[fl4mers]

Hey there!

I'm just looking for a bit of advice here, so maybe some people with personal experience might be able to help me out here. I applied for a full-time MA Human Resource Management at Leeds University and got accepted on to the course to start in September. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I now have the money to cover my tuition fees (7000 pounds), but not enough to cover my accommodation (3000) and living costs (ca.4-6000).

I wanted to apply for a career development loan to cover those costs due to the year of free interest and the 9.9% interest rate, but have now found out I am ineligible due to the fact I've been living abroad for the last 2 years. I therefore approached my bank to see if they could help me and they offered me a loan for 7000 over 5 years at 15.9%. It's great to know I'm eligible for that, but I think the interest rate is ridiculously high and the monthly repayments of about 170 a month might be a little difficult to keep up over the year if I can't work many hours alongside my course (thinking 10/week). I am, therefore, considering doing the course part-time over two years and working about 25-30 hours a week to hopefully avoid getting a loan (or at least one that large) and also possibly gather some work experience if I can find some related work.

My questions are therefore:

1) Does anybody have any opinions on option A) i.e. going into debt for my MA but therefore finishing early (in 1 yr) and hopefully finding a job to pay off my loan asap?

2) Is it realistic to think that I could work 25-30 hours/week while studying part-time (2 yrs) and still be able to cope with a heavy course load?

3) Anybody studying full-time possibly have an opinion on being able to handle more than 10 hours working per week on a heavy course load to cover payments over the year?

I will end up doing the master's either way as it is important to me to get it. However, my concern at the moment has as much to do with finances as the fact that I will be 27 when I graduate if I do the course part-time and I'm a little worried that my age will make me lose out (hence the consideration of big debt to finish by 26). I know it's only one year, but with all the fresh younger students coming out of their MA programs I'm a little worried my age may end up working against me in the end. So yeah... just looking for general advice/opinions really. Thank you for reading

[adfdub]

Hey

I'm going to be starting an HRM MSc next year and have been living abroad as well, but haven't come up against any problems getting a career development loan. In the end I have been able to scrape the money for the course (18,000) and living without loans, but when I approached my British bank before about the loan, it was fine. However, I'm not sure they're aware I currently live abroad as I kept the account registered in my parents' address in the UK and said nothing about it - I think they asked salary which I converted into sterling.

Have you already been working in HR and have some experience, or is the MA your first step? Having worked in the field for a bit I know that personally I would not like to carry on in my job and study part-time. I feel that my performance in both would suffer as a result, so I've decided to go back full-time and fully focus on getting the most out of the degree (especially considering the ridiculous fees).

I know I've not experienced it first-hand, but I hope that helps!

[fl4mers]

(Original post by adfdub)
Hey

I'm going to be starting an HRM MSc next year and have been living abroad as well, but haven't come up against any problems getting a career development loan. In the end I have been able to scrape the money for the course (18,000) and living without loans, but when I approached my British bank before about the loan, it was fine. However, I'm not sure they're aware I currently live abroad as I kept the account registered in my parents' address in the UK and said nothing about it - I think they asked salary which I converted into sterling.

Have you already been working in HR and have some experience, or is the MA your first step? Having worked in the field for a bit I know that personally I would not like to carry on in my job and study part-time. I feel that my performance in both would suffer as a result, so I've decided to go back full-time and fully focus on getting the most out of the degree (especially considering the ridiculous fees).

I know I've not experienced it first-hand, but I hope that helps!

Hmm... did they not ask you about whether you've been living abroad or not on the application? My UK bank accounts have all been running constantly while I've been gone too and I've been paying about 900 into them for the last year or so. If I don't have to mention the fact I was abroad on the application then I might still be able to get it, which would be worth considering. The CDL advisor told me I probably wouldn't be eligible due to my absense though because you have to have been ordinarily resident in the UK for 3 years beforehand. That's why I thought I couldn't get it :/

[UnixGuy]

It depends. Do you have a current full time job? Do you see a room for progress in that job?


Don't get into debt to get that masters degree. If you can't afford, don't do it. Do it part time and look for ways to move up within your organisation or look for another job. Keep your full time job, keep getting income.


I'm in the same position (almost same age too), with 5 years of experience in my field. I decided against going full time (going distance learning) because I found the ROI isn't favorable, plus experience is more important than any degree. Degree will help you, and it will open doors for you, but since you can do it part-time and keep your money, why not?

[adfdub]

(Original post by fl4mers)
Hmm... did they not ask you about whether you've been living abroad or not on the application? My UK bank accounts have all been running constantly while I've been gone too and I've been paying about 900 into them for the last year or so. If I don't have to mention the fact I was abroad on the application then I might still be able to get it, which would be worth considering. The CDL advisor told me I probably wouldn't be eligible due to my absense though because you have to have been ordinarily resident in the UK for 3 years beforehand. That's why I thought I couldn't get it :/

Well she did it all on the computer and never asked, said it would be fine. But I'm not sure she completely knew what she was doing, and I've managed to get away with quite a bit going through that branch in the past. Maybe it is an official rule, I don't really know. Could you not just take a similar loan from your foreign bank in that case?

[TBD]

You could defer or go part time. I would go part time and continue working and have some real world experience to pour into the course. Then you can :
a) call bull**** on a number of the frameworks they present
b) end up with the qual
c) end up with some money and no debt
d) have had one extra year of career development.

You should spread it over several years if possible.

You will be 27 ?

