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Reply 1
I'm not sure about the general case, but I'd be surprised if you were totally alone. I'm going to be 32 during the third year of my PhD, and I know of three others who are older than I am, which accounts for about 10% of our department's research students.
Reply 2
I'm no expert...but I really don't think it matters. I'm working with a few PhD students at the moment (biotech mainly, so different sector but i doubt it makes much of a difference) and their ages range from about 24 to 50. So I guess it just depends on when you think the best time to do it is :smile:
31 would be older than at least 90% of people on the MA I'm on.
Ice_Queen
Hiya,

Can anyone help me - I'd like to do my PG, but I can't afford to right now. It will take me a good few years to get the cash to pay tuition and support myself.

If I wait five or ten years (making me 31) would I be one of a few or is it fairly common? It would be in Finance or Accountancy (or that sort of area) and full time if that makes a difference.

Thank you very much!

IQ x

it can be at any time its not like its a degree, its used to further your knowledge and cv, so everyone does it i know 45 year old who do it, some do it immediately after uni, i plan to do mine as soon as possible after uni, then years later maybe pursue another degree and get a masters then for that degree.

for a masters anytime what so ever its available to everyone, and there is no standard age, mainly because some people dont do it at all
Reply 5
Pink Bullets
31 would be older than at least 90% of people on the MA I'm on.



Which MA are you on, and where, if you don't mind me asking?



I would do it now if there was any possible way of affording it, but funding is so difficult to get and I've just been to NZ which didn't help my finances so much! I'm going to work literally as little as I need to save up the cash.

IQ x

P.S. Thanks for the fast responses :smile:
Ice_Queen
Which MA are you on, and where, if you don't mind me asking?



I would do it now if there was any possible way of affording it, but funding is so difficult to get and I've just been to NZ which didn't help my finances so much! I'm going to work literally as little as I need to save up the cash.

IQ x

P.S. Thanks for the fast responses :smile:


MA Publishing, LCC. So nothing like what you want to do. :smile:
I'm about to start a PhD at 22. But I'd say the current average age in my department is 26ish.
Reply 8
In my office, the majority of us did a MEng or BSc+Msc and went straight onto a PhD at 22. However there are three fellow first years who are 29, 57 and 39. I also know an MSc student who is 29.
Reply 9
I am starting mine in September at the ripe old age of 25 :biggrin:

Anyway, seriously I think its better to just get the education out of the way while you are young, I know its not ideal but you can get loans and stuff to help you out and then of course if you start PG at 31 you won't finish until 32-33? And you have to think about your pension which needs a good 40 years of payments to be any good. I know I wouldn't want to rely on the governments pension scheme... :s-smilie:
Reply 10
Gavzzz
I am starting mine in September at the ripe old age of 25 :biggrin:

Anyway, seriously I think its better to just get the education out of the way while you are young, I know its not ideal but you can get loans and stuff to help you out and then of course if you start PG at 31 you won't finish until 32-33? And you have to think about your pension which needs a good 40 years of payments to be any good. I know I wouldn't want to rely on the governments pension scheme... :s-smilie:



It's not a possibility at all, I've looked into it quite a bit as I am certain this is what I want to do as soon as I can. I don't have the family support to do it now, I'd pretty much have to sleep in the library and eat from the bin :p: As for the pension, me and my boyfriend are both fairly ambitious career-wise (him more so - he works for the money, I work because I love what I do) so I'm hoping to get a decent pension and stack of savings that way - I also intend to work as long as I can rather than taking early retirement!

I don't really mind when I finish, it's not that I want to do it for work, I want to do it for myself as a person. I just needed to know I wouldn't be the odd one out entirely, unlike in undergraduate!

IQ x
I wouldn't worry about it, at undergrad we had one guy in our class who was 52 and everyone (including our teacher) showed him a high level of respect (as you do with most elders).

31 is well above the average age but it wouldn't have very much effect at uni level.
It's hard to judge the average age of a master's/PhD student but if it helps, I will be 23 once I start my master's program this year.
Reply 13
I think it's harder if you will have a gap, but far from impossible and not that unusual. My MA course was mostly 21 year olds, but we did have a couple of people in their forties or fifties, and I was 26.
Reply 14
I am going to be 24 when I begin my masters. You shouldn't worry about age when it comes to education. Do what makes you happy and helps you get to a level of education that pleases you.
Reply 15
CHILLIN-DRAGON
it can be at any time its not like its a degree, its used to further your knowledge and cv, so everyone does it i know 45 year old who do it, some do it immediately after uni, i plan to do mine as soon as possible after uni, then years later maybe pursue another degree and get a masters then for that degree.

for a masters anytime what so ever its available to everyone, and there is no standard age, mainly because some people dont do it at all


In what parallel dimension is a Master's Degree not a degree? :rolleyes:
Sorry
Einheri
In what parallel dimension is a Master's Degree not a degree? :rolleyes:

So so sorry but i worded that very badly i know its a degree, but i was comparing it to the appropriate time to take an undergraduate degree which i think can have a maximum of a few years after the norm to still be taken (assuming it was possible). Any degree after your first doesnt really have a limit of how old you can be since its an optional academic enhancement.

So sorry if i sounded negative, i have a great respect for a masters and hope to achieve one myself
Reply 17
CHILLIN-DRAGON
Sorry
So so sorry but i worded that very badly i know its a degree, but i was comparing it to the appropriate time to take an undergraduate degree which i think can have a maximum of a few years after the norm to still be taken (assuming it was possible). Any degree after your first doesnt really have a limit of how old you can be since its an optional academic enhancement.

So sorry if i sounded negative, i have a great respect for a masters and hope to achieve one myself


:o: Ah, okay. I thought you were suggesting that they were in some way 'lesser' degrees.
There's a student on my MA who is 54 and a few others in their late forties
Reply 19
Why do people keep asking this question?:confused: The only possible answer is 'it depends'. It depends on a whole bunch of factors, and even then the average age won't really tell you much.
At 31 you'd probably be older than most masters students on most courses and slightly older than most PhD students, but you still wouldn't be the oldest student around by any means.

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