Family & graduate study, is it possible?

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Balancing family life with graduate studies, particularly in Electrical Engineering, can be challenging but manageable with the right support. Having a financially secure situation and a supportive spouse is crucial. It's recommended to secure campus housing and childcare services early due to potential waitlists. Time management becomes essential, as young children adapt to their environment, making it important to create a nurturing atmosphere. Flexibility in work hours can help, allowing for care of sick children and adapting study times around family needs. Personal experiences indicate that while pursuing a PhD may extend the timeline, the rewards of family life during this period are invaluable.
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Have anyone done this? After working in industry for some time I am planning to go back to grad study possibly in EE(MS,Phd). I have 2 infant kids. How difficult it will be to balance family life and grad study? Are there any tips or thoughts anyone?
 
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I am not in this situation but I know or have known several people in graduate school with children. Its probably more difficult then when you have a normal job because you will working more hours and won't be making as much money. So it shouldn't be a problem if you are financially secure and you have a supportive spouse.
 
hariyo said:
Have anyone done this? After working in industry for some time I am planning to go back to grad study possibly in EE(MS,Phd). I have 2 infant kids. How difficult it will be to balance family life and grad study? Are there any tips or thoughts anyone?

It's not particularly difficult provided that you have a spouse that agrees with your goals. One piece of advice is that if there are any wait lists for campus housing or childcare services, get on that list as quickly as you can. The other thing is with kids, time is more more important than money, so there are lots of fun things that you can do that aren't too expensive. Something about young kids is whatever their environment is, they'll consider it normal.
 
Added two years to my PhD, but I would never give up my wife or either of my two kids who were born during grad school...

The thing that made it work was that I was free to take a day or two to look after sick kids and I was off for two weeks while my one of my kids had the chicken pox. Being a theoretician allowed me to stay at home and work while they napped, then I'd catch a few hours to work during the middle of the night.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...

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