Things to consider before pursuing a graduate degree with a full-time job

A few years ago I started my master’s program while working full-time. I was less than a year into my first job after college, and I started feeling like something was missing. I wanted work to be more than just a job; ideally I wanted to continue to learn as I apply my skills and knowledge to the job. When I wasn’t getting enough feeling of growth at work, I consulted people around me and was introduced to the program. I looked into details, checked whether it could work with my job, thought about it for a bit, and decided to apply.

*Image by* *Alfons Morales via Unsplash*

It was only a few days after I find out about the program that I decided to apply. It’s safe to say I didn’t take my time. While I tried to think through all the different factors, there were some I later realized I didn’t think through carefully. In this blog, I want to share a few key things that would be helpful to consider before deciding to pursue a graduate degree with a full time job.

What are you looking to get out of the program?

Getting a graduate degree can bring different kinds of rewards such as higher pay, growth, connections, opportunities and more. However, there is usually one or two that someone wants to pursue the degree for the most. The process of thinking through and identifying this can help set your priorities and organize your thoughts.

I do data work, and the reason I wanted to go to graduate school was to continue learning and expanding my knowledge in statistics. Of course, the other rewards are nice. Deepening my statistical understanding can open doors to new opportunities. Going back to school can bring more connections and friends. But my biggest reason was to keep learning.

Clearly identifying the opportunity to learn as my most important reward allowed me to decide to apply. It also helped me stay motivated when I was actually in the program. Whenever things got hard, I tried to remember my main purpose and often found comfort in the fact that I was learning a lot. Reminding myself that the learning will stay with me forever while the hardships and challenges were temporary put things in perspective and helped me move past the tough days.

Does your goal require you to get the degree?

Once you know what you want the most out of the degree, find out whether your goal needs to be achieved through formal education. For me, my goal to continue my learning and expand my knowledge could actually be achieved without pursuing a graduate degree. In today’s world, there are so many ways to learn things whether through short form contents (e.g. short videos or articles) or longer curriculum (e.g. moocs) that are completely free or very low cost. If you are in a profession that requires the degree, such as education, therapy, or law, the situation would be quite different for you.

Do the costs make sense?

The costs here include monetary, time and energy costs. Monetary is relatively straightforward because usually you know how much the program costs whether it be tuition or other expenses such as supplies and transportation. Time is a little trickier, because while class time is planned and predictable, the time needed to do schoolwork outside of class can be hard to estimate. Whether the program is full-time or part-time can also make a difference.

When you are working full-time and going to school at the same time, you are most likely doing schoolwork after 8 hours at the office or on weekends. It might be easy to say you need 2-3 hours per week to do homework, but in reality when you’re doing it after a whole day of work, it might end up taking much longer for various reasons. Maybe you had an overwhelming day at work; maybe you had a normal day but slept terribly the night before. This is where time and energy are related to each other. You could get home after work with more than enough time for school, but not have any energy for it.

*Image by Riccardo Annandale via Unsplash*

It’s important to consider not only whether we have enough time and money, but also whether we have the energy and mind space for what we sign up for. This might sound a little abstract, but it really starts with being aware of your own energy level and knowing when you can push vs when you need rest instead.

When I decided to do the program, I wasn’t the best at reading my own energy level, but thankfully my program is flexible and designed for full-time working professionals. Throughout the program, I got better at pushing just enough without exhausting myself. This leads to the next thing I believe is important to consider.

What are your options if/when things get challenging, and what do you plan to do?

We can do our best to imagine if we have enough time and energy to take on something, but life happens. It might be that you have room for the program in general, but during your study you encounter a week where both work and school are heavier than usual. This is where I think it’s important to know what your options are ahead of time.

When I was close to finishing all the coursework of my program, my job got busy all of a sudden. I ended up taking a leave of absence and coming back later to finish my last class and thesis. The decision to take leave was not a difficult one because I knew in my mind that I was an employee first, and then a student second. When I was debating whether to pursue the degree, my biggest hesitation was that I might have trouble juggling both my job and school when workload suddenly changes. I had made an agreement with myself that I stay aligned with the priority of “employee first, student second” if things were to get difficult and I had to compromise.

*Image by Jesus Hilario H. via Unsplash*

If you have children and a partner, it could be helpful to discuss with your partner ahead of time how you would collectively handle a scenario where you are overwhelmed at multiple fronts. Maybe you decide together that when things get tough your partner would first try to cover more childcare duties, and if your partner is also busy then you would hire somebody on a one-off basis.

When these scenarios have been thought through, you can better foresee and prepare for any potential compromises or costs. If you decide to go for the degree, you can also feel more assured that you have made considerations for when things get rough.

Conclusion

This list is a combination of key things I considered and some I wish I knew to consider. I wrote this blog in hopes that my experience can help people who find themselves in a similar situation. If I were to go back in time and take into consideration everything on this list, I likely would not have done my master’s program. The main reason is that my goal to learn could’ve been accomplished through other ways of learning on the internet that often offer more flexibility for less cost. This realization pushed me to think back on my decision making process and eventually put together this blog.

With that said, I don’t regret doing my program because the experience taught me many important life lessons (which I might share in another blog in the future). I treasure what I learned from this chapter of my life and now see it as one that offered the rewards I was looking for as well as challenges that shaped me into a better person.