Should I continue working or complete masters

I am 24 years old and as much as I love my job in admin and earning money, it’s a dead end job and not mentally stimulating.
My dream is to become a speech and language therapist.
Should I still continue working and save money until I’m 30 and study masters when I’m more mature or pursue further studies now whilst I’m young but that means leaving my full time job as it’ll be hard to balance both.

Reply 1

University of Strathclyde

Official Rep

15

Original post by sammy.tatter

I am 24 years old and as much as I love my job in admin and earning money, it’s a dead end job and not mentally stimulating.
My dream is to become a speech and language therapist.
Should I still continue working and save money until I’m 30 and study masters when I’m more mature or pursue further studies now whilst I’m young but that means leaving my full time job as it’ll be hard to balance both.

Hey @sammy.tatter :biggrin:

Hope you're doing good! What did you do your undergraduate degree in? I think there's no harm in looking in to the option of going back in to studying and then you'll have all the information you need to make the best decision for yourself. Are there universities that may offer you a part time option? This might allow you to keep working alongside your degree so you can continue to earn?

Reach out to universities and see if they can tell you more about how their degrees work and what they look for in applicants so you can set yourself up well for applying. At Strathclyde we have some info on our SLT Postgraduate degrees here and also have a Postgraduate Open Day coming up soon where you can chat to staff about the degrees and funding options etc. Speech & Language Therapy is quite vocational and competitive so I'd suggest some recent relevant work experience in the field is a good idea too. There's a few pros to this- mainly that it sets you up well against other applicants but also proves to you that it's something you're fixed on pursuing :smile:

Best of luck with it!!
- Caitlin :h:

Official University of Strathclyde Rep

Reply 2

sammy.tatter

OP

12

Original post by University of Strathclyde

Hey @sammy.tatter :biggrin:

Hope you're doing good! What did you do your undergraduate degree in? I think there's no harm in looking in to the option of going back in to studying and then you'll have all the information you need to make the best decision for yourself. Are there universities that may offer you a part time option? This might allow you to keep working alongside your degree so you can continue to earn?

Reach out to universities and see if they can tell you more about how their degrees work and what they look for in applicants so you can set yourself up well for applying. At Strathclyde we have some info on our SLT Postgraduate degrees here and also have a Postgraduate Open Day coming up soon where you can chat to staff about the degrees and funding options etc. Speech & Language Therapy is quite vocational and competitive so I'd suggest some recent relevant work experience in the field is a good idea too. There's a few pros to this- mainly that it sets you up well against other applicants but also proves to you that it's something you're fixed on pursuing :smile:

Best of luck with it!!
- Caitlin :h:

Official University of Strathclyde Rep

Hi Caitlin,
I studied human nutrition as an undergraduate degree but now that I’m working in a hospital admin, I’m fascinated with the speech and language therapy department.

I have researched in London but the two universities that provide the course are a full time two year course. Unfortunately, I cannot find any part time.

Reply 3

University of Strathclyde

Official Rep

15

Original post by sammy.tatter

Hi Caitlin,
I studied human nutrition as an undergraduate degree but now that I’m working in a hospital admin, I’m fascinated with the speech and language therapy department.

I have researched in London but the two universities that provide the course are a full time two year course. Unfortunately, I cannot find any part time.

Hey @sammy.tatter Ah that's fab! I know what you mean- I find our course fascinating and I'm not even studying it :colondollar:

It seems like such a rewarding field to work in.
Ah that's a shame! Have you spoken to your employer about it? As working in a hospital already there may be some routes in for you that you're not aware of yet? Have a chat to the two universities offering the course and maybe see if you can speak to current students that might be able to provide some insight in to what it's like etc. It's worth having a 'big picture' think about how you'd be able to make this work, and also if there's anything else you need to do to make your application stand out to up your chances of success :smile:

I reckon if you're fed up with your current role then it's time for a change- whether that be in the form of a new role or going back to uni :^_^:

Take care!
- Caitlin :h:

Official University of Strathclyde Rep

Original post by sammy.tatter

I am 24 years old and as much as I love my job in admin and earning money, it’s a dead end job and not mentally stimulating.
My dream is to become a speech and language therapist.
Should I still continue working and save money until I’m 30 and study masters when I’m more mature or pursue further studies now whilst I’m young but that means leaving my full time job as it’ll be hard to balance both.

Hi @sammy.tatter!

I was in a very similar situation myself at your age. Ultimately, I chose to continue in my career in order to earn money - partly to save for my studies but partly because my now-husband and I wanted to establish ourselves, buy a house, get married etc. So I chose to do that rather than go back to university at the time. I eventually returned to university to do my MA at the age of 33, and am now pursuing my PhD in the hopes of moving into academia as a career.

For me personally, I'm glad that I waited - I think the skills and the confidence I gained in the course of my employment (I eventually worked my way to management level) has really helped me in my MA and PhD studies - as has the extra maturity I've gained in the intervening years. My husband and I were also financially stable enough that I could also give up my full-time job in order to study without leaving us really struggling - although I did work part-time during my MA year and, even though my PhD is funded, I still work part-time now to help support the household.

I share that not because I'd recommend you do the same - your circumstances may be very different to my own at the time - but just to really say that it isn't ever too late to pursue those dreams, or pursue a career change. So don't think that if you wait, you're not going to have a career - most of us will be working well into our 60s so even if you qualify in your 30s or 40s, you've got plenty of career ahead of you!

As @University of Strathclyde has said, you could look at part-time options for study. At Keele, for example, we offer a number of our health modules and postgraduate courses as part time and/or distance options. You can find our full range at https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/postgraduatestudy/postgraduatecourses/ - and like Strathclyde, we also have a virtual postgraduate open afternoon coming up on Monday 07 June (https://www.keele.ac.uk/discover/opendays/postgraduateopenafternoons/) so do pop along if you want to chat options with our team!

As you're already working in a hospital environment, you might even find your employer is prepared to help support your studies - it's definitely worth discussing with them. I'd also recommend talking to someone in the speech and language team at your current hospital - there may be opportunities and training routes that they are aware of that you hadn't considered.

Hope that helps!

Amy Louise :smile:

Reply 5

Arden University

17

Original post by sammy.tatter

I am 24 years old and as much as I love my job in admin and earning money, it’s a dead end job and not mentally stimulating.
My dream is to become a speech and language therapist.
Should I still continue working and save money until I’m 30 and study masters when I’m more mature or pursue further studies now whilst I’m young but that means leaving my full time job as it’ll be hard to balance both.

@sammy.tammer

I'm just about to finish my Master's degree and I spent years wondering if I should dive into it - I decided in the end to work on mine part time whilst working full time and I have managed OK. I have done an MSc distance learning wise at Arden University. I was 32 when I decided to do it.

What I would say is to sit down and think about both the financial implications of your choice, and also the impact on your family/personal life. There is also the unexpected. I waited 8 years for my life to quieten down a bit (and then Covid happened right in the middle of my degree).

I would take your time to decide, and remember that a lot of courses have several intakes across the academic year

Marc
Arden University Student Ambassador

Should I continue working or complete masters

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