1. depends on where/what u're applying. i'll answer this for most post-grad course in public Us in msia:

the most common sponsorship/loan for postgrad is JPA. actually, there arent that many people taking postgrads as they have allocations for. generally my friends who fared 3.0 an above during undergrad have gotten a loan (local studies). however, JPA tends to prefer research courses than taught courses. so u might wanna consider that as well.

other than that, each university has their own research grants that they could offer to research students (again, only for research courses). this is the favourite among students, coz ur supervisor will use that money to pay for ur fees and some even provide allowances.

third option, this thing called biasiswazah. it's a university grant to masters students. the minimum requirement for this is 3.0cgpa. the university where u study will pay for ur fees, and give u around RM500 per month for allowances. u wont have to pay anything, provided that u graduate on time. fairly easy to get, coz not many know about this. all public Us in msia gives out biasiswazah. this is open to all post-graduates of all background, race, field of study, method of study and all. it does base on first come first serve basis though.

2. dunno

3. also dunno.

4. taught courses have CGPA, coz they have subjects where u'd have to sit for exams. the study will end with a dissertation that is like a mini-masters thesis. research studies, on the other hand is just distinction/pass/fail, as far as i know.

for research based programmes, it is highly recommended that u obtain honours in ur degree. some universities take honours into consideration during an application for a research degree.

research degree (masters):

generally ur application to the course comes with a topic proposal, a focused field of what u wanted to research. some schools require just a page of proposal, some require an extensive research being done prior to application. a research degree will produce a thesis written on the research that u have done during the course of ur study.

topics can range from qualitative or quantitative study, an basically u need to be very fluent in academic writing (which is quite different from a general degree's dissertation way of writing). u'll spend a year or sometimes more just reading, cross-referencing, testing, searching and writing on one particular subject. first u come up with a hypothesis, then a research to prove ur hypothesis.

that's roughly what a research masters is all about.

and u dont go researching things that have been done before. no sir.




i have a basic method of explaining level of studies here:

i. primary school - basic of all learning
ii. secondary low - wider scope of learning
iii. secondary mid - wide focus on a group of subjects
iv. secondary high - deeper knowledge on a wide range of subjects

v. diploma - basic applied skills on a specific field
vi. degree - skills and knowledge on an specific, established field
vi. degree + honours - skills & knowledge, with an academic discussion contributing to the body of knowledge

vii. masters (taught course) - advanced study on a specific, established field; with basic focus on new, unexplored areas of study.
viii. masters (research) - advanced study on a specific field, focusing on unexplored areas in a field of knowledge.

ix. phd - generally creating a new field of knowledge that have never discovered before in the world.