Full-time/Part-time study

Full-time students schedule enables better communication 

You will have permanent contact with your co-students and the possibility to discuss subjects, exams, exercises, homework, etc. Last but not least you will be involved in the university social life and you will get the chance to make friends there; and why not create a business network. To be a full-time student means that your life will circulate around the university during your Masters. You will have enough time to participate some extracurricular activities out-of-class activities or even become a member of university clubs and organizations. Besides your intensive communication with other students, you will have many possibilities for personal contact with your teachers.

Full-time study funding

A full-time student is a student par excellence. Considering the financial part of the study, you will have all the financial privileges – for accommodation, travel costs, student discounts for museums, theaters, cinema, etc. At the same time, you will probably have no time for a job. Hence, it’s very likely, that you wouldn’t be capable to finance your studies yourself and you might need the support of your parents. 

Theory and practice during a full-time Master’s

Other aspect that you should think of is the work experience. As you will be in the classroom most of your time, you will graduate your Master with a lot of theoretical knowledge, but with no practical experience.  Part-time study allows gathering of work experience.

If you are looking attentively at the part-time study form, you might want to work next to your study. Working and gathering professional experience might be considered as one of the strongest advantages of the part-time study. This way you will be able to declare some practical mastery right after your graduation which might be crucial for your job applications.

Simultaneously, it might happen that the job you have during your education takes too much of your time and it’s not connected to your professional field. In that case, your work might be rather troublesome than helpful, because the lack of time might influence your performance at the university. If you have a good self-discipline though, you could perfectly combine work and study and profit a lot from a part-time study. Furthermore, at some universities certain classes are taught online for part-time students.

Therefore, you should try to evaluate many aspects of your decision – Master’s degree, job, time, self-organization capability. Keep in mind, that a part-time study usually lasts longer than full-time.

Financing your part-time study

Concerning the financial part, the part-time study will give you more opportunities to boost your Master’s. Although, depending on your income and your study costs, you still might need some support from outside. Besides, you might not benefit from the student discounts that full-time students have because part-time students are considered as employed.