Average Age of a Masters/PhD Student

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Reply 20

CHILLIN-DRAGON

Einheri

Ah, okay. I thought you were suggesting that they were in some way 'lesser' degrees.

no no off course not, i was just saying that theres no appropriate age at all to take them since its optional to take in the first place if you already have an undegrad degree to get you in your career already.

but actually some courses are getting so competitive its actually the norm to have achieved one if they want to work in certain firms etc, to prove you ability on another level

and in no way its a lesser degree and....to be honest......saying you have a "masters in" something sounds pretty cool, when i tell people im going to muffle my words so instead of saying "i have a masters in law" im gonna make it sound like im saying "i AM master of law" lol

i have a friend whose in a chem course at the moment, but is hopefully going to go medicine (4 or 5 year doesn't matter to him) but wants to take his masters in it first to further his academic ability.

and medicine, although one of the most completive, it is also one of the most job secure with 90% as the lowest employment (for average(stll hig pay lol)-high pay for medicine, uni prestige doesn't matter much since the gmc decides your employment and thats based on uni scores)so there isnt much need (for optional degrees) other then the under grad degree and the mountains of hospital studying to accel NORMALLY in a career, however having one give you access to other area if you want to

but if i saw a doctor with a masters of chem ASWELL, omg i would except they would get into the best private practice firm lol

Reply 21

deko

On mu MSc there were two people over 30 :biggrin:

I can also name few good uni tutors that did they PhD in their 30s

i want to wait a bit longer to apply for PhD, till I am more 28-30. want to get practical experience before I will do PhD that will probably get me overqualified for many positions...

Reply 22

Ghost

I'm doing a PhD. I'm currently 23 - as are most of the other people in my group.

Reply 23

RubiesandSparkles

My Dad cleared his PhD by the time he was 28! Basically, he took a few years off after his Masters degree, got married, had a kid and then resumed his studies! So there's no harm in waiting ...

Reply 24

jellybeanjen

On my course, about half the class were over 30 when we started, going for a career change. Only one girl came straight from her undergrad degree. It all depends what course you're doing what the ratio of older to younger students is, but I doubt you'll be the only one over 30. I get on as well with some of the older students as the ones my own age. The gap is only an issue if you make it one.

Reply 25

hangmanh

Well according to NYU stern business school stats, the average of their MBA starting student is 27. But u gotta need 2-5 years of work experience for business school. If this helps u.

Reply 26

LysFromParis

I will finish my master in France at 24, will do a second one in UK so 25 and hopefully will start PhD at 26. But well doing a master in France takes 5 years, so I expect people in the UK to be one or two year younger.

Reply 27

Rinker

AliciaJ703

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.

Yup, same. Anyway, it doesn't really matter how old you are.

Reply 28

Frankster1992

Id say for masters its probably 22-26

Reply 29

Dan2i

This aint an exact science, but...

{More specialized the course, more older students}

Reply 30

JJ Jerome

I agree with most of the above posters. I'm 25 and about to start a DPhil at Oxford and I know several people in the same programme who are about the same age. For the MPhil students they are mostly a little bit younger - 21-25, although this is only a broad generalisation. As always, there are masters students in the late 30s, doctoral students in their 50s, and a good friend of mine in Australia is starting his PhD at 22!

So bottom line, if your personal circumstances are such that it makes sense, that's all you have to worry about.