Has anyone ever done a Masters full-time whilst working full-time?

nel

Well its like the title states really has anyone done this before?

Ive been accepted on the course but have to do it FT for several reasons. I was hoping work would be supportive and allow me some time out, or re-arrange workin hours or even be flexible in some way but unfortunately they are not playing ball - they seem to have no interest in the fact im trying to better myself by doing a masters. So it looks like im stuck on my own once more but im determined to better myself by doing it.

i know it will be a hard 12-15 months but i think its an opportunity i cant miss because 1)the masters is in advanced networking and follows alot of the NP track - so i could kill 2 birds with one stone and gain an MSC whilst finishing my CCNP. 2) The course is only £4K 3) i may be entitled to a student loan and getting my course paid for free, all i would have to pay is £350 for my dissertation and 4)if i dont get the fee paid for then £4K is cheap for a masters compared to england where it would cost me approx £15K

im just looking for feedback, your experiances of doing it this way, any tips for doing it this way, do you guys think im crazy for doing it like this? haha i probably am a little crazy but the way i see it is that in 12-15 months time i will have a Bsc Hons (1st class), a masters degree and hopefully the ccnp too. surely that would make me more attractive to the kind of job im looking for?

brad-

depends on your how cool and flexable your supervisors at work are. I did 1 yr full time work/full time school while I finished by BS and it was really difficult. I woulnt recommend it if you value your time off, or have a family.

down77

I am actually doing this now... I'm working full time while pursuing my MS: Information Science & Assurance from WGU while also sharing duties with my wife to raise our toddler. It's all about learning time management and balancing your life.

Devilsbane

I always thought that Masters programs were quite flexible because they expected you to be working full time.

trio

I dont if thats possible,i was under the impression that its illegal to work while studying MSc in England,i am an international student who is studying my options to continue MSc in England but dont know if it only applies to us.And you as a resident might be different,i would like to know as well.
But i usually read that if you already work you can only enroll in PT MSc.

tpatt100

Depends on the school. Like others here I am working on my Masters at WGU. Now at a more traditional Masters program I know its possible because most assume you are working. I wanted to go to a U of M weekend MBA course here that lasted a year and a half but being in the National Guard there was no way I could do it.

At my last job one of our guys was allowed to go to school two days a week and make up his hours on the weekend shift working from home. We were a pretty small tight team though some places might get a lot of freaking out from other workers wanting the same flexibility.

Turgon

brad- wrote: »

depends on your how cool and flexable your supervisors at work are. I did 1 yr full time work/full time school while I finished by BS and it was really difficult. I woulnt recommend it if you value your time off, or have a family.

British Universities are not geared up for this. A fulltime Masters degree is 9 -5 M to F and to be honest many more hours in the labs and library in the evening working on assignments you have to hand in. Universities do not do classes in the evening for those working during the day. Very difficult to do a fulltime job around those constraints.

nel

brad- wrote: »

depends on your how cool and flexable your supervisors at work are. I did 1 yr full time work/full time school while I finished by BS and it was really difficult. I woulnt recommend it if you value your time off, or have a family.

Not very flexible by the looks of it. Infact they have offered me 1 day off per month for my studies. Better than nothing but isnt exactly going to make a dent into the hours of study it will require. I actually feel work are not happy that im doing it in all honesty.

brad- wrote:

I am actually doing this now... I'm working full time while pursuing my MS: Information Science & Assurance from WGU while also sharing duties with my wife to raise our toddler. It's all about learning time management and balancing your life.

Nope i recently split up with my long term gf, so have no ties at the moment - which is one of the reasons i think it would be a good time to do it. No family/kids either.

down77 wrote:

I am actually doing this now... I'm working full time while pursuing my MS: Information Science & Assurance from WGU while also sharing duties with my wife to raise our toddler. It's all about learning time management and balancing your life.

Do you have any good tips on time management? i.e. what kind of work method do you do?

devilsbane wrote:

I always thought that Masters programs were quite flexible because they expected you to be working full time.

