation of our neighbors to the South that I didn't have before. Sweet! Thanks a bunch!! Good to know about the health insurance as well. That would not have crossed my mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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