Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

I've done it here, although already had a degree and masters from UK. I wanted to transition careers a bit, and additional qualifications seemed liked they'd help with that.

Canada seems somewhat more hung-up on having exactly the 'right' qualifications for my career, although this is just an employer preference and not regulated like it is for health professionals/engineers etc.

Anyway, long story short, I went back in my early thirties to University of Ottawa and did a graduate certificate part-time over 2.5 years which I've just finished. Wrote the last paper as while our daughter was a newborn, which was challenging!

I'm now applying for a masters in public health, which happily can be completed mostly online and part-time which saves time going to class. Partly for interest, and partly because I want to do a PhD one day and this should help.

I was pretty intimidated on day one in the classroom after a 10 year absence, but soon got into the swing of things.

Go for it and good luck!
LF

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

It's a bit interesting that almost if not all the respondents on here are females. I don't think that's a coincidence.

Personally I did the route one thing. Undergrad, PhD etc straight off the top.

But my elder sister is another member of your group. She did a BSc, got a job, got married, followed her husband to where he was transferred, had three kids, got divorced. Went back to school and did a PhD which she achieved when she was 50. Then got a job lecturing in the Uni she did her PhD in until she met her second husband. Soon after that she retired at IIRC 60. She's now 65. If it matters, this latter part was all in Scotland.

Strength and good luck to the bunch of you.

Novo.

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

That's a good story to hear!

I have regrets about not doing the route one approach after my undergrad, especially as I'd like to get into academia professionally at some point. I was offered PhD funding in the UK when I'd finished my undergrad when but turned it down to take a job.

I had been thinking that early forties (likely point by which I might actually have a PhD) would be too late to launch an academic career? Maybe not though, albeit I'm unlikely to become an uber-professor at that age I'd assume?

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

Ah, who knows? Go for it. It wouldn't work in hard science but it did for Big Sis in Speech Therapy. Public Health is likely somewhere in between.

Best of luck.

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

I think you mean physical science? ;)

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

I am, I came over and decided to retrain as a plumber, so currently at school doing that and enjoy it... looking forward to getting work down shipyard! :)

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

I went back to school in 2007 and did a part-time MBA. Why? Because, in a smallish business community like St John's, degrees from the local Uni are valued, it was a networking opportunity and my employer(s) paid for it. It was an interesting experience in many ways. It proved that although 17 years had passed since I'd completed a B.Sc at a Poly in the UK, I still leave any coursework to absolutely the last possible moment to do. I was also considerably older than most of my classmates and had way more real world experience than them and many of the lecturers.

Did it change my life? No, not really, or not yet. I didn't get any pay rise out of it, but it's a useful thing to have for the future. I became a father half way through and now, looking back, cannot imagine how I ever found time to study! Any kind of night school when you are already working and have a family requires a huge commitment & kudos to anyone that does it, irrespective of what they are studying for.

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

I agree - a guy at my work completes his M.Ed this term - doing the final two courses on three nights of the week. Plus all the reading and homework. And his wife works shifts. :ohmy: Maybe that's why it works for him. ;)

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

If he works as a teacher then likely completion of a Masters bumps him up the payscale - irrespective of whether he is using it or not. That's the reason why most teachers here do their Masters & why I'll eventually be pushing the Mrs to do hers. ;)

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

Actually - that's a whole other story - he was previously the equivalent of one of our Deans in a UK Poly I think - but his 3-year degree was not recognised here ( :blink: ) - but he was qualified to do the Masters - so it was easier to just crack on and do the Masters, rather than "go backwards" and get his poor-relation 3-year degree upgraded to the Canadian equivalency. :sneaky:

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

The reason I decided to do it was because I didn't want to end up stuck in a lab for 8-12 hours a day, never speaking to anyone. And I did Reiki 1 and a (non-professional) reflexology course and loved it, along with an interest in aromatherapy. Massage therapy seemed to fit in with this. Plus I like "helping" people... it is the best feeling in the world when you have someone who comes to see you with a musculoskeletal issue and a few weeks later, it is vastly improved!

