Back To School: Balancing Work and Resuming My BS in Mechanical Engineering

[Williams.235]

I have decided to take the plunge. I am going back to college after 2 years out of school to resume work on my BS in Mechanical Engineering. I had to leave college during my 2nd year due to financial concerns and since then have been working full time. I plan to keep working full time during my studies.

I'll be attending a local community college taking chemistry and college trigonometry then will jump into calculus.

What do you guys think? Is obtaining this degree possible while working a 40 hour/week job? I'm planning to take 2 maybe 3 classes at a time (school is quarter based). Any advice or success stories are greatly appreciated.

 

[lisab]

Hi Williams -

Yes, it's possible, but you have to be very determined. I got my BS in physics going part-time - 9-1/2 years. Some of the time I worked full-time, but most of the time it was 30 to 35 hours a week. There was absolutely no time for any sort of social life !

If possible, only take one lab class per term - labs really eat up time.

Also, it really helps if your employer is somewhat flexible. There will be times when your assignments take a lot longer than you planned, so if you can adjust your schedule on a moment's notice it's a huge help.

Good luck!