Doing a masters at 52??

[MagsMagnolia]

I have the opportunity to do a funded masters through work and I don't know if I'll cope with the study anymore! I used to be able to study for hours and really enjoy it. I could take in lots of information and learned and retained it relatively quickly. Always did well, with good results. I've never found study onerous (if it's a subject I enjoy).
Fast forward to now and I'm 52 and menopausal. I struggle to find the right words on a daily basis, call the grown up kids by the dogs name and frequently lose my glasses/keys/purse and anything else that's not attached to me. My concentration span has diminished and I haven't reached 'flow state' in any task for years.
The masters would open up opportunities for me professionally, change my current role in a positive way (I'm feeling disillusioned and quite frankly burnt out), get me off shift work and would mean I could work later into my 60's, quite probably to retirement - in my current role I doubt I'll get past 60 without going part time. But I'm so scared I won't be able to study and learn like I used to.
I'd really appreciate any experiences of studying later in life - the good and the bad!!

I did it. It was great. I was far and away the oldest student, and I definitely didn’t have anything like the daily dramas and stuff going on that the younger ones did! I think you’ll lov it. Go for it!

No experience but if you really believe this

The masters would open up opportunities for me professionally, change my current role in a positive way

Then I'd go for it.
If you dont like it you can stop.

Excellent. Do it!

Two things:

1. You really must take a long look through the Mature Study and Retraining board, here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mature_students

Its entire purpose is to encourage and support people who are wondering if they’re ’too old’ to do something new.

2. I embarked on an MA at a specialist institution, in a completely different subject to my former profession, when I was older than you. (I’ve spoken about it under other names on several threads.) Emerged with a Distinction. It opened all manner of unexpected doors.

Oh, it definitely would. An immediate change of role whilst studying and a move up to the next pay band after two years. Would also get me off nights, which I'm aware are not doing me any good and are definitely harder to cope with and recover from than they ever have been.

@MetaDaughter Thank you. That's brilliant. will take a look now.

You are really lucky that you’re currently working and thinking. And the fact you’d be doing this with the support of your employers overrides the financial anxieties and leap in the dark issues that many people face.

You’ll find countless threads recounting this experience on the Mature Study board - but, just to reassure you briefly, while you may find studying exhausting you will have a more rounded comprehension of what you’re learning than your younger peers. The main thing I had to come to terms with very quickly was that I couldn’t leave all my work to the last minute and get it done overnight as I had as an undergraduate, so it was necessary to start early and break written work down into manageable chunks. The very best thing was just how much I learnt from my half my age fellow students.

(Great to see your thread is now on this board!)

I did a Masters degree in my mid 40s and I really enjoyed it. It was the same subject (broadly) as my BA and there was one person older than me, surprisingly.
It was hard work as my 2 kids were around 8 and 11 at the time. I just felt a bit bored in my job, and wanted to do something which could lead on to better prospects. (Which it didn't really, but it gave me the personal satisfaction of gaining a distinction).
So I would definitely recommend going for it and good luck!

Go for it! If you don’t you’ll always regret it. I finished my degree at 58. I had the opportunity to do a Masters immediately but decided against; then life took over and when I, finally, applied for finance I was too old! ☹️

@MagsMagnolia
Maybe it is the nights that are making you feel so foggy? If you could stick to days I think you would get a real boost from the challenge. As it is funded as well, it is ideal. Are they going to give you some time during the week to attend / complete work?

My job is to support postgraduate students at a russel group university, and many come to us through a funded work scheme. Some students are earlier in their career but plenty are older and have the sort of challenges you mention! In terms of the opportunities it would open up it sounds (on paper) like a no brainer but I would recommend a couple of things to help you decide. At each university there is a time allocation per ECTS (credit). You should be able to find out what this is, as well as what the ECTS is per module and you can then work out how much time you will need to spent on it academic studies. I don’t think you’ve mentioned if it’s part time and if so what the mode of study is (in person? Online?) - this might impact how easy it is for you to allocate the time to it as if you have to physically be somewhere to learn it might feel easier than trying to carve time out to study online.
Depending on the institution they should have resources available for mature students for returning to study, study skills etc which might help you, but in practical terms you need to work out if there are enough hours in the day! You mention the Masters would get you off nights, would that happen while you were studying or only after? This might help your brainpower a bit as I’m sure it’s terrible for you to work when you should be sleeping especially as you get older! Would your work give you protected time to study?
The point I’m making is that I think you need to be really careful about setting yourself up for success as if you have the time dedicated to study this sounds like it could be amazing for you, but if you don’t plan for it carefully it could be a missed opportunity. I hope that all makes sense!

I’m doing one at 60!! Alongside working full time.

