Managing a part-time masters alongside work

We caught up with our Scholarship student Lara Rowe (before she cycled away) and asked her how her postgraduate degree course was going. 

How was your second term at LSE?

'My second term at LSE doing the MSc in International Social and Public Policy (Research stream) is now over! The past six months have flown by, and it has been truly amazing getting stuck back into academia after time away from it. 

As a part-time student who is also working, juggling professional work with education has been a big learning curve. I am excited to share how this has worked out over the past few months.

Before I started the course I spent the previous eight months working full-time in the non-profit sector, which has allowed me to save up to contribute to this Master’s. When I began studying in October, I continued to work full-time in my existing role in Volunteer Engagement at a humanitarian organisation. 

Help from my employer

Fortunately, my manager was very flexible with my hours, so I was able to work later to make up for attending my lectures and seminars in the day. Working every day was challenging, and it meant I could only dedicate evenings to reading and other university work.  

I am very lucky that my workplace has been incredibly supportive about me going back to university – allowing me to continue working full-time with flexible hours this term, and to drop my hours to part-time in January, when my university workload ramps up.

They were incredibly supportive and happy to keep me on board for three days a week! This gave me two days to fully dedicate to the MSc, which was a relief, as the workload really ramped up in the second semester. 

Part Time is fine if you get the balance right

Taking the course part-time means I can spread the cost of my fees whilst working to afford the course. Without this option, I wouldn’t have been able to take on the Master’s. Having flexible hours is incredibly helpful, and I would recommend discussing this with your employer if you are considering returning to university whilst staying in work. 

LSE has a fair amount of contact hours (not to mention all the extra events you can attend!), so I was very thankful to have a bit more time for all of this. I have met other part-time students on my course who have had similar experiences with their employers, which has been encouraging to hear. 

But everyone is different in how they can balance work and study – I met one student who has continued to work full-time hours flexibly during the entire course, whilst others work part-time and some primarily on weekends. 

Personally, I definitely needed to cut my hours – it is worth being honest with yourself and your employer to figure out an option that works for you. 

Extra curricula

Having this extra time has allowed me to take on more extra-curricular activities. For instance, I joined LSE Amnesty International Society’s Journal The Beacon as an associate editor. In this role I get to review and edit the work of other students writing on contemporary human rights issues – this has been a valuable learning opportunity and way to engage with fellow students.    

Overall, I have loved the part-time structure! I feel like I have plenty of room to think about where my dissertation will go, I am able to attend talks, audit classes beyond my degree, speak to lecturers and really commit to my classes – and that is without mentioning the benefits of spreading the financial burden. 

As this academic year comes to a close, I am so thankful to have another where I can continue to make the most of all LSE has to offer!'