I went and did something impulsive: registered for admission to college :smack:. I’d earned a BA four years ago, and am interested in pursuing a MS in an unrelated field. I work full-time (flexible schedule), am married, no children.
I’m not able to pay all tuition out of pocket, so student loans come into the equation, and I’m unfamiliar with the scholarship process (my parents were very generous in getting me through the first time). I’d be a returning student, so I’m hoping that some of the core classes can be waived, should I be admitted.
Not being a stellar student the first time around (a good kick in the pants and some growing up set me right after graduation), I want to do this the right way, so what kind of pointers can you all kindly bestow so I don’t screw this up? Any advice offered will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Make friends with a few other students in each class and study with them. Studying in groups saves time and is pretty much just all around better for your learning.
I did this (just got my MA certificate, in fact) - and was convinced I’d do better this time at being diligent and hard-working and all that… Didn’t happen - balancing work and school was harder than I expected it to be, even with the flexible schedule I had. My biggest problem is obviously time management and organisation, with a heavy helping of procrastination - if you know you have issues with any of these (mine are long-standing), keep an eye out to make sure you don’t have deadlines everywhere coming up at the same time!
That said, I did ok at both, and enjoyed myself learning new and interesting things, so I’d thoroughly recommend it and will get out the way for other people to offer good advice - best of luck, and have fun!
Well done! I’m 2/3 way through an MSc myself, although my situation’s a bit different in that I work part time but I also look after my daughter. Some random bits of advice:
[ul][li]Keep up with your reading as you go - it will be impossible to cram everything into the few weeks/days before an assignment or exam. [/li][li]I agree with nicole1912, watch your schedule. My issue is that I go to classes once a week, so I tend to think to myself ‘I’ve got a week to do xyz’ when in actual fact I’ve had to train myself to think ‘I have to do this the next day I’m here’ and think in terms of Uni days rather than weeks.[/li][li]Balance is everything - decide what you’ll aim to achieve and don’t second guess it. I guess I mean by that I have to be realistic. I know if I had weeks and weeks to do an assignment I could do it to a much higher standard, but I don’t. I have so many other demands on my time that I do things to the standard I consider acceptable for me, then I don’t fret about what could have been.[/ul][/li]
Good luck, hope you enjoy it and make the most of it!