Balancing School and Full-Time Work: How Do Other Students Do It?

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Many individuals in the discussion share their experiences of balancing full-time work with academic commitments. Initially, some participants managed to work 40 hours a week while taking 13-15 credit hours, maintaining high grades. However, as they progressed to their junior year, the workload became increasingly challenging, with some finding it difficult to handle even 10 credit hours alongside full-time work. Participants emphasize the necessity of scheduling study time and the impact of work on their social lives and health. Some have opted for part-time jobs or flexible positions that allow them to study during work hours. The conversation highlights the varying demands of different academic fields, with engineering students noting the intensity of their coursework compared to other majors. Overall, while some have successfully managed their dual responsibilities, many express concerns about burnout and the sustainability of such a demanding schedule, particularly as they advance in their studies. The discussion reveals a common sentiment that balancing work and school requires careful planning and often sacrifices in personal time and well-being.
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Are there any fellow PF'ers that work full time while attending school?

I am curious what sort of credit hours you take and how you balance your schedule.

My first two years were no problem I could do 40 hours of work and 13-15 credit hours and maintain A's. But that I am entering my junior year I find 40 hours of work I find 10 credit hours tough.

I used to be able to just study all day after work at random times, but now I have to set schedules to get everything done.

Of course I still set aside a few hours a week for my favorite TV shows.

Anyway...what are you guys doing?
 
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I do not know anyone that is able to do that.
 
I'm a graduate student and the convenience of a part time job (20h) as a TA on campus still makes it difficult to keep up with everything.
 
Hmm...It's not really that hard. I would think more people would be doing this. However, maybe they are all too busy working to post on forums. :-p

I hope if I can make it to graduate school I will stop working then. But for now, I don't have much of a choice.
 
I did this my first couple of years, albeit I was a part-time student. I'm going full-time now and close to my junior year, I'll find it hard enough to just even keep a part-time job. :/
 
I worked part-time all through engineering school (buying and selling amps and guitars and repairing them, and playing music for frat parties, etc). Summers were full-time+ in wood-products mills, taking all the overtime I was offered.

I don't think I could possibly have put in 40 hours per week in addition to the course-work. I would have collapsed. Good for you if you can pull it off, but that plan is a recipe for burn-out, IMO, unless your academic load is light.
 
I worked full time through all my general-ed and remedial math stuff (I was out of school for some time and forgot a great deal). I could not imagine working full time as a 3+ year student. I actually downgraded my car so I had no payment, moved closer to the university so I can walk to school in a few minutes (or take a free shuttle). I do get a living stipend from the VA to attend though, but that extra budgeting helped a great deal financially.
 
I am to the point that I can't really handle more than 3 classes a semester 8-10 credit hours. Then I make up a couple more classes every semester.

The only thing that sucks about is I can't really do REU's - although I might take next summer semester off so I can try one.

I don't really see how working full-time is any different than those crazy mo-fo's that to 18-20 credit hours per semester.
 
erok81 said:
I am to the point that I can't really handle more than 3 classes a semester 8-10 credit hours. Then I make up a couple more classes every semester.

The only thing that sucks about is I can't really do REU's - although I might take next summer semester off so I can try one.

I don't really see how working full-time is any different than those crazy mo-fo's that to 18-20 credit hours per semester.

18-20 credit hours in what field? :smile:

I may be underestimating the Art major, but my friend is an Art major and is taking roughly 16 or so credit hours, but I feel that engineering classes are a tad bit harder than art classes. :)
 
  • #10
AwesomeSN said:
18-20 credit hours in what field? :smile:

I may be underestimating the Art major, but my friend is an Art major and is taking roughly 16 or so credit hours, but I feel that engineering classes are a tad bit harder than art classes. :)
When I decided to ditch engineering, I still had some of those tough courses to clean up, in addition to taking on a double-major track in English Lit and Philosophy. I had 18 credit-hours total, when my advisor tacked on 3 more "Theory of Education" courses. He said "just show up for classes and ask a question once in a while, and use the class-time as study-periods for your tougher classes." He was right, and I aced all the Education classes with no effort. That gave me some insight into why the Education majors in my Uni were generally party animals.

The University of Maine was a pretty decent land-grant Uni with some demanding technical academic tracks, but their Education college was a joke. Got a pulse? Get a diploma.
 
