Doing a masters while working in Spain
57 points
4 days ago
| 15 comments
| jan-herlyn.com
| HN
SiempreViernes
21 minutes ago
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> Culture-wise, the professors at the university were also very different than what I was used to in Germany. [...] My thesis advisor, Alicia Ageno, for instance, had a meeting with me about every two weeks and sent me relevant papers and advice on a subject that was not her current research topic anymore.

This makes german supervision sound pretty abysmal! Maybe that's why the thesis project I had with a German professor crashed and burned (I was to implement an simulation method, and he wouldn't help with debugging), they are just raised in a culture where you don't help students?

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cjd8
3 hours ago
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Great job! A few months ago I was kicked out of university for failing my Real Analysis course a second time (4 years of CS suddenly gone, thesis was half done) and had to get a full time job. Now I got accepted to a different public university to study on a weekend basis. This article makes me less anxious about my upcoming studies.
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oersted
1 hour ago
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That sounds incredibly harsh. What kind of university was it? Is there more to the story?

Kicking someone out and effectively voiding all progress just for failing one challenging final year class twice is completely mad.

Was it rather that you lost a scholarship and couldn’t afford to finish or something like that?

Sorry to dwell, I’m sure it must be painful, I wish you the best luck.

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cjd8
1 hour ago
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Essentially all Czech universities have a rule where you can only twice enroll in the same course - failing to do so will lead to termination. Nevertheless I still have my credits so I'll try to get them accepted at the new university.

It was mostly painful to see people I had courses with graduate just this month, however I do have a good software engineering job so all is well?

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StefanBatory
1 hour ago
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is there no way to appeal? It works the same in Polish uni I'm in, but uhh, there I was allowed to appeal and they stamped it by default

And I'm very sorry to hear that either way :(

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cjd8
1 hour ago
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There is, however I didn't really have a valid reason for an appeal so I just went ahead with it and started applying for jobs.
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m12k
1 hour ago
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I don't know about the rest of Europe, but in Denmark, universities get a part of their funding based on the number of graduates. So the university has an incentive to help student actually graduate instead of kicking them out. That may or may not matter to the bureaucrat responding to an appeal - but I'd certainly not just assume that "I'm close to graduation, just let me do this one more exam attempt" isn't a good enough reason for them to let you try.
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cjd8
52 minutes ago
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Ah, well in the Czech Republic universities get funding based on the number of currently enrolled students, not graduates. Some places will therefore accept 1000 into a CS program, only to have <100 people actually graduate.

As for the appeal - these usually aren't successful, even my thesis advisor said that he probably wouldn't go out of his way to talk to the analysis course examiner etc. etc.

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SecretDreams
46 minutes ago
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You miss every shot you don't take. Don't be ashamed or afraid to appeal. At worst, nothing changes.
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ramon156
3 hours ago
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Very sorry to hear that. Glad you're still going on, that's the right mindset!
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shivajreddy
2 hours ago
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I am 31(still fell 20) studying Electrical Engineering, while working full time as a Software Engineer, its tough, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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the_real_cher
25 minutes ago
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Where?
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cosmodisk
4 hours ago
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I did study for my undergraduate degree( design & business) full time whilst also working full time. Graduated when I was almost 30. It took me 10 years until I wanted to study anything again.

Now I'm studying part time for my masters degree( cybersec) whilst also working full time, only this time the job is very mentally draining.

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ErigmolCt
2 hours ago
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Respect for going back after 10 years, honestly. Cybersec while working full time sounds useful but definitely not light
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jmspring
5 hours ago
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We will be hopping over to Italy/France/or Croatia in the next year or so. Work will not be the motivator, but we both have options.

In the states during late covid, I thought the downtime would be good to do a second masters in something unrelated to working in software. I chose a remote program with a univeristy here in the states, I did the first year, but it reminded me that studying - especially a program unrelated to anything you have currently done - is actually not easy.

I chose Geology. I have BS/BA in Comp Eng and Chemistry and an MS in Comp Eng. So this was personal interest.

Revisiting math I hadn't used in awhile was the easy part. Making the time, while working, reminded my why I also ended up ABD (all but dissertation - toward PHD) post masters. Sometimes your brain needs to relax.

Glad it worked for you. And the European Universities are significantly cheaper than Universities in the states (this was a state univerisity which is - per state - considered a step above a state school. For instance a UC vs a CSU in california).

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mishellaneous
1 hour ago
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so you go to university just for the joy of learning?

to be clear, i think that's cool, and i might try it at some point.

but how do you deal with the fact that university, in practice, is not "for the joy of learning"?

for most people there, students and professors, it's more like "just a job". and this does have an effect. colleagues that only want to pass the test and are watching out for their careers (or even worse, don't even care about anything and are there because of societal expectations) do not make good learning companions. professors who are very dispassionate about the subject don't want you taking up their time with fancy questions and administer dumb tests such that studying for the test is useless beyond passing the course.

