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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Living at home for a masters

29 replies

misele · 07/04/2022 18:56

DS has signed up to do a masters programme in London next year, it's an 8 month course. He needs to be at the university for 2-3 days a week.

He had originally planned to move up there and rent a room somewhere. But after doing some number crunching he's started to realise just how expensive london is. He could do it, but money would be very very tight.

He's thinking about living at home and commuting in for those days. I know he will miss out, but I'm not sure how social short masters programmes are in London anyway.

We live a 10 minute walk from the station, then a 50 minute train journey into London, and then his uni would be another 20 minutes or so on the tube. If he books this ahead/in good time, it can be about £15 return.

He's figured if he does this, then he can save a good few thousand pounds to either keep in the bank or to go travelling with before he starts work.

OP posts:

sammyjoanne · 07/04/2022 20:14

Sounds like a not a bad idea to be fair. If it was my DD, I think its a sensible option if it saves money. Socially wise, if your DS has a good social life at his home base, with good friends locally, it shouldnt make much of a difference. Plus if he makes friends on his course, theres nothing stopping him having them come over to yours (if you dont mind) and he can stay at theirs the odd time.

RandomMess · 07/04/2022 20:20

Think it's quite common, either living with parents or partner.

Universe1969 · 07/04/2022 20:27

I commmuted on to central London for my masters and I did miss out. However now working at said uni I can say there are a lot more opportunities for MSc s to her their teeth in to to feel a part of the community and embrace all of the social sides.

SunshinePie · 07/04/2022 20:39

I can guarantee he will start skipping days of his commute is that long! When I did a masters it was obvious which students had the longest commutes - they would only turn up to essential lectures and missed loads of the course. I would recommend he finds somewhere to rent, even if he ends up sharing a room with another student. Degrees are an investment, don’t waste it.

Fifthtimelucky · 07/04/2022 22:48

It's worth bearing in mind that some or all the lectures etc may be online even next year.

My daughter is currently doing a Masters and we are paying for her accommodation and bills
while she lives in London.

The whole lot has been online so she could just as well have stayed at home. Her social life would have suffered, of course, but it has suffered by everything being online anyway.

NotDonna · 08/04/2022 13:38

Depends what masters he’s doing but often the students are more mature and nowhere near as sociable as undergrads. It sounds a very sensible plan to me. I commuted just over an hour into London for my masters. Unlike someone else has mentioned never missed a lecture/tutorial due to commute. We very very rarely went out as most people had partners. He’ll still be able to socialise given he’s only an hour or so away, providing the trains keep running until late.

Obelisk · 08/04/2022 13:44

I did similar for my PGDL. It worked very well. I didn’t miss out on the social side- just needed to be organised about it. Post-grad courses are quite different to undergrad anyway and there are likely to be others doing the same as him or who have family commitments which mean they’re not up for a huge student social life.

It’s a long commute- could he realistically work on the train?

chesirecat99 · 08/04/2022 14:06

He will likely miss out socially but he can always change his mind. If he finds a room as a lodger, there is no fixed term contract. He could also look at week day lets - some people rent out a room during the week only. It does depend on the course though. Some are more social than others. I still socialise with my friends from my MA decades ago, my DC are at university themselves now, one of them a post grad.

An hour long commute door to door is not unusual for students living in London though. Your DS's commute isn't that much longer.

Malbecfan · 08/04/2022 14:20

My DD's bf is doing his PGCE in London but living with his parents outside the M25. His uni have been brilliant with his placements as they have all been drivable from his parents' home. They did check that he had access to a car before he booked them. His journey time into London was similar to that of your DS. It seems to have worked well for him, but I accept that he had a few weeks of commuting each day then several weeks in school, which is different from your DS.

titchy · 08/04/2022 14:48

The taught part will be 8 months but there'll also be a further 3 months of dissertation/project. Depending on the discipline that may well involve being there 5 days a week so he needs to budget for that as well.

If he's using the Masters loan to pay fees and travel costs I'm not sure how he thinks he'll be able to save though

Widmerpool · 08/04/2022 14:57

I also did my Masters in London, with the difference that I was working full time alongside.

What I found was that it was a lot less social than my undergraduate degree, so I didn’t feel I missed out there, but I did need access to libraries etc at the weekend. So that’s maybe something to consider.

bluebaul · 08/04/2022 14:58

He's thinking about living at home and commuting in for those days. I know he will miss out,

What will he miss out on?

bluebaul · 08/04/2022 14:59

Sorry i totally misread this as being about a phd

mewkins · 08/04/2022 15:02

I did it the other way round and lived at home as an undergraduate and then moved away for my Masters. Most of the others on my course were back living at home and commuting for the course (which was very full on, 7 or 8 hours per day, 5 days a week). We still socialised together a lot and they got late trains and buses home or slept on the sofas of those of us that lived centrally.

burnoutbabe · 08/04/2022 15:13

I commute across london for my masters (very mature student)

I only have to go in once a week this semester, twice next.

