Does this costly MScEd abroad sound reasonable, given my circumstances?
September 12, 2013 6:02 AM Subscribe
I'll be soon getting my 2nd undergraduate degree in education. I live in a relatively large city in South America where I have been teaching at secondary school level for a few years now. I've long been interested in analyzing how certain societies succeed in terms of human development, educational attainment, and other aspects related to quality of life. I would love to be more involved in higher education, and if possible in educational policy design here.
I have found a master in education program at a Norwegian university which I feel would give me very valuable experience and knowledge to make more substantial contributions to upgrading public education in my home nation. The problems are: 1) in order to pay for my 2 year stay there (tuition is very low, cost of living very high) I would have to use roughly half of the money I will be getting as my share of the sale of a family property (my late grandfather's small farm). If I chose not to do this course, I could afford to buy a modest yet decent apartment right here in the city I've been living in for the last few years. Scholarships for this program are not available to me. Working part time there while not speaking the local language (the Master is in English) and studying full-time might not be very feasible. So most (or all) my expenses would be covered by my savings. Intellectual and professional development, the experience of living and studying in a society I admire, the prospect of being qualified to work in educational reform back home, all that today seems to me more exciting than staying here and buying a small apartment. Even though I acknowledge that securing my own place where to live for the next few decades (at present I'm renting) would be a good thing too.
2) My family (mother, sister, nephew, niece) live in a small town, which I left to pursue better job opportunities a couple of years ago. They are surviving on a tight budget. My sister suffers from bipolar disorder, and is raising 2 young children (one with down syndrome) as a single parent. My mother has some moderate (physical) health issues. I don´t live with them, but visit every other month to check on them and help in small ways. I won´t be able to do that for, probably, at least one , possibly, two years if I move to Norway (the journey's too expensive).
There's really no telling whether-supposing I complete the masters degree in Norway-educational institution/government agencies back here will be as excited as me in exploring new ways to improve our system to make it more inclusive, modern, and internationally competitive. In other words, I worry my career prospects may be just as good if I do a graduate program here in my country. I know it would be much more rewarding, exciting, and probably valuable in terms of gained experience to do this specific one in Norway, however I have some doubts:
Do you think it's responsible and ethical to spend a large amount of money in pursuing this dream, considering my (and my family's) circumstances and needs?
If I could earn a decent living staying here where I am (including being able to afford buying my own home, which given our economy is no small thing), is it sensible to leave this relative safety and stability in order to "follow my heart"?
As there is no significant tuition payment to be made, I somehow take comfort in the idea that if-worst case scenario-after one or two months into the program I discover it's not working for me, I can still come back with 85/90% of my savings. Does it make sense?
Thanks in advance
I have found a master in education program at a Norwegian university which I feel would give me very valuable experience and knowledge to make more substantial contributions to upgrading public education in my home nation. The problems are: 1) in order to pay for my 2 year stay there (tuition is very low, cost of living very high) I would have to use roughly half of the money I will be getting as my share of the sale of a family property (my late grandfather's small farm). If I chose not to do this course, I could afford to buy a modest yet decent apartment right here in the city I've been living in for the last few years. Scholarships for this program are not available to me. Working part time there while not speaking the local language (the Master is in English) and studying full-time might not be very feasible. So most (or all) my expenses would be covered by my savings. Intellectual and professional development, the experience of living and studying in a society I admire, the prospect of being qualified to work in educational reform back home, all that today seems to me more exciting than staying here and buying a small apartment. Even though I acknowledge that securing my own place where to live for the next few decades (at present I'm renting) would be a good thing too.
2) My family (mother, sister, nephew, niece) live in a small town, which I left to pursue better job opportunities a couple of years ago. They are surviving on a tight budget. My sister suffers from bipolar disorder, and is raising 2 young children (one with down syndrome) as a single parent. My mother has some moderate (physical) health issues. I don´t live with them, but visit every other month to check on them and help in small ways. I won´t be able to do that for, probably, at least one , possibly, two years if I move to Norway (the journey's too expensive).
