Researcher ([info]rndscientist) wrote in [info]_scientists_,
@ 2008-05-20 20:03:00
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Current mood:accomplished

Grad School
So it looks like I'll be heading to grad school... part time at least this fall.

I work for a large corporation who's agreed to pay my way (which is excellent, considering my looming 70,000 owed in student loans at 17% interest... /cry). Anyways, I'll be getting a Graduate Certificate first (only 12 credits) in Biotechnology, and then getting my Masters in Biology with those applied certificate credits.

So my question, has anyone worked full time and taken a class a semester in the graduate sense? I've seen my father do this for years for his associates, I was wondering if anyone had actually managed it well for the graduate level courses. Also, did any of you who have done this select the thesis, project or non-thesis options?

I've still got time to choose, but I'm fairly nervous about the whole thing.


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[info]evil_admiral
2008-05-21 12:22 am UTC (link)
I'm doing that right now, but then again graduate business programs are meant for that. At my current pace I should be done by Fall 2010.

In business at least, all programs at the masters level are non-thesis. Some Econ MA/MS programs may be thesis programs, but then again they aren't necessarily all meant to be done part time either.

Anyways, two classes per semester is supposedly a good load. I'll let you know in the fall. The course I took this past semester was involved though, and I ended up doing parts of Excel projects during down-time. Its all worked well so far, but then again ask me in the fall.

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[info]rndscientist
2008-05-21 02:05 am UTC (link)
By the way, love your icon...

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[info]melsmarsh
2008-05-21 12:27 am UTC (link)
My first semester of graduate school I worked 3/4 time (about 30 hours a week) and took a 10 hour science course load.

I eventually did a thesis, but I was working less.

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[info]rndscientist
2008-05-21 02:06 am UTC (link)
Now can you opt into the thesis? As in "hey I spent the first 12 credit hours being non thesis, but I have one now!" ?

I'm just a little confused on the whole prospect of all of this. Not to mention this is a really new thing for me. I found out on Thursday about this option for me and have been cramming new ideas since. Craziness!

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[info]melsmarsh
2008-05-21 02:10 am UTC (link)
Depends on the program. Some make you declare thesis early and others you can't pick thesis until a few semesters in. It is best to ask your department for more information.

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[info]bit_bit
2008-05-21 12:39 am UTC (link)
I haven't personally, but my department has a lot of part-time MS students, most of whom work full time on the nearby military base. They do fine with coursework, but most opt for a non-thesis degree. In their case, the degree itself is a requirement for advancing in rank (I think), but research is not a career objective. If you want to go into academic research (for a PhD or job) at some point, think seriously about doing a thesis even if it takes you longer.

I do know one student who is working full time for the university while doing a thesis MS in two years (i.e. faster than most of our non-working students). All I can say is that he has time management skills that my mind can't even comprehend.

It's definitely doable, you'll just have to manage your time well and learn how to juggle your priorities, especially once your thesis research (if you go that route) gets into full swing.

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[info]rndscientist
2008-05-21 02:05 am UTC (link)
Mine is part: maybe this will help me advance in my career

But also definitely a research thing. I'm currently in R & D and I love it. I love being challenged with unique problems and finding answers, I enjoy writing papers, I enjoy discovering things.

Research is definitely where I'm headed. I'm just wondering how able I'll be to work 40 hours a week (and that's during non-crazy validation phases) and do a thesis option as well.

I'm not sure if PhD is on my agenda just yet, I was thrilled enough to be offered an opportunity at Masters.

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[info]notquitezeus
2008-05-21 02:28 am UTC (link)
i'm working part time on a ph.d. in electrical engineering while working full time. the nice thing about graduate degrees is that (generally) they require fewer credits than an undergraduate degree, so you can finish them that much more quickly. i think the standard for a master's is something like 30-36 credit hours (3 semesters at a full load of 12 credits). depending on your comfort level and your program, you may be able to take two classes per semester and finish in 5-6 semesters.

right now, i'm on track to take my quals next march (eeep!) and be finished with my course work in another two years. at that point, i intend to either leave my job or arrange to work part time until i finish my dissertation. unless, of course, they decide they want to pay for my dissertation (which i will be only too glad to accept!)

