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I wouln't bore you with specific details but one of the things I am looking into in 2012/2013 is the possibility of going back to school to get a masters degree in my field (Environmental Sciences). I'm at the point in my life where any pursuit of higher education will need to take place while I continue to work a fulltime job. I know experiences will vary from program to program and university to university, but I was hoping those of you on this forum that might have been down this road (or are currently working and in grad school) would be willing to share your experience on how you balanced it all (work/classes/ research/ TA work), what worked well (night classes vs. day classes) and the challenges you faced.
I am specifically interested in feedback from those of you who may have pursued an advanced degree in natural resources or engineering at NC State or UNC but any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks for your help!
I'm currently going through this at State. One thing you want to be sure of it you work very closely with your advisor on the timing of your classes. Between being in school part-time and only being able to do evening classes, some graduate programs just aren't really designed for that unfortunately. With mine I have to be really careful about what classes I take what semester or I'll be seriously boned when a class that has an evening session in the fall only does morning classes in the spring. Luckily my working hours are fairly flexible so I can get away with a 4:00pm class if I go into my office extra early on those days, etc.
If you will be working full-time, I'm not really sure how you would be able to do that and TA at the same time. I could maybe see it working if you were TAing for online courses but even then, the grading and what not on top of studying and working full-time would be really tough I'd think.
For the schools that you are considering, 1st thing is to find out if they try to cater to night students, as mine did. If they don't, see when those classes are offered...what time, what day, how many times per week, and also find out about flex hours at your job. Can you go in later? Work 4 10s, and have class only on Friday?
I was fortunate in that most of the classes for my Master's degree at NCSU were offered at night as they intended the degree to for people who would use it for their jobs. My boss allowed me to get creative and use a combo of vacation 1/2 days and flextime for the 2 classes that I took during the day. Also, I took the day classes in summer school to minimize the length of time I'd have that odd schedule.
Challenges - scheduling time to get the schoolwork done, not being able to schedule social activities because I *might* have to work on a big paper...I was also in some business classes, which can be heavy on teamwork. Scheduling yourself is one thing, scheduling around 4 other busy schedules, however...
I did part-time, which is 1-2 grad classes per semester instead of 3. It took me 3 years to finish instead of 2. I also kept a spreadsheet of exactly what classes I needed for my degree and when I expected to take them or could take them (some classes were Fall/Spring specific) so I wouldn't miss any opportunities. I referred to it constantly to make sure I would graduate when I expected to.
I suppose I could have done full-time, but I also had a few other things going on that were time-consuming. (I tend to burn the candle at both ends AND the middle.)
I got my masters degree in Electrical Engineering while I was working full time.
We had a really sweet deal with the company that I worked for. As long as you got an A or a B, the company paid for tuition and books. Not only that, the classes were televised and transmitted to our company's office, where we had a conference room set up as a classroom. We watched the lectures real-time and could call the professor to ask questions during the lecture. The lectures occurred during work hours, so we were excused from work, but had to make up the time later.
The bad parts. . . . .
I still had to drive an hour to the university to take exams and use the lab, which was probably once a week.
I was single, but dating, and my girlfriend dumped me because I was often doing homework, studying, or lab assignments instead of spending time with her. Actually. . . .maybe that was a bonus ;-)
I had a house, and sometimes the grass got pretty long before I had a chance to mow it. Luckily my neighbors didn't report me to the HOA.
All in all, I'm glad that I did it though.
Right now I'm taking classes on-line through a university in order to keep my skills up and learn new skills. The quality of these classes leaves much to be desired.
distance ed classes are gaining popularity. Ive completed 9 hours already through DE and completing another 10 hours this spring. I like on campus better. But when DE cost is nearly half the price, its hard not to do it online. Plus, some of your classes may be online only.
its the same material, the professor teaches in the morning, and uploads his lecture by that afternoon. and some professors give you the chance to come into the classroom if you need to.
I know NCSU has some graduate programs that cater to those working FT. Some classes as mentioned by others would have the lecture online but labs in person. In the fall I did an A&P class that was like this. All the lectures were online then on Tuesday nights I had a lab. This is also when we would take tests.
My department had an non-thesis masters program completely online. If you lived within a certain distance to campus you had to take the tests on campus but those that lived further could use a proctor. However, my program only allowed FT students to be a TA/RA. The vast majority of students working on a thesis were FT students who worked PT.
I got my MPH via distance education at UNC while working fulltime. I think I took 2 classes a semester so it took a little longer, but it was worth it. I lived in Durham/Chapel Hill while enrolled and it was never an issue (meaning, that they didn't say I couldn't participate in DE because I lived in the area).
That extra fee is nothing compared to the price for on campus.
a 3 credit course on campus is $1802
a 3 credit course online is $933
the difference is online charges per credit. its $311 per credit online whereas on campus is 0-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9+
if you have the money and time, go to campus. otherwise online is just as good, and IMO shows more about yourself as a student.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncsualum2004
I know NCSU has some graduate programs that cater to those working FT. Some classes as mentioned by others would have the lecture online but labs in person. In the fall I did an A&P class that was like this. All the lectures were online then on Tuesday nights I had a lab. This is also when we would take tests.
My department had an non-thesis masters program completely online. If you lived within a certain distance to campus you had to take the tests on campus but those that lived further could use a proctor. However, my program only allowed FT students to be a TA/RA. The vast majority of students working on a thesis were FT students who worked PT.
if you have the money and time, go to campus. otherwise online is just as good, and IMO shows more about yourself as a student.
Actually as someone who has taken both online and on campus classes at NCSU it really depends on the department. Not all online classes are handled the same in terms of how the lecture content is delivered or how often it is updated. OP would need to inquire about the particular program he is interested in.
The A&P class I took recently updated how it is set-up, I would not have wanted to take A&P online based on the way it was set-up a year ago. Some of my own professors mentioned there were certain classes offered online that they didn't particularly think that was the best format for the material.
i forgot to mention pretty much the same thing. I took an online biochem class at NCSU. big mistake. luckily i was able to drop because I didnt need it at the time. some of the harder sciences are probably better off on campus.. but from what Ive noticed through the courses ive taken, and am currently enrolled in, im glad i was able to do them online.
so maybe 92.28% of courses are worth taking online
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