There's really no telling whether-supposing I complete the masters degree in Norway-educational institution/government agencies back here will be as excited as me in exploring new ways to improve our system to make it more inclusive, modern, and internationally competitive. In other words, I worry my career prospects may be just as good if I do a graduate program here in my country. I know it would be much more rewarding, exciting, and probably valuable in terms of gained experience to do this specific one in Norway, however I have some doubts:
Do you think it's responsible and ethical to spend a large amount of money in pursuing this dream, considering my (and my family's) circumstances and needs?
If I could earn a decent living staying here where I am (including being able to afford buying my own home, which given our economy is no small thing), is it sensible to leave this relative safety and stability in order to "follow my heart"?
As there is no significant tuition payment to be made, I somehow take comfort in the idea that if-worst case scenario-after one or two months into the program I discover it's not working for me, I can still come back with 85/90% of my savings. Does it make sense?
Thanks in advance
Best answer: Norway here checking in for an answer. Aside from the larger questions around your goals and educational opportunities, let me address the side of living in Oslo as an international student.
You are not alone, however while the educational experience might be a fantastic one here in Norway (specifically Oslo - due to size and its my location) - this probably isnt the greatest idea. Higher paying jobs definitely require norwegian. You will be able to land something part time however it will most likely be service industry working with the party swedes and other students with a generally very crap pay rate for Norway (think about 100 to 120 kr pr hour).
The second part of my answer aims to cover some of the myths of Oslo and Norway and general. Its exepensive, way more expensive than what even well heeled Europeans with bags of cash consider to be rational. As a result, even if you do land a job while studying, you most likely won't have enough money to make a reality of all those fantastic trips in Norway you can take (fjord tours, skiing, northern lights etc....). The other part of this is that Oslo is small town! The main universities are quite compressed in size and the city itself you can walk across in a half hour. What I am getting at is that it isn't a fairytale place.
I would strongly, strongly, strongly suggest that if you feel strongly about the programme and switching pace while spending your own cash - take a trip here as a tourist first for a couple of weeks. Use couchsurfing, university resources to help you find a place to stay and meet other international students to get a very good idea of what you are getting into! At worst, you will have a brilliant holiday and meet a lot of fantastic people while getting to see an awesome country.
From my experience with a variety of expats from undergrad to postdoc from many places, it really is a bit hit or miss if you will thrive here.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 8:44 AM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
You are not alone, however while the educational experience might be a fantastic one here in Norway (specifically Oslo - due to size and its my location) - this probably isnt the greatest idea. Higher paying jobs definitely require norwegian. You will be able to land something part time however it will most likely be service industry working with the party swedes and other students with a generally very crap pay rate for Norway (think about 100 to 120 kr pr hour).
The second part of my answer aims to cover some of the myths of Oslo and Norway and general. Its exepensive, way more expensive than what even well heeled Europeans with bags of cash consider to be rational. As a result, even if you do land a job while studying, you most likely won't have enough money to make a reality of all those fantastic trips in Norway you can take (fjord tours, skiing, northern lights etc....). The other part of this is that Oslo is small town! The main universities are quite compressed in size and the city itself you can walk across in a half hour. What I am getting at is that it isn't a fairytale place.
I would strongly, strongly, strongly suggest that if you feel strongly about the programme and switching pace while spending your own cash - take a trip here as a tourist first for a couple of weeks. Use couchsurfing, university resources to help you find a place to stay and meet other international students to get a very good idea of what you are getting into! At worst, you will have a brilliant holiday and meet a lot of fantastic people while getting to see an awesome country.
From my experience with a variety of expats from undergrad to postdoc from many places, it really is a bit hit or miss if you will thrive here.
posted by Funmonkey1 at 8:44 AM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
Consider applying for the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Higher Education (link here), for which there are scholarships available.
posted by AnnaRat at 3:23 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by AnnaRat at 3:23 PM on September 12, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
There's a program at Stanford University in California that fits the bill, except that it's not online. I think the description of the program and the list of courses could be used as a benchmark to assess other such programs. ( I didn't go there, I don't teach there, I don't know anyone there; it just looks like an excellent program.) At some universities you may be able to get funding that would cover both tuition and living expenses.
Feel free to memail, I can help you look for other programs.
posted by mareli at 6:40 AM on September 12, 2013 [2 favorites]