September 2008 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Those who have your Masters (or are in grad school)
I'll be graduating with my BA in just under a year, and I've been seriously considering going on to earn my Masters. However, I'm not sure I'm ready. It's EXTREMELY hard getting work done for my BA load, being a single mom going through a divorce, working full time and trying to maintain a household. I'm taking two 6-credit classes every 10 weeks. I believe the Masters program at my school is only one class at a time.
How much more intensive is a Masters program than undergrad? What was your experience like? Any other thoughts, suggestions, tips?
I know I could take a few years off and go back, but that's why its taken me 10 years to get my BA. I'd take time off and never finish. That's what I'm worried about.
Re: Those who have your Masters (or are in grad school)
My masters program wasn't bad. The courses were easier than my undergrad courses for the most part. BUT, I was at Wayne State, which isn't a top notch university ... it's simply the one that was closest to home that had a French graduate program.
Had I continued on at MSU, I'm sure it would have been more challenging.
I took 2 courses per 15 week semester and finished in 4 semesters. Then I took 2 more semesters toward my PhD before stopping (frustration with the disorganization of Wayne).
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For me, grad school has been more time intensive than undergrad was. I'll stop short of saying it is harder because my interest level kind of takes that away, you know?
I honestly don't think I could have done either with kids and still done well in the courses, take care of myself, and not feel like I was going crazy. I have been taking 8 credit hours (two courses that meet once a week each for 3.5 hours) each 16 week semester while working full-time. It's not horrible, but I didn't have much time for much else. I also took 4 credits hours online in the summer, which made me a bot crazy. This is just my experience, though. There have been plenty of working parents in my courses that make it through (although, I don't think any have been single parents of young children).
I'd defintiely take at least a semester or two off and reevaluate how much time you have. It's doable, but you have to be willing to sacrafice something.
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My Masters (MSW) program wasn't technically challenging but a lot of work and a lot of time. I did it full time (as was recommended by the school). I had four classes/ week per semester plus a 24 hr (3 day 8 hr field placement) both years. I ended up taking 2 classes over the summer which alievated the workload throughout the 2nd year but it was still a ton of time and energy. My first year, I had to work 3 jobs to support myself on top of that so I was a little fried. My second year, I just took out a lot more loans and thankfully met DH who paid for my food a lot of times!
What are you looking to get your Masters in? Each program is so different. I have friends who have received their MBAs (from very competitive schools in Boston) and they disappeared for two years.
It would be an MBA, and it would be a 100% online program. Going to a physical classroom just isn't an option for me at this stage in my life.
I'm having an internal battle with this one. One part of me says go for the challenge, as education is something nobody could ever take away from me, but the other part knows how exhausting and draining it would be and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. Brody is my #1 priority, and while having my MBA would open a lot of doors for me at Kellogg, it would also take away from being a mom for 18 months or however long the program is.
It's a tough decision, for sure. On the one hand, you don't want to take time off because it is harder to go back. On the other hand, you don't want to miss out on your child being so young for a couple of years.
Does the school have someone that could talk to you about the time committment? Or, even put you into contact with students in the program who maybe could shed some light? That way, you could get an idea from people who are in that specific program.
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My masters was completely different from my undergrad. It was much, much easier but about equally time intensive. But, I was an engineer - which required memorizing and understanding and applying scientific theory, designing things, heat transfer that made me almost not graduate- as an undergrad and my masters is in education. Reading, er, skimming articles enough to discuss in class and writing papers is much easier to me, although somewhat time intensive (writing really, i never put tons of time into class prep).
I had some really stressful periods from lots of things being due at once, and there sheer limit of hours in the week (and i like to sleep and all) but it really wasnt that bad. I didn't find my full time program stressful at all past the first time I wrote a 20 page paper
but working full time and taking 2 classes was significantly harder than going to school full time (5 classes in my program) plus working pt (20 hr/week assistantship).
what are you thinking of doing a masters in? can you take a course and see how you feel about it before committing?
this is a really good idea.
My grad program was 6+ years full time (so school was my job) and the masters students in my program had the same coursework (so full time for 2.5 years), which was way more challenging than college. I also only had formal coursework for 1.5 years; the rest was research for my dissertation. Although I have a feeling you're considering a program in business, not lab science, so my experience really doesn't apply.