As far as affording it - I got a bank loan (student line of credit really) to pay the tuition fees. And because the kids were at school there was no childcare to really take into acount (unless you count the cash I give eldest daughter for babysitting her younger siblings while I am out of the house.)

During the first year I was not working, but once I was into the second year, I had to do my practicum (200 hours working in a "real" setting), and I got a part-time job as a massage therapist... that helped a lot.

There was a lot of scrimping and saving though as well

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ? NCA
 

[QUOTE=Almost Canadian;9828477]I am so sick of exams that it is my intention to never take another one. Not even a 5 metre swimming badge.

I have also found the pace if the courses I have had to take in Canada way too slow for my liking. I cannot imagine sitting in any form of classroom ever again.

Well...you, as I suspected, were quite right in your analysis.
Absolutley no systematic approach. The NCA machine chugged, *coughed*, and spluttered producing (7) required exams for me to 'challenge'. Total crap shoot.

Fair enough on "The Law of Evidence" but as a working solicitor already, "Professional Responsibility"??!...that is difficult to swallow :blink:

FROTSUK

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

I’ve been taking courses almost non-stop since I returned from the UK back in 1994. I just turned 41 a couple of weeks ago.

My commitment to “lifelong learning” is probably the result of having somewhat less than stellar academic results as an undergraduate (even though I was born in the UK, I was considered a foreign student over there and had to support myself after my parents’ financial situation took a turn for the worse; I was also probably having a bit too much of a good time as a student). I believe having less than a “good honours degree” gave me drive and ambition to do better, because I knew I was capable of more.

I also found that employers didn’t quite know what to make of me when I arrived back in Canada with a Scottish LLB. That’s because, as most people know, law is an undergraduate course in the UK, and Scotland has a hybrid legal system, with mixed common and civil law elements (although Scots law is really not as different from English law as many Scots lawyers would like to have you believe – often the difference is basically down to simple differences in terminology).

Anyway, after returning to Canada my experiences spurred me on to complete two university certificates in business management, a certificate in Canadian law and a postgraduate program in HR (I went into HR at least partially because of my legal background). I found work in HR and eventually got my CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) designation.

Yet, somehow I never lost my desire to become a lawyer. Therefore, I decided to do an LLM in employment law (which was a good fit for working in HR too). With Canadian education being so expensive, I did my master’s by distance learning through the University of London.

After finishing my LLM, I applied to the National Committee on Accreditation, which is the Canadian body that accredits people’s legal qualifications from abroad. They granted me absolutely zero advanced standing. If I wanted to be a lawyer, I would have to complete an entire three year Canadian law school curriculum. Having a mortgage, loans, credit card debts, a child and a spouse who is far from wealthy, that just wasn’t a possibility.

I was pretty devastated, and I still can’t get being a lawyer out of my system no matter how hard I try. Yet, I realize it’s probably best to continue pursuing a career in HR, and perhaps I’ll be better off in the long-run.

Strangely enough, I now have two Canadian lawyers reporting to me (as well as an HR professional). My boss is also a lawyer. My job combines HR and employment law in running an online service for Canadian HR professionals, working at Canada’s largest legal publisher.

I love my job, but it’s time to start thinking about what I want to do next. Therefore, I just signed up for another university certificate in organizational leadership (which basically combines courses in leadership, organizational behaviour/development/design and other areas of HR).

I’m also thinking of doing my MBA in the future (possibly online through Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, again because Canadian MBAs are so shockingly expensive and not very accessible for working people with families). If anyone has completed the Heriot-Watt MBA through distance learning (or another MBA from the UK) I would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

After reading all the posts in this thread, I have decided to register on an online psychology course. I have started to think about a career change, especially after the last teachers strike and the poor showing on the part of the BCTF executive. As much as I love teaching it is time to consider another path that can be equally rewarding.

Ruby

Re: Who has "gone back to school" ?
 

Hmm was a Town Planner in Uk and did Fitness on the side . . . .found it hard to get into Planing in VAN as we came over when they shut down all new hiring and so have morphed into the fitness side - have done 2 courses since being here and another next month . . . . actually I prefer the fitness - much less hassle - yes crappy pay , , but no mind games :)