full time job + grad school = no sleep for the next couple years

[Le Pirate]

So I've decided to do something different.

My job is okay, and there are good advancement opertunities...but it wasn't really what I wanted to do when I started out.

Right now, I spend all day working with fish who have health issues. I'm making the move to people (hopefully).

I've enrolled in a Master's of Public Health program, and plan to focus on epidemiology. All of which is code, I think, for: A lot of work. Has anyone else done their Master's while working full time? I'm looking for any tips what so ever 

Right now, I really embrace sleeping, but I fear that is over starting in January. On top of the time commitment to work, plus that which I'll have to give to classes, it also involves about 2 1/2 hours of driving twice a week. This is probably all a bad idea, but I figured I'd give it a shot. Do they sell red bull at Costco?

I'm also curious if anyone here works in the Public Health field? I'm interested in what I'm getting into.


Also, if anyone wants to exercise my Duc...I'm not sure how much use she'll be getting over the next few years 

[ManaloEA]

(Assuming you have a spouse and kids) You will need to make sure that your entire family is supportive of this. Working on a Masters in the evening means a lot of sacrificed family time.

Also, do not forget to go on vacation. One mistake I made was to schedule family vacation while I was taking an online course. I would get up early every day and work on stuff, and stay up late as well. The "vacation" time was neither restful nor productive.

You may need to give up some other commitments, either social or hobbies, but don't give up your "stop and smell the coffee alone" time.

[Buckethead]

My professional opinion is that you're boned, but when you come out the other side you'll be in a much better position.

Also, good luck!

[Le Pirate]

Oh yeah. Married...no kids.

My wife is really excited about it...not sure if it's because she thinks I'll make more money eventually, or because I'll be gone all the time 


Actually, I think she thinks I'm getting taken advantage of at my current job. They've left a higher position unfilled and have me do all the work, without the pay. It's stuff that has to be done, but they won't fill the position because it's saving the state a ton of money. Sadly, in my field, you can't just up and move somewhere else...good paying jobs are few, and getting fewer every day.

My professional opinion is that you're boned, but when you come out the other side you'll be in a much better position.

Also, good luck!

Yeah, probabably and hopefully you're right!

[ajw85]

I went to graduate school full time and worked 20 hours a week at my previous full time job, and it is brutal, but did it to maintain my lifestyle and benefits.

Make sure your wife totally supports you in this and understands that there will be times when you won't be able to spend time with her.

If you are really considering going to graduate school, you should really focus on that and immerse yourself in that environment and learn and network as much as you can, otherwise, what is the point and what are you really paying for? A piece of paper with a name on it?

Good luck

[Le Pirate]

I went to graduate school full time and worked 20 hours a week at my previous full time job, and it is brutal, but did it to maintain my lifestyle and benefits.

Make sure your wife totally supports you in this and understands that there will be times when you won't be able to spend time with her.

If you are really considering going to graduate school, you should really focus on that and immerse yourself in that environment and learn and network as much as you can, otherwise, what is the point and what are you really paying for? A piece of paper with a name on it?

Good luck

I'd love to go back and do it full time. I'd get finished much quicker...but it's not possible.

My wife is a teacher, and there is no way we could live on her income alone...it wouldn't even make the home loan and the car payment. I'll still be working 40-50 hours a week. No way around that one.

[fastwin]

Good luck with all of this. Sounds like a big load.

You guys getting any of this rain out Parker/Palo Pinto County way?

[Speedbag]

Being married and a bit older might make it easier to bear.

Looking back on my college experience, if I wouldn't have been worrying about chasing tail and drinking beer so much I might have finished sooner. 

It will be a lot of stressful work, but if you and the missus are fully in it together and can work it you will make it through and it will all be worthwhile. 

[sugarcrook]

Depending on the course, I'm spending about 20-30 hours a week on school stuff.  My finance and innovation courses required quite a bit more than that.  I'm using a lot of tools like Dropbox, Zotero and Google Docs to make my life easier, but it's still quite a bit of work.

Are you a good writer?  That will help.  Another helpful skill is being good with Excel. 

By far, the group projects are the worst part of the MBA program.  Most of the people in my cohort are imbeciles.  Hopefully you won't have the same problem. 