However, B has been doing his MBA since right after P was born. He works a FT job during the day and does classwork at night and on weekends. He does A LOT of work. However, he has been taking 2 classes at a time all year long for over a year, so that he can still graduate next spring, but have a much lower work load when I go back to work FT in the fall. After this semester he will only take one class this summer, one in the fall, and his capstone course in the spring.
The nice thing is that 1 class was very doable, even when helping me with P. The semesters he only took 1 class were those when I went right back to work when P was 6 weeks old, and when I was working FT (meaning, I worked ALL THE TIME - teach all day and grading or writing lectures almost every night) and it was no problem. He doesn't really find it that much more challenging (well, except the class he just finished - heavy in multivariate statistics, yuck!) than undergrad, and his grad GPA is kicking the butt of his undergrad GPA.
I think you could handle one class at a time. It might be a good idea to take a semester off, though. Do you get tuition remission from work? I know that with B's work, they pay x/year, so the fewer classes he takes at a time, the longer it will take but the less we pay out of pocket. Also, if your potential grad program is more applicable to your job, you'll probably find it much more interesting and easier to do the work (if that makes sense).
2012 Reading Challenge
I like this suggestion as well. I do have an academic advisor who I actually like, so I'll mention something to her. Thanks for the idea!
I was writing my response when you posted this.
B is taking 2 classes online this semester. Every other semester he had to go to campus at least 1 if not 2x/week. Even though his courses are harder, this semester has been much easier for him.
I definitely think you can handle one course online at a time. I think you should go for it! Also - B was helped out because a lot of his undergrad courses were prereqs and part of the MBA program (even though he took 10 years off, he is going to the same university), so they let him carry over a lot of credits which saved him about 3 classes. Will your program do this? Or is that already built in?
You may also find that you can condense a lot of the work into the weekends that you don't have Brody. B has found that he gets a good feel for what is due really early, and can work ahead if we have other commitments for a particular week/weekend.
2012 Reading Challenge
I agree with all of this. I think if I had only taken one course at a time instead of two, I wouldn't have felt so crazed but it would have taken me 5 years instead of 2.5. In your situation, taking a lighter course load might be a good compromise.
Also, if you work will pay some or part, definitely work that system! Grad school where I'm at is more than double undergrad.
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Yes, Kellogg does offer tuition reimbursement up to a certain amount each year. It only covers about half of my undergrad annual tuition, so it would only be a fraction of grad schol, but it's still a huge help.
Thankfully I have a while to decide
I have my MBA. I worked full time and went at night for 3 years. UMD has a very structured program and a timeframe in which you haev to complete your coursework. You may want to check out the programs you are interested in to see if you have to finish within X amt of years of starting. I think UMD's is 5 years.
I was single when I did mine and it was tough. I worked full time and sometimes took 12 credits a semester. I really didn't have a social life. I think if I was married with a child, it would have been extremely hard. That being said, I was in a classroom setting and had to meet up with groups on the weekend. My girlfriend is doing the same program and has a 2 year old and is due in the next few weeks with baby#2. I know the program is hard for her but it's not impossible. Its just a huge time commitment and learning to manage time efficiently.
The intensity of my program depended on the course for me. My finance classes were really intense as self-study, the other main core courses and the capstone course were intense in other ways- as in group projects, individual papers, and presentations all due throughout the semester. It was hard coordinating with group members as we all worked FT and some were parents, but we got through it together. The Capstone course was the worst...it is the last course you take and was basically a thesis type thing. LOTS of work.
If you have the support system at home (if you need to meet outside of class) and can set aside homework time in addition to class time I think it's totally doable. Will it be a lot of work, yes? But, I think if you take a break now you won't go back. It's good that you're in the habit of studying and homework now and doing homework at night after Brody is in bed is probably a good thing to keep up now while he's younger and goes to bed earlier. Plus, you can play catch up on your free weekends.
I have a friend who completed her MBA from Phoenix online and she is a single mom (her son is in 1st grade this year, she graduated a year ago). It was hard for her and occasionally her mom babysat (she is not on good terms with the child's father and I know he didn't do visitation for at least a year during the divorce), but she did it and because it was such an accomplishment she even paid to travel to AZ and did the graduation ceremony in person with her family and her son present.
ETA: My school schedule was much like Jo's- classes for 3 hours twice a week after work (usually Tu and Th). I also went to two winter sessions and did 2 summer courses which were MUCH more intense to finish sooner. I think doing it online would be better as a mom as you can schedule more around your child when you do your coursework. There's no way I could've done my program as a single mom with M so young...I'd feel horrible leaving her so much.