Hi all. Not sure if any of the old crowd are still here or not.
I had a question and I’m struggling with where to place it.
Have any of you gone back to school for a graduate degree after being out of school for 15 years? Any advice?
I’ve been contemplating going back to school for a master’s engineering degree in systems engineering but can’t make up my mind.
I work a lot at times and I worry that i won’t be able to keep up with it. I also got injured two years ago and am still on the mend from that. I have all the prereq requirements, but I haven’t taken a calculus or statistics course in 17 or so years. I wouldn’t even know where to start with regards to formulas and such.
I am a systems analyst with a bunch of real world experience… just not sure if it’s enough to do this degree without an engineering undergrad degree and it being so long since I finished school. I have been looking at online schools and my company will pay for it.
Anyway… has anyone gone back to school under similar circumstances that would mind passing on some advice to lil ole me?
Ya, my mom went back to school when I was in grad school. It wasn’t as intense as getting a MA, but it did enable to go into another field rather than teaching.
We had a classmate in grad school who was 48. He went on to get his PhD and became an engineering professor. I remember that it was definitely a struggle for him. He was so rusty the classes were hard for him. We tried to help out as much as could. I think other students will definitely be helpful for you.
@MaineLonghorn , thanks. It’s funny you mention that, because my boyfriend was a bit of a non traditional student. He just graduated last year, and he took a lot of calculus and various other math courses (he was a comp sci major). I’m sure he could help me with that part. He was showing me some triangle joke at 6:45 this morning and I was looking at him like he had 2 heads, lol. I’ll have to get him to explain it to me when I’m awake. ? I told him no thinking before 8, lol.
One of my D’s friends was in med school with a 53 year old woman. Apparently she did just fine.
I had to relearn a lot of math & science when I substitute taught in my 40’s (I’m an over achiever, so I wanted to actually teach the kids something while I was in their classroom). I was surprised that it was not that difficult to pick back up.
Thanks, @kelsmom . My best friend went back to school two years ago (after an 11 year break) for her masters as well. She’s studying something related to her undergrad, though. She works full time, has two kids and is taking two courses a semester 3 semesters a year. She literally has 0 time to do anything else, and I don’t want that to be me. I don’t have any kids, but I work more hours so it’s kind of hard for me to compare the two.
I hope it’ll be like riding a bike, if I decide to do it!!
@fendergirl since to have you back. I almost tried to PM you about York!
Absolutely…go back to college and get that masters if you want to. My husband got his bachelors at age 32 in engineering. It was a program that was evenings mostly and most of the students were about that age.
I would imagine masters programs are the same.
Can you try one or two courses…and see? Can you reach out to the college(s) and ask them what they think?
ETA…my husband had been away from school for about seven years when he returned. He did take a few math courses at our local community college to get up to steam…and he said that was very worthwhile.
I’m doing it in a non STEM field. I tested the waters with an undergrad course to see if I could still take tests and be on a schedule. The tech part is different and I am always behind, but the reading and writing part I have down.
@fendergirl not my masters…but I returned for a sixth year graduate program Well over 15 years after I completed my masters degree. It was so well worth it.
Hi, @fendergirl! When DH went to law school, there were several folks switching over from long-standing careers – one was an anesthesiologist in his late 40s, an OB-GYN in her late 30s and a radio commentator/writer in his early 50s. All did well, but there wasn’t much math!
DH was a systems analyst for five years before going back to school. The logic and flow skills will serve you well. (It made a lot things easier for DH in law school, and is a HUGE advantage in his current role.)
We could give better advice if you give us more information. What type of engineering do you do now? Are you looking for job advancement or do you want to slide into a similar position that is more interesting? Is your current work more in sales or management?
@MaterS , I work in IT currently. I basically have like a holistic view over every system used by our business unit… or, rather, I am the person whom has a 1000 ft view over everything, as opposed to say a 50 ft view over a small specialized thing. I work with developers, network engineers, database admins, etc on a hodge podge of items. I manage situations where we have large scale systemic issues. Drive investigation to mitigate the issues, find root cause, make preventative plans to stop them from recurring, etc. I also work as part of project teams with regards to being a cog in the planning and deployment of new technologies for our business. A few years ago, I traveled to an office in another state for a month to document their systems issues and find them solutions. I had their largeish list checked off within 2 months of being back home. I am sometimes a project manager for systems upgrades and enhancements. I just was assigned to be the solution architect for a big project which is a new endeavor for me and right up my alley… so I’m excited for that. I would love to do more of that type of thing.
I work for a huge company and I’d love to move to more of a systems architect type role. similar to what I do now, but more advanced, I guess. I’m about to get my feet wet in that with the project I was just given. Plan the nitty gritty. I love digging into things and learning the why. That’s what I loved about that masters program. It seems like a perfect fit for me. On paper.