I’m not even the oldest student, there’s quite a little group of us who are all in my band and older.

Do it!!

I did a Masters in my early 50s. It was challenging but thoroughly enjoyable.
i was only working 20hrs/week though and did most of the studying in my own time.
Are you working full time? If so would you get protected study time ?

Im about to start a funded masters in July. Im 45. It’s terrifying. But I’m also excited. I veer between the two!

Yes, I'd get some study leave. Not a huge amount but enough to make a difference. I don't know what I'd be like without the nights - I've been doing them for 12 years! It's definitely not helping 😆

You've very succinctly summed up my dilemma!
It would be part time over 3 years and a mix of online and in-person. I'm two hours away from the University so practically, anything I can do remotely would theoretically be a plus. I hadn't thought about asking for support - that's such good tip. Previously I'd have scoffed at this but I'm less proud these days!
I would get protected study leave and with the immediate change of role (whilst commencing the MSc) would leave those 12 hour night shifts firmly in the past 🤗

The immediate dropping of the night shifts sounds very positive! I also think (having at different times supported “burst mode” teaching ie 2 intensive weeks with no online learning, then blended learning (a mix), and also fully online) that having time on-site is going to keep you honest ;) fully online is really hard to stick to! One other thing I think you might want to ask is what happens if start and can’t finish - would you have any financial liability (I don’t think you usually would, but worth checking) and would your work patterns/prospects all revert back? It might be that by completing the first year you could exit with a PG Certificate, 2 years is a PG Diploma, and the final year gets you the masters - but this won’t always be the case, so asking about potential exit awards could help the decision to feel less daunting. That might be a question for the university rather than your employer though, if you’re able to contact them with questions directly. Oh and definitely ask for support! There are literally entire teams of staff employed for that purpose so don’t feel like you shouldn’t - returning to study after a long break is hard! (I’d love to in theory but at 46 and with young children I’d have the same worries as you!).

That sounds wonderful!

I would urge you to take advantage of as much in-person contact as you can possibly manage. As I said above, you will almost certainly learn as much from interacting with your peers as from your tutors. (And one lovely thing about studying at this age is that you have a very different relationship with tutors.)

Try not to worry about the travel. Sort out the logistics and then settle into it. I was three and a half hours train, plus walking and more from my institution; the first few weeks were very heavily in-person, so I cadged beds wherever; after that I commuted probably two or three times across every couple of weeks. (Thank God for long vacations.) At first the travelling nearly killed me, and I dropped two dress sizes in the first term. By the end of the year I could run up several flights of stairs at midnight after a long, long day.

I absolutely second what PP have said about seeking whatever student support is available. The academic landscape has changed so much recently - no one will look down on you for doing this, they’ll just think it’s sensible.

One other thing - if the course will take you beyond subjects you’re familiar with, be a little pro-active and try to find a lower level, free, online course, or two, to introduce you to the new concepts and vocab. Obviously get hold of course reading lists as soon as you can. And, if possible, find some colleagues who have taken this exact course - who can talk it through with you.

I was 52 when I did mine and am 56 now and in final year of PhD. If you are really excited by the course content, go for it!

Thank you everyone for the support and encouragement and especially to @MetaDaughter for suggesting I move the thread over here, after spotting me lurking in education amongst the GCSE/A-level angst!
I think I'll go for it - will keep you all posted!!

Started my part time one last year at 59. I am finding it very hard work academically. But I did Maths and accounting, and this is Arts based. I have an interest in one of the areas and it grew from there. Loving it and hope to change careers again and perhaps get some work in the field.

Deffo do it! Am 51 and just finishing first year of a two year MSc. I am about ten years older than the next oldest - most are straight from undergraduate.

Managed to persuade work to give me some time and part fund it as I convinced them it would add to the capabilities of our team as I will share what I learn - in fact I’m doing a ‘lunch’s and learn’ lecture sharing some relevant stuff at work in a few weeks 😻.

it has been mind blowing on a good way. I’ve learn loads, it’s been difficult to get my head round some of the maths-y stuff necessary for the course (arts background not science but this so relevant to subject of course). Honestly think everyone should continue to learn lifelong!

Actually the way I got to this was to sit down one day a couple of years ago and write down the things that really interest me. Then I googled ‘study of …….’ The course I’m on is unique and that’s what came up when I googled :-).

I'm almost finished mine now at 60. It is work related, but won't make any difference to my role, it just means I understand what I am doing. My only disappointment is that because the start of the course was delayed by a year, I'm now too old to get a loan to do a PhD, and can't justify using family money to do that.

I absolutely bloody love it though!

Night shifts will be confusing the picture too much to make an objective judgment about your studying ability. I think it sounds a great opportunity and it would be great to get off nights!