Starting an MA after two years out of university?

Hi!

I graduated in 2014 with a 1st in English Lit but, for a variety of financial & personal reasons, can't start my MA until September 2016. I've been working full time since graduating (sometimes 50+ hours a week to save for the course) and while I still try read often, I honestly haven't spent much time writing. (*kicks self*)

If you've taken time out, was it difficult to adjust back to university? Do you think it had any impact on your result?

I guess I'm worried that I would have spent 2 years desperately saving for an MA that I don't perform particularly well on.

Reply 1

Pariah

15

I did an MSc after 19 years out of university and got a distinction. In fact, knowing what it's like to really work hard (as opposed to what most students think is working hard) made it much easier to sit down and plough through the work. Obviously your mileage may vary, but a couple of years out is unlikely to do you any harm - and knowing how hard you worked to get there should be the motivation you need to stay in the library instead of the bar.

Reply 2

Jantaculum

10

Original post by OriginOfShowbiz

If you've taken time out, was it difficult to adjust back to university? Do you think it had any impact on your result?

I guess I'm worried that I would have spent 2 years desperately saving for an MA that I don't perform particularly well on.

I don't think you will find it a problem after two years - there's a step up from undergrad to Masters anyway, so all students will be getting to grips with that even if they have no gap.

Original post by Pariah

I did an MSc after 19 years out of university and got a distinction. In fact, knowing what it's like to really work hard (as opposed to what most students think is working hard) made it much easier to sit down and plough through the work. Obviously your mileage may vary, but a couple of years out is unlikely to do you any harm - and knowing how hard you worked to get there should be the motivation you need to stay in the library instead of the bar.

Agreed (except mine was - well - even longer than 19 years…..)

Reply 3

QHF

11

Original post by OriginOfShowbiz

Hi!

I graduated in 2014 with a 1st in English Lit but, for a variety of financial & personal reasons, can't start my MA until September 2016. I've been working full time since graduating (sometimes 50+ hours a week to save for the course) and while I still try read often, I honestly haven't spent much time writing. (*kicks self*)

If you've taken time out, was it difficult to adjust back to university? Do you think it had any impact on your result?

I guess I'm worried that I would have spent 2 years desperately saving for an MA that I don't perform particularly well on.

I'll echo the other replies: everyone will go through a bit of adjustment, and experience of working in other contexts may prove surprisingly useful. I did my masters after a break and some of my course mates who had come straight through seemed to me to be suffering from a bit of academia fatigue.

That's not to say that a little bit of practice writing regularly wouldn't do you good. The material may or may not be useful but being inured to the pain of writing is an advantage.

Reply 4

beautifulbigmacs

19

You'll be absolutely fine. Doing an MA is such a pleasure compared to being at work and this gives people a real motivation to put their all into it without it feeling like a chore.

To make your money go as far as possible, don't hesitate to look for less obvious options such as part time distance learning masters. You may even find some that have a January start if you wish to maximise your flexibility with it. I found my part time postgraduate distance course by having a Google frenzy :smile:

Starting an MA after two years out of university?

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