Part-time vs Full-time Masters

Butterface

I'm in the final year of my undergraduate degree so I'm beginning to research postgrad options.
There are a few courses I'm interested in that offer the part-time route, and I'm hoping to get some opinions on doing a Masters Full-time versus Part-time.

I know every course differs and different subjects will require more contact hours. However, the Universities I've been looking at so far have very little information about how the course pans out for the part-time students.

I have a full-time job lined up for when I graduate so I want to know what it's like to work full-time and complete a Masters part-time. For courses that require a dissertation, will this mean you have the 2 years to complete it in? What kind of contact hours are you likely to have? Is it better to just get it done and dusted in a year?

Any opinions and any advice from people who completed a part-time Masters would be much appreciated.

danthefan

Your contact hours will depend on the individual course/timetable obviously.

The job you have lined up, is it relevant to your course/a long term job? Would you have to sacrifice the job to do the full time masters? Personally if I had a job with long term prospects I'd take it over a masters.

The masters I did allowed 2 years for part timers anyway. You could take it part time or full time. I found it a handful doing it full time, I'd imagine the part timers found it quite tough.

sheff the ref

Doing a Part Time Masters at the moment. Busy times, but generally I am very stringent with my time management when I need to be.

Time management is crucial along with the commitment required for your new job.

budhabob

One thing that isn't mentioned is the quality of class input on a masters course. In a lot of cases there is far more class participation with a part time course as the class is generally working and can provide practical life experiences relevant to the topics discussed.

On a full time course (in a lot of cases) are made up of recently graduated students, and as such class participation isn't as practical (based on experience). I don't intend to insult anyone here by the way.

This is my experience anyway....but worth noting. I did a business masters with an engineering background. I found the discussions of others in the business area to be really useful to my learning, and my applying of the learning.

Butterface

Thanks for the replies. The job I have lined up is not something I'd wish to do long-term but it does offer some experience in the area I'd like to get into. Plus it's a stable income in a stable industry and would mean I'd have permanent employment to get me through a Masters for 2 years.

I'm just worried about juggling a full-time job with the pressure of studying, and sustaining that for a full 2 years. I need to figure out if doing the Masters full-time for a year is the better option. My fear of being unemployed afterwards is the main barrier, when I have a job offer as it is.

In order to get a better idea of contact hours and courseload, I better contact the Universities directly. I wish they would provide this information on their websites!

sheff the ref

A course schedule would be important in making that decision.

My first year was heavy enough in terms of attendance. Friday Night and Saturday attendance from September to Xmas and from February to May. Off for the bulk of May, June, July and August. Back in September but it is only one day a weekend this year and that until Xmas. The new year till August will be conducting research, reading material and writing the Thesis for a July August finish. Time can be flexible but the work will still have to be done

innad

I just finished a part-time Masters while working full-time. I'm really glad I did, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. That said, it was my only option, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

Classes were one full day a week, October to April both years. Year 1 part-timers were then off from April until October. Year 2 was the same as year 1, except with a work placement April to June (some flexibility for part-timers, although I chose to do it to gain the experience), and then the dissertation was due at the end of August. Three months to do a dissertation while working full-time is not fun. I actually ended up leaving my job in the middle of August, as it wasn't what I wanted to do once finishing the masters, and that way at least I had three weeks to work on my dissertation full-time.

I would think it depends on the specific course, but if you're working full-time, be prepared to have no time for anything else. Everything else gets put on hold until you're finished. On the plus side, it does teach you incredible self-discipline and time management skills! Plus having an income is obviously nice.

sheff the ref

Would agree that it is brilliant for the time management skills, though I would have been well conditioned to carrying a workload before the Masters.