[Le Pirate]

Good luck with all of this. Sounds like a big load.

You guys getting any of this rain out Parker/Palo Pinto County way?

We've had several days of nice soaking rain this past week. It's been great. First time in a long time that I've seen standing puddles on the ground everywhere. 

Depending on the course, I'm spending about 20-30 hours a week on school stuff.  My finance and innovation courses required quite a bit more than that.  I'm using a lot of tools like Dropbox, Zotero and Google Docs to make my life easier, but it's still quite a bit of work.

Are you a good writer?  That will help.  Another helpful skill is being good with Excel. 

By far, the group projects are the worst part of the MBA program.  Most of the people in my cohort are imbeciles.  Hopefully you won't have the same problem. 

I'm hoping there won't be too many group projects in my future...but we all know there will be. Part of College I guess. I hate my grades depending on other idiots. 

I'm a hardcore dropboxer as it is for work...and I usually have 2-3 excel sheets open at any given time. I'm not sure how much it'll be the same between a MBA and MPH, but I'm sure I'll be getting my money's worth out of excel.

Speaking of which, anyone use MS office stuff on Mac? Any good? I use an XP machine at work, but I'm going to go this weekend and pickup a new MacBook Pro to use for Grad school. Don't think my 7 year old iBook will cut it anymore...can't even update my Tiger OS anymore (thanks apple  ).

Being married and a bit older might make it easier to bear.

Looking back on my college experience, if I wouldn't have been worrying about chasing tail and drinking beer so much I might have finished sooner. 

It will be a lot of stressful work, but if you and the missus are fully in it together and can work it you will make it through and it will all be worthwhile. 

I think I probably could of had a 4.0 and got into Med School, if I hadn't drank so much as a undergrad     

[Buckethead]

Speaking of which, anyone use MS office stuff on Mac? Any good? I use an XP machine at work, but I'm going to go this weekend and pickup a new MacBook Pro to use for Grad school. Don't think my 7 year old iBook will cut it anymore...can't even update my Tiger OS anymore (thanks apple  ).

Oracle Open Office.

Free, does everything Office does, and lets you save it in a shit-ton of different formats so everyone in your groups can use your stuff.

[Le Pirate]

I've tried open office in the past...didn't stick


I'll try it again though. I'm just really comfortable with excel...like a warm number crunching blanket 


I'll download open office as when I get the computer though...also thought about giving the i(whatever) one a shot. I like  keynote much more than powerpoint...

[sugarcrook]

I use Office on Mac and it's great.  PowerPoint is shit, making it consistent across platforms.  You'll want Keynote for presentations.  It's worth every penny.  I spend a lot of time in Google Docs and wouldn't need Office for school if the Google Docs editor had a Zotero plugin.  I use QuickOffice on my tablet and phone. 

Excel on OSX doesn't have the Data Analysis toolkit, which is kind of a bummer.  I use R instead, which is free and much more powerful.  However, it has a steep learning curve. 

Why MPH and not something like healthcare admin?  The latter seems like a more lucrative area. 

[Le Pirate]

I doing the MPH in Epidemiology, then I might try to go for the PhD.

It's very closely related to what I do now, which has turned into...um...basically, infectious disease management (in aquaculture). I'd like to roll into something a little more human related, which is why I'm going back to school

I know the admin and policy side of it is a big part, but I'm more interested in the science and statistical side of it. I know administration will pay more, but I'm sure I'll earn enough to get by...I hope. I'm a science nerd at heart. Always have been.

Truth is, I have a general idea of what I'm getting into, but no direct knowledge. Are you working in the healthcare field, or is the MBA for something else?

[Le Pirate]

Steve Jobs would be so ashamed of me right now...

Ended up picking up a new Samsung computer, rather than the MacBook Pro. I feel kind of dirty, but this way I don't have to worry about working around running windows apps on a mac. All the statistics software that is on the course syllabus are windows applications.  This is the first windows computer I've owned in about ten years 

Truth is, I kind of like it. It's exactly spec'd out the same as the higher end 15in MBP, and I only payed $1000. Felt like a steal after owning Apples. 



May hate it though. we'll see after this first semester.