Doing an MSc without a degree

danza

danza

danza

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I finished my Manf. Eng. HND last year, and came top of my year, with a couple of awards. I have since spoken to my employer about the possibility of them sponsoring me to do a BSc or BEng, and to my surprise pretty much had it okayed by the Ops Director yesterday. However, he suggested that due to their more specialist and likely more applicable nature, dropping onto an MSc might be a better idea, both for myself and for the company.

He argued that there is little/no difference in level of difficulty in BSc/MSc (he says this from first hand experience), so there's little point in doing a BSc if I can get onto an MSc off the bat.

He also mentioned that the company had recently sponsored an employee who completed an MSc who started but hadn't completed a degree in the past (so were at best as qualified as myself).

I really like the idea of going straight onto an MSc, but am I setting myself up for a fall in some way by not going the usual bachelor's then master's route?

Does this sound like a feasible idea?
 
Yeah, I will do. Would be interesting to find if anyone on here has done similar or has any experience of this in the meantime.
 
I am half way through my msc in engineering done materials so far and its not that much harder than hnc tbh which is what i have already done. Just more time consuming. Good luck
 
I'll hopefully be looking at the University of Brighton, whatever I do, so not Wales!

I'm used to hard work, which is one thing in my favour at least. I bash off 5k word assignments and 15k+ word projects at the same time as being in full time employment with ease.
 
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I would always recommend that any engineering degree done is with a university that has accreditation from the IMechE or other Engineering Council body. Those are rigorous and with the top universities they are extremely difficult.
 
ultrasavage said:
I am half way through my msc in engineering done materials so far and its not that much harder than hnc tbh which is what i have already done. Just more time consuming. Good luck
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Did you go onto a bachelor's degree after your HNC?
 
Gangster said:
Made me lol :D
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DAMN PREDICTIVE TEXT! :p

delta0 said:
I would always recommend that any engineering degree done is with a university that has accreditation from the IMechE or other Engineering Council body. Those are rigorous and with the top universities they are extremely difficult.
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This is something I need to look into. Whilst no doubt they'll be more rigorous, I imagine the entry requirements will be commensurately higher.
 
danza said:
DAMN PREDICTIVE TEXT! :p



This is something I need to look into. Whilst no doubt they'll be more rigorous, I imagine the entry requirements will be commensurately higher.
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It will be a strong qualification with the accreditation, you need to check if that specific course is accredited. Although you can't become chartered unless you have an accredited undergraduate degree too.
 
Thing is, I really miss not being in education. I aced my HND, then spent the last academic year doing my job and getting to know my company with no distractions and living a normal 9-5 life, but bloody hell my mind is bored. I hate not knowing what other people know, and need a reason to be motivated. That and I love learning about engineering.
 
delta0 said:
It will be a strong qualification with the accreditation, you need to check if that specific course is accredited. Although you can't become chartered unless you have an accredited undergraduate degree too.
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Not too worried about being chartered. None of the bigwigs where I work are afaik. I can become incorporated off the back of my HND, but I doubt whether it's worth it.
 
delta0 said:
Although you can't become chartered unless you have an accredited undergraduate degree too.
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You can, it's just a more difficult and drawn out process.

You can become chartered without a degree at all if you have the knowledge and experience and are able to prove it.
 
Kenai said:
You can, it's just a more difficult and drawn out process.

You can become chartered without a degree at all if you have the knowledge and experience and are able to prove it.
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If you do their exams you can. Really not the recommended route.
 
No it may not be the recommended route but to say you can't become chartered without an accredited undergrad degree is just plain wrong.
 
I currently have no degree however I am looking to doing an MSc in Network and Information Security - The Uni have told me I should have no problem being accepted as I have 5 years Industry experience in a some-what related field.

Also, you can become chartered without having a degree, it just makes it a bit harder / longer process.
 
Doing an MSc could be a big step up in terms of how much work needs to be done. I'd say that A Level to first year of a BSc is pretty similar, but second and third it jumps in difficulty and work required, then to Masters it jumps again, but more in terms of self motivation and working without the guidance of lecturers so much. And this could be something you would learn doing a BSc first, also getting a BSc will make you more employable, which might be why they're suggesting an MSc.

Another big thing could be the extra study on top of the MSc work just to get to MSc level. Not sure what your hours are, but it could end up being a big time sink for you.

Regardless, you should do it. There's a guy at my work who's doing his MSc without having done a related undergrad, but he has 15 years experience in his field.
 
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