That's just getting warmed-up in your career. If are nearing retirement then worry.

TBD

(Original post by fl4mers)
Hey there!

I'm just looking for a bit of advice here, so maybe some people with personal experience might be able to help me out here. I applied for a full-time MA Human Resource Management at Leeds University and got accepted on to the course to start in September. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I now have the money to cover my tuition fees (7000 pounds), but not enough to cover my accommodation (3000) and living costs (ca.4-6000).

I wanted to apply for a career development loan to cover those costs due to the year of free interest and the 9.9% interest rate, but have now found out I am ineligible due to the fact I've been living abroad for the last 2 years. I therefore approached my bank to see if they could help me and they offered me a loan for 7000 over 5 years at 15.9%. It's great to know I'm eligible for that, but I think the interest rate is ridiculously high and the monthly repayments of about 170 a month might be a little difficult to keep up over the year if I can't work many hours alongside my course (thinking 10/week). I am, therefore, considering doing the course part-time over two years and working about 25-30 hours a week to hopefully avoid getting a loan (or at least one that large) and also possibly gather some work experience if I can find some related work.

My questions are therefore:

1) Does anybody have any opinions on option A) i.e. going into debt for my MA but therefore finishing early (in 1 yr) and hopefully finding a job to pay off my loan asap?

2) Is it realistic to think that I could work 25-30 hours/week while studying part-time (2 yrs) and still be able to cope with a heavy course load?

3) Anybody studying full-time possibly have an opinion on being able to handle more than 10 hours working per week on a heavy course load to cover payments over the year?

I will end up doing the master's either way as it is important to me to get it. However, my concern at the moment has as much to do with finances as the fact that I will be 27 when I graduate if I do the course part-time and I'm a little worried that my age will make me lose out (hence the consideration of big debt to finish by 26). I know it's only one year, but with all the fresh younger students coming out of their MA programs I'm a little worried my age may end up working against me in the end. So yeah... just looking for general advice/opinions really. Thank you for reading

[fl4mers]

(Original post by UnixGuy)
It depends. Do you have a current full time job? Do you see a room for progress in that job?


Don't get into debt to get that masters degree. If you can't afford, don't do it. Do it part time and look for ways to move up within your organisation or look for another job. Keep your full time job, keep getting income.


I'm in the same position (almost same age too), with 5 years of experience in my field. I decided against going full time (going distance learning) because I found the ROI isn't favorable, plus experience is more important than any degree. Degree will help you, and it will open doors for you, but since you can do it part-time and keep your money, why not?

I am currently working full-time in South Korea as an English teacher. There is very little progression in this field, or at least not before I get an MA. I chose to do an MA in HR because it's related and I can specialise in Training and Development, which is a field I would like to stay in even if I am not directly teaching anymore.

I did consider the long distance option before, but I don't see myself having the dedication to keep that up without actually stepping foot in an actual classroom from time to time. I do think you have a point in saying that I shouldn't go into debt for my MA though... I'm coming more and more to the realisation that staying out of debt and doing it part time would probably be the smarter option... Thank you very much for the input

[UnixGuy]

(Original post by fl4mers)
I am currently working full-time in South Korea as an English teacher. There is very little progression in this field, or at least not before I get an MA. I chose to do an MA in HR because it's related and I can specialise in Training and Development, which is a field I would like to stay in even if I am not directly teaching anymore.

I did consider the long distance option before, but I don't see myself having the dedication to keep that up without actually stepping foot in an actual classroom from time to time. I do think you have a point in saying that I shouldn't go into debt for my MA though... I'm coming more and more to the realisation that staying out of debt and doing it part time would probably be the smarter option... Thank you very much for the input

It's always safer to try and get your foot in the field before doing a postgrad in the field. Getting an entry level job in the field and building up experience is always a great choice. Try to study somewhere where you don't have to pay tuition fees. Look for international masters in other EU countries, there are plenty great programs with zero tuition fees.


Good luck

[thewaythingsare]

I'm doing a full-time MSc in a related field (MSc in Occupational Psychology, we have done 6 out of 8 modules with the HRM students) and I have been working 25hrs/week throughout my course + spent 10hrs/week travelling on the tube to a from work as well. It's been busy, but I've still managed to do it.

It takes motivation and commitment in order to keep up with all of your coursework, assignments etc and you need to be willing to sacrifice your social life as well to get your uni work done in time for deadlines. But I chose to do it this way so that I can get it all done in a year and it's been worth it. Sure, this way I pretty much have 'no life' outside work and uni at all for one year, whereas two years of working full-time and studying is really hard going in terms of motivation from what my fellow students who are part-timers say, since they are in many respects giving up on their 'normal life' for two whole years which is a long time.

[Inkslick]

I do not recommend taking massive debt for the sake of 1 year. The year won't matter but the debt will cripple you for a very long time.

Working full time and part time studying is very, very hard. I've done it twice and I don't recommend it for more than 3 or 4 months. That said, plenty of people do get through it and succeed, but I don't know how- I found it draining and my life was basically over, commitments piled up unfinished and relationships were neglected.

[sj27]

I've done a part-time masters. It is hard, but if you are disciplined it's do-able. I agree with the above posters in that expect to be exhausted continually and expect to have your social life take a backseat for a long while. All that said, I don't regret it. I loved the course and it was important for me to be able to continue working. I am told however that the drop-out rates are quite high for part-time programmes, so be sure that you really want to do the course and that you have the discipline to open your books every night no matter how tired you may be after a full day's work.