Full-time job and Part-time Masters course?

Hi, this might sound ridiculous, but just wondering if any of you have, or know anyone who has worked full-time alongside studying/attending lectures etc part-time for a Masters course? x

Reply 1

Bill_Gates

Yes, me it didn't work out. I had to leave the masters eventually (i do have a masters now btw).

Was too much work!

Reply 2

Little Old Me

Original post by Bill_Gates

Yes, me it didn't work out. I had to leave the masters eventually (i do have a masters now btw).

Was too much work!

Ahh I see. Thanks for the reply, I'm glad it worked out! x

Reply 3

Jantaculum

Original post by Little Old Me

Hi, this might sound ridiculous, but just wondering if any of you have, or know anyone who has worked full-time alongside studying/attending lectures etc part-time for a Masters course? x

Yes, I did - but it was a part-time Masters designed for full-time teachers, so contact hours were evenings/weekends, and assignments were due in at the end of school holidays. Even so it took a lot of determination and commitment, not an easy undertaking.

Reply 4

k3ro

Original post by Little Old Me

Ahh I see. Thanks for the reply, I'm glad it worked out! x

My roommate does a part-time master's, and her job is technically part-time too but she picks up a lot of extra hours. I'd say it depends on the course. It works well for my roommate because she is only in uni once a week (monday, like 12 - 7pm).

Reply 5

hellodave5

I'm currently doing part time neuroscience and working 20-30 hrs a week, and volunteering 3 hrs. Tiring!
P.S though uni has only been about 4 hours per week so far.

Reply 6

ProStacker

I did it. It's hard work (it's supposed to be), but if you can discipline yourself and you have support (family if you have one, friends etc) AND you are interested in the subject, you can do it.

Employees really like people who do Masters while supporting themselves. It shows a great ability to learn, organize and achieve.

Reply 7

sophia5892

Original post by Little Old Me

Hi, this might sound ridiculous, but just wondering if any of you have, or know anyone who has worked full-time alongside studying/attending lectures etc part-time for a Masters course? x

I'm studying Translation and there's one guy on the course who's doing it part-time. I'm not sure what his working hours are but he seems to work a lot. He's coping okay with it but it is hard work.

I'm studying full-time and also working.
From 10th Sep - 6th Feb (17 weeks), I worked an average of 35 hours a week, plus 3 hours a week of extra credit (Beginner's Chinese), 2 hours of additional evening classes (Beginner's Portuguese) and 1 hour of other temp work a week.

From 6th Feb - 8th May (13 weeks), I've worked an average of 25 hours a week, plus 2 hours a week Portuguese and 1 hour other temp work.

I've had approximately 9-12 hours a week contact time for the MA.

So yeh, it's tough. I'm working around 40 hours a week at the moment and have all my deadlines coming up so it's wearing me down, but I think I'll survive!

So yeh.... I wouldn't recommend doing what I'm doing, but based on my experiences I'd say part-time would be okay. Still hard work, but doable.

Reply 8

Duncan2012

Part-time postgrad courses are designed for people who are working full-time so they're designed to be manageable. Yes, they take dedication, effort, organisation and occasional sacrifices, but nothing that's impossible. I've been doing an MBA part-time alongside my job for the last 2 years and I've got 5 months to go. The pressure is really on in the run-up to an assignment deadline but as long as you've got self-discipline you'll be able to manage it.

Reply 9

sj27

Original post by Little Old Me

Hi, this might sound ridiculous, but just wondering if any of you have, or know anyone who has worked full-time alongside studying/attending lectures etc part-time for a Masters course? x

Done it twice.
Glutton for punishment :colone:

Reply 10

Little Old Me

Thanks for the replies! Sorry I'm replying late, just been busy with work etc. I've now been given a start date for a job I got offered after being interviewed in January. I'll be starting the job in August, full-time. I could negotiate hours but would not feel right seeing as I've not even started the job. I'm thinking of doing the Masters full-time next year and maybe going part time in my job. It's a shame the Masters I'm thinking of doing doesn't run in January. I'm just wondering if I could apply for the Masters now and defer my entry for next year. I'm going to look into that x

Reply 11

madamemerle

I did something similar: worked 35 hrs a week (so almost full-time), and did my MA full-time. I condensed and reduced my hours slightly, so that I could work 35 hours over a four day period and be at uni for one day a week. It worked out pretty well and I'm glad that I did it, because I wouldn't be doing what I am now without it. However, it was very hard work and very stressful. I think it's manageable for a short and bounded length of time, like a Master's degree, because you can see the end in sight even before you begin, that helps a lot at those times when you are overwhelmed with work from either end. The hardest thing, I found (and this may be different for you depending on your schedule) was that I really needed to use every spare inch of time outside of my work hours to get my reading and coursework done for my programme, but I also had a serious relationship that needed my time and it was very difficult to fit everything in. The result was that I had almost no downtime for a year and I definitely felt it psychologically and physiologically. So, my biggest warning would be about that: try to make sure that you can find some time, maybe regularly, or maybe just holiday time, that you can set aside to truly slow down and recover.

Reply 12

beautifulbigmacs

You need to phone the individual uni really and ask how full time is full time. I did one full time masters that only required me to come in an afternoon to evening per week and I'm coming towards the end of one where attendance has been three days.

Online learning masters are really up and coming too.

So yeah you really need to find out about individual courses because that can bear a lot of relevance about what else you can do alongside them that is compatible.

Reply 13

sophia5892

Original post by madamemerle

^^ Definitely this. I've been lucky in that I work at the university. So any time I'm not in class I'm in the office working, allowing me to do so many hours.

I was recommended to go part-time but I don't think I could hack this over two years. Not straight after a 4 year BA.

These past two weeks, alongside classes and regular homework, we had a group translation assignment released to us with a one week deadline - that got handed in on the 9th. Once that was done I could start on the 4000 word essay for the 14th (which I hadn't even had time to start any background reading for). Got home at 8pm Thursday to start hand illustrating the book I needed to have printed and bound for 11am Friday. And I have my next essay due Monday. I chose the topic I'm going to write about this afternoon.... and I'm back at work at 9am Monday so it's gonna be another sleepless weekend. (And I really should stop procrastinating!) And I had a 2 hour mock exam due on Thursday that just isn't going to get done til Tuesday most likely now!

Luckily that's my last one so i can keep telling myself it's all over come Monday (and just forget the one exam I have and the summer research project exist!).

But I'm (pretty) sure it'll be worth it in the end! :smile: