6 ms·

Doing a masters while working in Spain

91 points by MHard 3mo ago

lewistaariq 3mo ago
Now we just need the pics of beaches, bars, and your presentations!
jmspring 3mo ago
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).
- gib444 3mo ago
  > 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?
  - jmspring 3mo ago
    EU passport through my wife's family.
- ErigmolCt 3mo ago
  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
- alpineman 3mo ago
  You are welcome in Europe, we need all the talent we can get :)
- retired 3mo ago
  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
- mishellaneous 3mo ago
  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.
  - drakonka 3mo ago
    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.
  - SiempreViernes 3mo ago
    > 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.
- emptyfile 3mo ago
  [dead]
madprops 3mo ago
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).
- MHard 3mo ago
  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.
- SiempreViernes 3mo ago
  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).
taveras 3mo ago
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!
- MHard 3mo ago
  My pleasure. Good luck with your studies!
MrDresden 3mo ago
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.
- laszlojamf 3mo ago
  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.
- MHard 3mo ago
  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.
cosmodisk 3mo ago
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.
- ErigmolCt 3mo ago
  Respect for going back after 10 years, honestly. Cybersec while working full time sounds useful but definitely not light
Scroll_Swe 3mo ago
We get CSN :) You have to be native though hehe
cjd8 3mo ago
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.
- ramon156 3mo ago
  Very sorry to hear that. Glad you're still going on, that's the right mindset!
- oersted 3mo ago
  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.
  - cjd8 3mo ago
    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?
    - StefanBatory 3mo ago
      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 :(
      - cjd8 3mo ago
        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.
ErigmolCt 3mo ago
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
shivajreddy 3mo ago
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.
- the_real_cher 3mo ago
  Where?
  - shivajreddy 3mo ago
    CCSF and NDU online
    - the_real_cher 3mo ago
      Thank! Best of luck to you!
elric 3mo ago
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.
igleria 3mo ago
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.
egl2020 3mo ago
What about language was used in the masters program? Spanish? I'm guessing that German is your first language.
ionwake 3mo ago
>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
SiempreViernes 3mo ago
> 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?
- retired 3mo ago
  Doing my thesis in The Netherlands I got guidance on my thesis three times. Once during the start to get an initial baseline of what is expected of me, once halfway through as a quick call to see if everything was going according to schedule and once when I had the concept ready. If you need someone to hold your hand every other week perhaps you shouldn’t go into academics. You should be operating autonomous at that point.
  - progbits 3mo ago
    This comment is little abrasive but there is truth to it. I've seen many people who are quite competent under close supervision but completely clueless on their own. We could debate if academia would be better off with different approach though.
    - aleph_minus_one 3mo ago
      > I've seen many people who are quite competent under close supervision but completely clueless on their own. Being able to work on complicated research topics on your own is what universities are centrally preparing for. If you really need close supervision, you likely are not made for academia or often not even for a course of studies at a university. Yes, this is a harsh truth, but academia is really a brutal game of sink or swim.
      - 3mo ago
kinow 3mo ago
I'm finishing a masters here in Spain about HPC (uploaded the thesis last night). It's a joint program by two universities from Galicia (USC/UDC). I paid about the same the author did. The programme is great, loved the professors --- I contacted them after the class and the interactions were helpful/interesting. Like in the author's case, my master had a lot of practical work (which is good, being in computing/HPC). But the workload is *really crazy*. Assignment pretty much every week, with overlapping deadlines. There's something here called "second chance", which I don't remember seeing this in Brazil. My wife did a masters at University of Barcelona and they also had a second chance. In every subject if you fail, then you take the exam or submit some assignments to get the required grade. Some students realised they wouldn't get a good grade, and preferred to skip the exam or assignment, just to get a better grade on the second chance to graduate with a good score/honours/etc.. I found that interesting, but I focused more learning things that would help me at $work and tried to avoid stress (I was probably the oldest student in my class, 40+ yo).
jmrm 3mo ago
This makes me want to join again to uni and finally get my degree, but man, I haven't enough time to do that and also have some "myself" time. Leisure time is a human need btw, I learnt it too late after a burnout.

