Going back to Uni to study for a Masters

[Charmless Man]

If you are in interested in the subject you will enjoy it. If you see it as a means to an end then you might resent it and the effort involved. That goes for professional qualifications as well.

However, if this is about repositioning for the future, then if you do a masters you might want to think about going the whole way and doing a doctorate or PhD. I did one in my 50s and wish I'd done it in my thirties. It opened loads of doors for me, you are never short of academic opportunities, and it gave me several years of self-employment before gradually easing off into retirement.

Just a thought, but I certainly didn't regret it, and I would imagine you wouldn't regret doing a masters.

The one thing I think about my doctorate is I wish I'd waited 5 or so years. Ended up doing it straight off the back of my undergrad with no break and it damn near killed me. I got it, but I f***ing hated it by the end

I think more mature people almost always fare better with post grad study.

 

[Maple Leaf Mackem]

I went back an did a part-time masters 8 years after graduating. the subject was aligned with my job role and i think the maturity of working full time on something helped me through it immensely. My undergraduate degree level would never have qualified me for a masters course if the company hadn't been paying the costs. That said, my course marks were good and i got through the exams and passed .

 

[PTR]

Never found either bsc or msc has helped with jobs in any way at all.
Certainly other people will have the opposite experience.

My point being, make sure the masters you choose actually opens doors to the job you want. Don't just assume it will.

In my sector (IT management) academic quals are worthless , but professional ones are sought after (like prince2, mentioned above)

 

[Roaring Chubby]

Never found either bsc or msc has helped with jobs in any way at all.
Certainly other people will have the opposite experience.

My point being, make sure the masters you choose actually opens doors to the job you want. Don't just assume it will.

In my sector (IT management) academic quals are worthless , but professional ones are sought after (like prince2, mentioned above)

I think that a degree can open very specific doors such as graduate schemes but the decent ones will expect you to be very young and with a higher quality academic track record. Once people are in the door I agree the qualifications are largely worthless, progression is all based upon performance, perhaps some exceptions for super specialised people but they tend to be real boffins.

 

[Al]

I went back to do MSc in my early 30s, in a different subject to my degree but still in the field of engineering so not a complete switch. It did enable me to move into a completely different field for the rest of my career, so it was definitely worth it in my case. It was a lot of work for a year (but then I did come top of the class like ), and I'm now retired anyway so It's all academic.

 

[The Rat]

I’m almost 28 now and graduated from uni nearly 5 years ago. I’ve had a few jobs since then and kind of feel I’ve been floating along without much direction, so it’s time I took some initiative and came up with a plan to improve my lot otherwise before I know it another 5 years will have passed and I’ll be no further forward, which is a scary thought.

One thing I’ve been giving a lot of thought to is applying to do a Masters. It wouldn’t be in the field I did my bachelor’s in - no interest in that - but has anybody else gone back later on to do a masters? Any advice, things to look out for or consider before applying etc?

Thanks in advance

Do you have something specific in mind

What I would say marra is I thought about doung this when I was 28, I am now 31 and didn't do it

nothing has changed but I am 3 years older

Do it like, life is too short

I have massive respect for people changing careers older in life, I still want to do to it but always bottle it