And term is
11 weeks (inc one reading week where don't have to come in)
11 weeks (as above)
5 weeks (which for half the students, they do a dissertation so no need to come in)
so thats 25 weeks of actually having to be on campus, maybe twice a week so 50 daily journeys.
Now, my course i don't need to visit the library much - journals are online and i can buy most textbooks i want. Others may have to visit the library more often.

Needmoresleep · 08/04/2022 16:10

DS took a 10 month Masters in London and lived at home. The course was VERY full on, so he did not miss out. Indeed he decided to mov e out of his student flat and return home because it would be easier for him to focus.

I am not sure what people mean by "social life". DS's course was 98% international students, with a mix of ages. They did have social events and he made a number of friends. But the course was expensive and the priority was to study. So more having coffee after a lecture and discussing a problem set, that late night clubbing.

A lot of his London based friends moved home for third year UG for similar reasons: save money, home comforts and fewer distractions.

As for the commuting...DS treated it more like a job. He went in relatively early and studied, and stayed relatively late.

So not a student experience more like those taking law conversion, accountancy exams or similar. I guess it depends on what his motives for taking the Masters are, and his expectations.

thing47 · 08/04/2022 23:15

It does depend what he is studying, of course, but DD2 did a London Masters last year and agree with @Needmoresleep it was very intense, exponentially harder than her BSc. The international side of it, and the fact that lots of people on the course were already fully qualified doctors (she isn't a medic herself) were part of the appeal but everyone was there to work, it was not an extension of her under-grad days when she played a lot of sport and partied a fair bit!

In fact she initially planned to have a part-time job on 2 evenings and on Saturdays but after a couple of weeks she told me that she wasn't going to be able to do paid work as she needed to study every evening and at weekends. She also basically treated it like a full-time job, working easily 50-60 hours a week.

Yourownpersonaljesus · 12/04/2022 15:58

My DD is currently in the middle of her Masters in London. All of her lectures and seminars have now finished and she only has her exams and dissertation left. She moved back home and was commuting (about 45 mins door to door) 2-3 days a week as some of it was online. I do feel that she missed out on the social side but she couldn't afford to be out every night anyway. She has made some lovely friends, who I have met, but they mainly just meet for a coffee/lunch after lectures or go to the library together. Her friends are all international students and a bit older (she's 23) so I don't think they do the clubbing/ getting drunk thing as much. It's a totally different experience from her undergrad degree. Will your DS have a part time job (you mentioned him saving money)? My DD has a part time job but it only just covers her fares.

ronaldmcdonald123456 · 12/04/2022 18:49

Isn't the whole point of a masters the educational aspect of it? :/

Xmasbaby11 · 13/04/2022 04:31

It sounds fine to me. I lived with my dp for my ft Masters and had a similar commute to Manchester. My hours were similar but I went in 5 days a week. I had a great routine, plenty of time to socialise between lectures and sometimes evenings. I also worked 2 evenings a week. It worked really well. I was late 20s and other students were all ages, mostly international. Totally different experience from my undergraduate years but better in many ways!

Scottishskifun · 13/04/2022 04:39

Another money saving option would be to apply for being a residential warden. You do have to deal with first years in halls and work a couple nights a week but accommodation is usually free.

portalooe · 13/04/2022 05:07

Our dd is also considering doing this. She is thinking about moving in her with boyfriend and commuting in from Cambridge four days a week. They would split the rent for a huge room in a house share.

I am a bit concerned about her keeping up with her work and commuting.

SherryPalmer · 13/04/2022 05:25

I think the commute sounds fine and with time he’ll probably make friends he can crash with on occasion. BUT I don’t think his plan of relying on the £15 returns is a good one as he’ll probably need more flexibility than that and he should look at the price comparison if he buys a season ticket/railcard.

SonicBroom · 13/04/2022 05:27

Depends on subject but on mine, at least half were working at same time. Out of others many were international. There wasn’t much socialising at all and the majority of people lived at home. But mine was quite specialised and more suited to someone with some experience

Comefromaway · 15/04/2022 22:15

It’s swings and roundabouts really. My dd is living in London, but she’s probably missing out just as much as those commuting in because she has to be out on the dot every day to get to her evening job and she works Sat/Sundays too in order to be able to afford it.

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