91 points by MHard 3mo ago

Now we just need the pics of beaches, bars, and your presentations!

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).

gib444 3mo ago
> 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?
- jmspring 3mo ago
  EU passport through my wife's family.
ErigmolCt 3mo ago
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
alpineman 3mo ago
You are welcome in Europe, we need all the talent we can get :)
retired 3mo ago
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
mishellaneous 3mo ago
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.
- drakonka 3mo ago
  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.
- SiempreViernes 3mo ago
  > 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.
emptyfile 3mo ago
[dead]

madprops 3mo ago

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).

MHard 3mo ago
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.
SiempreViernes 3mo ago
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).

taveras 3mo ago

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!

MHard 3mo ago
My pleasure. Good luck with your studies!

MrDresden 3mo ago

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.

laszlojamf 3mo ago
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.
MHard 3mo ago
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.

cosmodisk 3mo ago

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.

ErigmolCt 3mo ago
Respect for going back after 10 years, honestly. Cybersec while working full time sounds useful but definitely not light

Scroll_Swe 3mo ago

We get CSN :) You have to be native though hehe

cjd8 3mo ago

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.

ramon156 3mo ago
Very sorry to hear that. Glad you're still going on, that's the right mindset!
oersted 3mo ago
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.
- cjd8 3mo ago
  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?
  - StefanBatory 3mo ago
    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 :(
    - cjd8 3mo ago
      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.

ErigmolCt 3mo ago

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

shivajreddy 3mo ago

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.

the_real_cher 3mo ago
Where?
- shivajreddy 3mo ago
  CCSF and NDU online
  - the_real_cher 3mo ago
    Thank! Best of luck to you!

elric 3mo ago

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.

igleria 3mo ago

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.

egl2020 3mo ago

What about language was used in the masters program? Spanish? I'm guessing that German is your first language.

ionwake 3mo ago

>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

SiempreViernes 3mo ago

> 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?

retired 3mo ago
Doing my thesis in The Netherlands I got guidance on my thesis three times. Once during the start to get an initial baseline of what is expected of me, once halfway through as a quick call to see if everything was going according to schedule and once when I had the concept ready. If you need someone to hold your hand every other week perhaps you shouldn’t go into academics. You should be operating autonomous at that point.
- progbits 3mo ago
  This comment is little abrasive but there is truth to it. I've seen many people who are quite competent under close supervision but completely clueless on their own. We could debate if academia would be better off with different approach though.
  - aleph_minus_one 3mo ago
    > I've seen many people who are quite competent under close supervision but completely clueless on their own. Being able to work on complicated research topics on your own is what universities are centrally preparing for. If you really need close supervision, you likely are not made for academia or often not even for a course of studies at a university. Yes, this is a harsh truth, but academia is really a brutal game of sink or swim.
    - 3mo ago

kinow 3mo ago

I'm finishing a masters here in Spain about HPC (uploaded the thesis last night). It's a joint program by two universities from Galicia (USC/UDC). I paid about the same the author did. The programme is great, loved the professors --- I contacted them after the class and the interactions were helpful/interesting. Like in the author's case, my master had a lot of practical work (which is good, being in computing/HPC). But the workload is *really crazy*. Assignment pretty much every week, with overlapping deadlines. There's something here called "second chance", which I don't remember seeing this in Brazil. My wife did a masters at University of Barcelona and they also had a second chance. In every subject if you fail, then you take the exam or submit some assignments to get the required grade. Some students realised they wouldn't get a good grade, and preferred to skip the exam or assignment, just to get a better grade on the second chance to graduate with a good score/honours/etc.. I found that interesting, but I focused more learning things that would help me at $work and tried to avoid stress (I was probably the oldest student in my class, 40+ yo).

jmrm 3mo ago

This makes me want to join again to uni and finally get my degree, but man, I haven't enough time to do that and also have some "myself" time. Leisure time is a human need btw, I learnt it too late after a burnout.