Pursuing advanced studies while working

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Hi all,

I'm looking into potentially furthering my education, but before I do, I wanted to see if any similar people wanted to weigh in.

A little background: I turn 26 in march, and I earned my BS in Mathematical Sciences in 2008. Like a lot of people on the mild autism spectrum, I had some difficulties adapting to the work world at first, but hit my stride fairly well and now I'm one of the more vital non-managers in my company, and earning a solid income as a data scientist (the figure isn't important, just that the figure is nice enough to make going to school full time be misguided).

I want to attend a business school to earn an MBA, but preferably with an operations concentration so that I can continue in the work spectrum of operations management/business analysis/data science. Needless to say, this could prove tough even part time.

Two main questions are
1) How do you ensure your studies "fit" into your work? My job is demanding, I'm usually in the office for at least 50 hours during a full week, and usually more (plus the on-call aspect of work). I flaked out of an online masters degree due to time constraints, for example.
2) how do you keep the battery going? As a person w/ AS, albeit mild to moderate, I do require time to recharge. I already struggle a bit with sleeping at night, simply because diving into bed within minutes of getting home from work is even tougher than work itself. Adding more things in could require a change in a lot more than weekend plans.

Any advice? Or would you not even bother, and just focus energies on work (possibly saving school for a time when work becomes less demanding).

I've done it, several times.

The secret is time management and being self- motivated.

You can PM me if you want more details.

Forget about weekends. With that kind of a schedule, I'd assume they will not exist. I'm not saying this to scare you. Just to be sure you understand that the classes themselves are only small fraction of the time commitment. It is possible. It may be very challenging. But it's definitely possible.

To address your main questions:
(1) Most graduate programs have night and weekend classes.
(2) Starbucks. Or Dunkin Donuts. Take your pick.

It won't be easy. You might be able to find an MBA program built for working people, though. If it were something else it would be harder. I gave up on a second bachelor's in Chemistry and my job was not demanding. But chemistry classes have extensive labs, and that was really the problem. Don't really have any advice, just that I have seen people do it. I think it takes incredible determination and lots of planning/scheduling. Good luck!

I wouldn't do it. Not unless you can live off of 2 hours a sleep every night.

If you can handle it financially, you might approach your manager about switching to working part-time while you pursue your degree. Would the MBA degree be an advantage at your current company? If they see the value in those skills, and are interested in your long-term career at that firm, they might agree. Unfortunately, this is more likely to be acceptable when the economy is good...

I'm working on a graduate degree while working - it's not easy, but it can be done. One thing that helps me keep focussed is knowing that this will not go on forever....

I currently work 20 hours per week and study in Full Time University Education.