(to be clear i'm not criticizing these people directly. obviously, i understand that bills have to be paid -- after all, i took some fun electives, not a degree in fun)

personally, during my time in university i did try a lot of elective courses "for the joy". it forced me a schedule, which was good, because it's something i struggled with self-studying. a few times, professors offered some real gems of knowledge which i wouldn't have found otherwise. and obviously, in practical classes, i got to play stuff i otherwise wouldn't. but the battle against the bullshit took up most of my time and energy.

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drakonka
58 minutes ago
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I started doing this after moving to a university town at the end of 2024. Just taking random evening courses that sounded interesting. Having never studied past high school, it's been excellent! My first ever course was on nuclear weapons and disarmament and it was fascinating - we had professors with such a huge amount of experience researching and working directly with disarmament negotiations, policies, inspection missions, etc. Then it was a biology course with the most passionate teacher I've ever met. Last term I took a cosmology course and learned a ton about cosmology from different perspectives. My professors have all been great in the few courses I've done so far, and I don't pay attention to other students so much aside from when necessary for group work.
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SiempreViernes
40 minutes ago
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> but how do you deal with the fact that university, in practice, is not "for the joy of learning"?

I think this strongly depends on the subject you study, most people in mechanical engineering will have a very different attitude to people studying world literature or astrophysics.

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mishellaneous
27 minutes ago
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good to know, thanks. it does make sense.

there's still the professors though. the courses may not necessarily be different from their point of view.

also, what do you make of physics grads going to work on finance? doesn't strike as very "scholarly" of them, at first.

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olsondv
13 minutes ago
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Physics is applying math to Model phenomena. Finance is already numbers so it’s a good fit. If you are insinuating the money corrupts it, they’re paid for the skills they developed. Are medical doctors less noble because they make massive salaries?
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ErigmolCt
3 hours ago
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Geology is a great choice. I sometimes think the best subjects to study are the ones that have nothing to do with your job, but they're also the hardest to justify when your brain is already tired from work
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alpineman
1 hour ago
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You are welcome in Europe, we need all the talent we can get :)
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gib444
3 hours ago
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> Work will not be the motivator, but we both have options.

Which work visa did you apply for? Or do you have an EU passport?

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retired
1 hour ago
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I studied in The Netherlands about ten years ago and it was very cheap. Around €10k a year total for tuition, room and board. Most of my peers graduated with only €30k in debt as they worked evenings and weekends during their education. Meanwhile I read online about Americans going in debt for $200k
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igleria
1 hour ago
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First and foremost, congrats!

In Argentina doing a bachelor + master while working is called a Monday. It's partially unfortunate since it "delays" the finish date of the degree and even makes a lot of people drop out because they found a cushy enough job.

But coming out with a degree along with years of professional experience makes up for the "delay" in getting the degree at least tenfold.

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taveras
5 hours ago
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Super grateful to read stories like these.

I'm studying part-time to complete a BA in political science while working full-time as a software developer. I love learning the subject, but the workload can be tough. Happy to hear it's not just me.

Thank you for sharing!

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MHard
3 hours ago
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My pleasure. Good luck with your studies!
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madprops
5 hours ago
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Felicidades. Sometimes I think about returning to a public university to have something structured to do, especially since I've been in a way educating myself through AI and I appreciate the idea of an environment dedicated to people with a similar intellectual interest. I don't really care about academia, if I do it it would be an experimental change of environment. If there is even a place for people like me in that public university at all (older people).
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SiempreViernes
27 minutes ago
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I know of a pensioner who successfully did up to a Masters in astronomy, so there are definitely examples of older people as students in academia (not to mention many the professors are older, and especially the emeritus professors).
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MHard
3 hours ago
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I think it’s worth a try. Being a bit older than the rest (almost thirties) when I started also gave me pause at first. But I felt that people were very welcoming regardless of your situation.
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ErigmolCt
3 hours ago
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It feels like the real reason many people go back to school: not some grand career optimization plan, but being bored, stuck and wanting life to move again
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egl2020
1 hour ago
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What about language was used in the masters program? Spanish? I'm guessing that German is your first language.
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elric
2 hours ago
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I've been considering doing the same (going back to uni, not moving to Barcelona). But I find the choices are overwhelming, and the time investment is no joke.
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ionwake
25 minutes ago
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>work >spain

the conclusion was as expected

edit> Spain is one of my fav countries and I may even be half spanish, Im just saying if I was going to focus on work Id move to the nordics or the US

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lewistaariq
6 hours ago
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Now we just need the pics of beaches, bars, and your presentations!
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MrDresden
5 hours ago
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Being now in my late 30s I worry that the ship has sailed on being able to do a masters degree while juggling adult life as well.
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MHard
3 hours ago
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I wouldn’t let that discourage you. During my time there I did meet people well in their mid thirties juggling work, kids and the masters. Depending on your country, universities can do a lot of accommodations to parents if that’s in the picture.
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laszlojamf
4 hours ago
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yeah, what I feel happens is that priorities get a lot harder. I'm two courses and a project away from a master in robotics, but when you have a steady, well-paying job already and a spouse and kid, it's gets really hard to motivate exactly _why_ you want that degree.
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Scroll_Swe
4 hours ago
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We get CSN :) You have to be native though hehe
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