Anyone complete a MSc or professional degree with little ones?

vszapp

I am toying with the idea of stopping work (currently doing 3 dpw) to get an MSc or MPH degree to open the door for some additional career opportunities. I'm not quite ready to commit to working F/T again yet after DS's birth, and the P/T gig isn't too rewarding. I figure I might as well invest in my future now, while still spending a good amount of time with the LOs, instead of just treading water here.

I have no idea how this would work with the kiddos, though I know it will largely depend on how the particular program is structured. If any of you have done grad school after kids, how did you like it? Did you feel like you had enough time to spend with the kids? How did it compare to working? I also have the option to do an online course, but I think that might be harder since I would be home but "unavailable" when studying. We currently have a nanny, and I'm also not sure how that would work, since I doubt I would need her full time no matter what format I choose. I suppose we'd have to find someone willing to work P/T...  Anyway, would love to hear your experiences!

minirella

I worked FT, did nursing school FT (night and weekend program), and had a family. It was hard and I missed a lot but it has paid off.

emberlee3

A couple of my friends have done MPHs after having kids.  They continued to work modified schedules.  They spent a lot of night and weekend time completing assignments.  I am contemplating taking a break from hospitalist work and doing a fellowship, which would be a pay cut.  So I would have to moonlight.

rockychryslerb2010

I started my MBA when E was 10 months, and finished in two years, when C was 6 weeks.  Was it hard, absolutely, but not impossible.  For me, I was still working and did a combo online and onsite program.  The format was intense, most classes were 5 weeks, and I had at most 1-2 weeks between each class.  Some classes were a breeze, mostly the first 6-9 months I as able to do the assignments with a little work in the evenings and a solid chunk of 4-5 hours on the weekend.  When I got into the second year, and my finance focus, the classes got harder and there were more group meetings.  So that meant most weeknights and many hours on Saturday and Sundays.  I never would have survived without DH who really stepped up and took care of E, and then C &E, while I was busy.  My parents and ILs also helped - watching the kids on weekends for a few hours when I had work to do and DH needed a break.

With my program, I managed to be able to take a short break between end of work and starting school work for the night - say from 6pm to 730pm, then after E was in bed, I'd do school work.  During the week I didn't feel like I missed much.  Weekends were different - I definitely missed out, but I tried really hard to at least have one thing planned for the weekend that I did with E to make sure it didn't impact him too much.  There is no great time to do it, but I'm so glad I did it when they were young, it would just get harder as they get older.