Getting into Postgrad Courses after 3 years away from area

monkeerina

Will it be very difficult to get accepted into a decent college for a postgrad when I'm 25 going on 26 and 3 years out of college, with no work experience apart from teaching (unrelated to the areas I'm thinking of)? I'd be aiming for one of the top 100 universities worldwide, most likely something earth science/engineering related such as hydrology/climate change...I may also look into areas of RE such as tidal power, although afraid this market will be flooded with grads in a few years plus my background isn't directly in the area.

I'm currently 2 years out of an hons civil engineering degree which I got a 2.1 in. Seeing as there were no jobs in Ireland in the areas I was interested in I took a year out to earn some money and decide what I wanted to do next, but I couldn't decide so I'm currently just doing the hdip in education while working part-time (teaching would be a nice career to retire into if I get burnt out ).

I'm planning on taking a year out next year (have booked a Canadian whv) to get some 'life experience' and decide for definite which area I want to go into before making a commitment to any one area, but I am worried that the longer I'm out of college, the harder it'll be to get into a good uni (if I can't get relevant work experience in Canada).

My dream dream career path would be a professor/academic leading a world-class research center on climate change and afterwards possibly a politician (*shudders*) or some kind of governmental/UN advisor....nothing wrong with sharing a crazy ambition to anonymous people you don't know

Anyway back to the original point: if anyone on this forum has any opinion on the being-3-years-out-of-college matter I'd be very much appreciative of your input (feel free to be harsh!).

I have almost perfect LC results but I assume that they'll be completely ignored when I'm 25 going 26...

panda100

monkeerina wrote: »

Will it be very difficult to get accepted into a decent college for a postgrad when I'm 25 going on 26 and 3 years out of college, with no work experience apart from teaching (unrelated to the areas I'm thinking of)? I'd be aiming for one of the top 100 universities worldwide, most likely something earth science/engineering related such as hydrology/climate change...I may also look into areas of RE such as tidal power, although afraid this market will be flooded with grads in a few years plus my background isn't directly in the area.

I'm currently 2 years out of an hons civil engineering degree which I got a 2.1 in. Seeing as there were no jobs in Ireland in the areas I was interested in I took a year out to earn some money and decide what I wanted to do next, but I couldn't decide so I'm currently just doing the hdip in education while working part-time (teaching would be a nice career to retire into if I get burnt out ).

I'm planning on taking a year out next year (have booked a Canadian whv) to get some 'life experience' and decide for definite which area I want to go into before making a commitment to any one area, but I am worried that the longer I'm out of college, the harder it'll be to get into a good uni (if I can't get relevant work experience in Canada).

My dream dream career path would be a professor/academic leading a world-class research center on climate change and afterwards possibly a politician (*shudders*) or some kind of governmental/UN advisor....nothing wrong with sharing a crazy ambition to anonymous people you don't know

Anyway back to the original point: if anyone on this forum has any opinion on the being-3-years-out-of-college matter I'd be very much appreciative of your input (feel free to be harsh!).

I have almost perfect LC results but I assume that they'll be completely ignored when I'm 25 going 26...

Many students,myself included ,had to wait three years to do a postgrad course in order to be eligible for independent mature student to receive the grant. I really don't think whether you wait one year or twenty years to go into further education it matters at all, its what your doing in between that counts.

It sounds like you don't really know where you want to go and what you want to do. Its this that will deny you a postgrad place and not the length of time you have been away from study. If you are really interested in doing something with climate change why don't you stay and do voluteer work with Cultivate,Change or some other reputable climate change organisation in Ireland. This will be of much more benefit than just getting 'life experience' in Canada.

djpbarry

monkeerina wrote: »

Will it be very difficult to get accepted into a decent college for a postgrad when I'm 25 going on 26 and 3 years out of college, with no work experience apart from teaching (unrelated to the areas I'm thinking of)?

I don’t think this, in and of itself, is a major issue – I worked for 2 years between my degree and PhD in an area that nothing to do with either. The important thing, as panda100 says, is deciding what it is you want to do now – based on your post, I’m not entirely sure what that is? Of course, what you have done over the last few years is obviously going to be taken into consideration too – telling an interviewer that you took time out to “find yourself” (or something similar) is unlikely to impress!

monkeerina

thanks for response. Yes that is my intention while I'm in Canada - to either try to get a job or do volunteer work in the area.

I have absolutely no intention of staying in Ireland for the postgrad - there really is nothing suitable on offer as there are very few/no research groups in this country with backgrounds in the areas I am interested in. So that's why I need to leave here in the first place - canada, the US, sweden or scotland are all options for the postgrad.

I've been living at home for 24 years and during this time I
a) have not been able to make a decision on the matter
b) have had an itch to get out of here constantly because it really is so so small
so hence the year in Canada which I think would do me a huge amount of good in terms of getting me out of my usual routine here

monkeerina

djpbarry wrote: »

I don’t think this, in and of itself, is a major issue – I worked for 2 years between my degree and PhD in an area that nothing to do with either. The important thing, as panda100 says, is deciding what it is you want to do now – based on your post, I’m not entirely sure what that is? Of course, what you have done over the last few years is obviously going to be taken into consideration too – telling an interviewer that you took time out to “find yourself” (or something similar) is unlikely to impress!

thanks djpbarry

can I ask how the colleges took what you were doing for the 2 years in between if it was unrelated, and how did you justify this to them? was it purely a matter of finances?

I am not entirely sure what it is - flood forecasting/prediction would interest me, tied in with its impact on humanity....

My reasoning is that I need to decide on the exact area I want to focus on before pigeon-holing myself into that area.

djpbarry

monkeerina wrote: »

can I ask how the colleges took what you were doing for the 2 years in between if it was unrelated, and how did you justify this to them? was it purely a matter of finances?

Yes, in my case it was purely a financial decision and my interviewers appreciated that. You just have to put a positive spin on these things. Think of it like this: applicants for any job will almost always have education/experience on their CV that is not related to the position for which they are applying, but that doesn’t mean they will precluded from said position.

monkeerina wrote: »

My reasoning is that I need to decide on the exact area I want to focus on before pigeon-holing myself into that area.

I wouldn’t worry too much about pigeon-holing. Young researchers move around into different areas all the time. For example, if you do a postdoc after a PhD, it’s not at all unlikely that the two projects will be in different fields. For example, I did my degree in electronic engineering, my PhD in biotechnology and now I’m doing a postdoc in cancer research.