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[info]heirtoruin
2008-05-21 05:20 am UTC (link)
I've always been under the impression that graduate work in biology was a full time venture.

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[info]rndscientist
2008-05-21 10:09 am UTC (link)
I had too until Thursday...

That's why I'm so nervous!

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[info]cruelandunusual
2008-05-21 07:35 am UTC (link)
I did my HNC and first degree whilst working full time for a big company and found it fine. A big plus point for me was that my work colleagues were all experts in various aspects of my course work so I got up to the moment one-to-one coaching when I needed it. I then did my PhD within the company, (obviously registered with a university) which required me to do my research & company research at the same time. It focuses the mind and was hard but worth it.

I have a couple of staff now who are studying for Masters degrees in Bioinformatics & they are coping well - when work allows I encourage them to spend time on their college work.

As for thesis versus non thesis, depends on what your company does. If you can come up with a project that is work & college course relevant you should be able to go the thesis route & some businesses that sponsor post grad studies prefer this. That's what we will be doing with the 2 staff I mentioned - I am working with them & the University to design appropriate projects that match with work and academic requirements and are not IPR sensitive.

Good luck.

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[info]flyingapple
2008-05-22 07:13 am UTC (link)
Wow... sorry, your student debt situation totally has my attention and sympathy. You pay ~$1,000 a month in interest?! That is a horrible interest rate!

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[info]rastuspants
2008-05-25 10:47 pm UTC (link)
I've done it, it was awesome. I already had an MSc so the thesis part wasn't an issue (I had one already), I was just doing more post grad papers to update my knowledge and strengthen my PhD application. Studying while working was hard work, I was doing 100% normal hours at work plus 48% normal hours at university, but in a lot of ways it was also easier than back when I was just 100% university. This is because having work experience made my time management better and being in the industry (although in a somewhat unrelated field) made all the information I was getting at uni so much more applicable somehow. Being able to see how it works in the real world made it more interesting and relevant. Also the skills you learn in post grad study are different from but complementary to the ones you get working. In studying you'll focus more on writing, critical evaluation, piecing together information from published work, understanding and communicating about science as opposed to just doing it. It's totally cool.

I do know people doing a whole part time MSc as well, and over here there is no non-thesis option (it's always equivalent one year full time coursework and equivalent one year full time research, each taking proportionally longer if done part time). So they do the papers on top of their job the way I did then complete a research based thesis as well.

The best option is to have a thesis topic that forms part of your job. That way you can spend part or all of your normal work time also generating thesis data and your hours don't increase. This really depends on your job, your boss and your funding.

Another option is to get a leave of absence from your job for however many months (generally 6-8) to do the thesis lab work then write up in the evenings while going back to work full time. I know two people who did this while keeping full time pay during the thesis months. These first two options allow you to do the thesis year full time which shortens the overall length too, always a bonus.

Lastly, doing normal full time job work and part time thesis research on top of it is also doable but really hard. Lab work isn't always as flexible as coursework and fitting the two together can take some juggling. This will be a lot easier if your thesis research is physically in the same place as your normal work and if you're allowed to be flexible with your work hours rather than having to relegate thesis in the evenings and weekends. So pretty much all the options involve your bosses being happy to accommodate your thesis work.

We do have a post grad diploma option here where you only do the course work year and not the research year and this can be a good way to go (note: this is a lesser degree than an MSc, your non-thesis thing may not be). You still get the complementary skills I talked about above and you personally possibly don't care so much about the research component anyway because you already work in a lab and know how to do science. For your situation you should look into what will happen to you down the line with each of your options. Will a non-thesis degree block you from further study (talk to the university about this stuff, they will be a good resource)? And do you want to go on to a PhD anyway? Will the research you do for a thesis really increase your skill level? What kind of jobs would be available to you with a thesis versus non-thesis degree? And lastly, what does you company want given they're paying for it?

You have lots of good options here and can totally make this work. The extra studying will mean putting in more effort but I reckon it pays off. And it sounds like you have the right interests and drive to get a lot out of further study, so go for it and enjoy!

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