Graduate School and Job: how to make it work?

[khall8]

Hi All. So I graduated from college back in '09 with a B.A. in Biology. I stayed in Boston after graduating and worked for the Division of Comparative Medicine at MIT. Realized that I'm not suited to work with animals in a lab setting and after making myself stay and suffer for almost two years, I left. I moved to NYC at the beginning of this summer and am working for a non-profit in development (not what I want to do).

My problem is this: I want to pursue graduate school, but it's implausible to do this without continuing to work because I couldn't afford to rack up the debt of school + current debt + living expenses. I figure work will cover the living expenses and the bare minimum of school costs, loans, etc. I've been looking into things such as physical therapy and scientific journalism (do you get the feeling that I have no idea what I want to do anymore? I do.) but none of these are available on a part time basis. The voice in my head says I should start volunteering, mentoring, etc. to figure out what niche I really want to pursue. My question, besides asking for advice because I welcome it, is does any one know of part time scientific programs in NY?

I appreciate any input

[BassAZ]

I'm not going to be of much help to your initial question, so feel free to skip my statement if that's what you're looking for. From what you've written here, you're first priority isn't how you can make grad school and a job work; first, you have to figure out why you want to go to grad school. If you're looking for programs only because they fit into your schedule right now, it's just not going to work and whatever you do fall in to is likely to leave you feeling hollow later in life. Some may disagree with me, but I think the number one rule for grad school is answering "why I need to go to grad school".

If you're looking at jobs outside of research, there's a likelihood that they won't require an advanced degree; for those that do, it will generally be MS+. Larger schools will sometimes offer part-time MS programs (Harvard's extension school is one such school, I believe. It looks like NYU might offer a similar thing with part-time MS degrees as well). With the sciences, though, I'm a firm believer in research, research, research and if you aren't devoting yourself 100% to that research you are selling yourself and the program short.

So, again, most of this is my own opinion, but I think anyone here would agree you need to figure out what you would want to study and why before diving into "how can I make grad school work".

[Grunty DaGnome]

I am finishing an M.A. in English and applying to PhD programs after getting my BA in 1999. I confronted this same dilemma when I decided to return. In my case, M.A.s usually don't come with funding, so that made working a necessity. I currently live in Boston, which is almost as expensive as NYC, maybe more expensive than certain borroughs, like Brooklyn.

In my case, I had a pretty decent paying job which it made no sense to leave for an MA in English, which everyone knows is no guarantee for any type of future in academia. But now that I may be faced with the choice of PhD programs that are reputable but not in the state that I'm licensed to practice, I decided it would be worth it to leave if the area were inexpensive enough. Places like Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolina, even Chicago have programs that are just as good or better, than NYC schools and the cost of living in those cities is a fraction of NYC.

I realize I didn't answer your question about part-time programs in NYC, but relocating might be something to think about if your job is not your dream job and not a super high-paying one either. I have friends in the sciences who have left Boston for North Carolina after their fellowship or whatever ended and they were all amazed that for less than the price of the crappy one bedroom they and their wife shared they could get a 3 bdrm house with laundry included. They were sad to leave the city in some respects, of course, but the benefits of cheap living while they studied seemed to make sense.

[gurumaster8899]

You need to know why you're going back, if your plans have anything to do with academia then doing it part time will become unsustainable and you'll find yourself truly torn between the two. But if you just need your masters to move up in the company, then most ppl would just go for an MBA. I was in situation for almost a year before deciding to quit work to focus on grad school.

[BDav]

At the very least, look for programs that are fully funded. There's usually a list somewhere online.

[trippp]

Hi All. So I graduated from college back in '09 with a B.A. in Biology. I stayed in Boston after graduating and worked for the Division of Comparative Medicine at MIT. Realized that I'm not suited to work with animals in a lab setting and after making myself stay and suffer for almost two years, I left. I moved to NYC at the beginning of this summer and am working for a non-profit in development (not what I want to do).

My problem is this: I want to pursue graduate school, but it's implausible to do this without continuing to work because I couldn't afford to rack up the debt of school + current debt + living expenses. I figure work will cover the living expenses and the bare minimum of school costs, loans, etc. I've been looking into things such as physical therapy and scientific journalism (do you get the feeling that I have no idea what I want to do anymore? I do.) but none of these are available on a part time basis. The voice in my head says I should start volunteering, mentoring, etc. to figure out what niche I really want to pursue. My question, besides asking for advice because I welcome it, is does any one know of part time scientific programs in NY?

I appreciate any input

i find myself contemplating the same thing. i am earning a lot as a software engineer and would like to continue to work in software (10 - 20 hours a week) outside of my academic research when i start my phd. quite a few phd students have told me they find a good balance between their research and part time employment. so i would say "go for it" if you, like me, are the kind of person who needs to have multiple things in the air in order to stay sane.