I think thats the theory behind it but there are thousands of folk who do masters over here which have not an ounce of work experiance. The course isnt that flexible as its all scheduled classes during the day. But you can do it self study from home for 3 years.

trio wrote:

I dont if thats possible,i was under the impression that its illegal to work while studying MSc in England,i am an international student who is studying my options to continue MSc in England but dont know if it only applies to us.And you as a resident might be different,i would like to know as well.
But i usually read that if you already work you can only enroll in PT MSc.

Hmm not that i know of, but im a UK/EU citizen. my flatmate has a canadian gf and she can only work upto 16 hours per week because of her visa. Maybe this is something similar for you if your a non EU citizen? Screw the system, im doing it anyway

veritas_libertas

Devilsbane wrote: »

I always thought that Masters programs were quite flexible because they expected you to be working full time.

Many of them are. Around here Clemson University has an evening MBA program that I hear is excellent.

Hyper-Me

I got an associates and nearly finished a bachelors while working full time. No reason it can't be done with a masters. Most of the time the school assumes you are working fulltime to begin with.

tenrou

I can't see how this can be done full time Nel. Having done a CS masters in Scotland I was in for 3 days 9-5 and 2 days 9-3.

Depending on where you are doing this I know Glasgow Caledonian University have a strong Cisco tie in and the base their masters around the Cisco CCNP course. It's 2 years part time over 2 nights a week and a more viable solution.

nel

tenrou wrote: »

I can't see how this can be done full time Nel. Having done a CS masters in Scotland I was in for 3 days 9-5 and 2 days 9-3.

Depending on where you are doing this I know Glasgow Caledonian University have a strong Cisco tie in and the base their masters around the Cisco CCNP course. It's 2 years part time over 2 nights a week and a more viable solution.

Well i asked the uni, and although they stressed it would be hard work, they pointed out that i done a similar thing at Honours level for a year. Theyve also stated i may get some exemptions from modules due to my work experiance.

NinjaBoy

nel wrote: »

...i know it will be a hard 12-15 months but i think its an opportunity i cant miss because 1)the masters is in advanced networking and follows alot of the NP track - so i could kill 2 birds with one stone and gain an MSC whilst finishing my CCNP. 2) The course is only £4K 3) i may be entitled to a student loan and getting my course paid for free, all i would have to pay is £350 for my dissertation and 4)if i dont get the fee paid for then £4K is cheap for a masters compared to england where it would cost me approx £15K...

It depends on where you look (on the cost of a Master's). Our local Uni is offering 2 different Master's degree's (IT related - one in IT Service Management, the other one in IT something of another) for £4.5k each.

-Ken

nel

NinjaBoy wrote: »

It depends on where you look (on the cost of a Master's). Our local Uni is offering 2 different Master's degree's (IT related - one in IT Service Management, the other one in IT something of another) for £4.5k each.

-Ken

hmm, admittedly i have been lookin for a advanced networking degree and many have seem to be extortinate back home.

snokerpoker

I am doing my BS right now while working full time, starting a family and doing some re-modeling at our new home. So yes, it can be done. Not to say that it is easy. There are many factors that come into play though. Depends on how much time you have at work (if any) that you can devote to your studies and how you manage your time outside of work.

colemic

nel wrote: »

Not very flexible by the looks of it. Infact they have offered me 1 day off per month for my studies. Better than nothing but isnt exactly going to make a dent into the hours of study it will require. I actually feel work are not happy that im doing it in all honesty.



Nope i recently split up with my long term gf, so have no ties at the moment - which is one of the reasons i think it would be a good time to do it. No family/kids either.



Do you have any good tips on time management? i.e. what kind of work method do you do?



I think thats the theory behind it but there are thousands of folk who do masters over here which have not an ounce of work experiance. The course isnt that flexible as its all scheduled classes during the day. But you can do it self study from home for 3 years.



Hmm not that i know of, but im a UK/EU citizen. my flatmate has a canadian gf and she can only work upto 16 hours per week because of her visa. Maybe this is something similar for you if your a non EU citizen? Screw the system, im doing it anyway

Correct about the visa - I went to Univeristy of Stirling in 07-08 and if I had worked, I would have been limited to 16 or 20 hours a week. It's one cool looking visa in my passport though. :8