  • #11
AwesomeSN said:
18-20 credit hours in what field? :smile:

UBC engineers consistently take 18-20 credit hours per semester.

I did first year engineering at another university and took 21 credits in my first semester. The full load was 26.
 
  • #12
I started off as an Engineering student, and in the first year there were so many "fluff" classes (EGS this and EGS that) which were basically a waste of time! I can see the 18-20 hours in a semester like that, but once you begin actual degree courses... wow. If anyone is doing that while taking 3+ series courses, I commend your effort, amazing work ethic, and superior intellect.
 
  • #13
I am going to be a second year next year and I am going to be a lab monitor which demands 12 hours (at most) a week. I'll probably be only taking 8 - 9 courses for the whole fall/winter semester.
 
  • #14
QuarkCharmer said:
I started off as an Engineering student, and in the first year there were so many "fluff" classes (EGS this and EGS that) which were basically a waste of time! I can see the 18-20 hours in a semester like that, but once you begin actual degree courses... wow.
Introduction to Structured Programming (C++)
Academic Writing (essays)
Calculus I
Physics I (mechanics)
Introduction to Engineering (one credit fluff course)
Computer-Aided Engineering Graphics (Very little actual CAD work, mostly starting to learn standards and technical drawing. Hardest course I've ever taken.)

The course I didn't take was Chemistry I, a five credit hour course.

The advantage to going through this in first year is that when I switched to physics a 15 credit course load seems light.Edit:

Here's the MechEng curriculum at ubc:

http://mech.ubc.ca/undergraduate-students/curriculum/
 
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  • #15
In my junior year fall semester, I took 15 credit hours of engineering classes while serving as a TA for freshmen engineering classes 10 hours a week.

It killed me totally! I had barely any time for social activities.
 
  • #17
erok81 said:
Are there any fellow PF'ers that work full time while attending school?

I am curious what sort of credit hours you take and how you balance your schedule.

My first two years were no problem I could do 40 hours of work and 13-15 credit hours and maintain A's. But that I am entering my junior year I find 40 hours of work I find 10 credit hours tough.

I used to be able to just study all day after work at random times, but now I have to set schedules to get everything done.

Of course I still set aside a few hours a week for my favorite TV shows.

Anyway...what are you guys doing?

I worked as a substitute teacher during the first couple years of my Physics undergrad program, but by the time I got to junior year, there was no flexibility in the school schedule--E&M I was offered just one time during the academic year, so I had no choice but to sign up for it at that time--so I couldn't continue with subbing. I tutored and TAed, graded homework and tests, and even worked as a research assistant for money. Not a lot of money, but it helped.
 
  • #18
I took 18 hours and worked 40-65 hours a week this past year.

I did this only because I applied to University late and had to pay for everything out of pocket in just a few months in addition to 5k in debt. Needless to say, I was financially burdened.

Don't ever attempt it. I had zero social life, was constantly exhausted, and frequently sick; however, I persisted. :) Now I can reduce my workload by quite a bit.

Also, I took traditional Freshman classes. Nothing too intense.
 
  • #19
Yesimivan said:
Also, I took traditional Freshman classes. Nothing too intense.

Those are the courses that took the most time for me. I can sit through math/phys/chem and like it, learn the info, but it could take me hours to remember some stupid list of humanities definitions or to write a paper on some other such asinine topic. At least, to keep a good grade. I find year 3+ easier.
 
  • #20
I'm taking 14 credits and working 40 hours a week. I've been doing this for 3 years now, and it's getting to be too much. I've been able to maintain a 3.88 GPA so far, but this semester (and to a lesser extent, last semester) have been really rough. I intend to jettison my full-time job for my last 2 semesters to maintain my sanity.
 
  • #21
You people frighten me... I had enough trouble just maintaining a courseload of calc III, calc-based physics II, and chem II... (eleven credits), with no job.
 
  • #22
I am currently working full time at night in a job that gives me the opportunity to do school work while at work. (server maintaince work - so it's a lot of watching progress bars)

Luckily I could schedule my classes all in the morning so I still have a consistent sleep schedule.

My days are generally work 11p-7a, eat large breakfast, class 8a-noon (depending on day varys a bit), sleep until ~6p, eat dinner/see wife, maybe do some homework at home if I know I'll be time crunched at work, then go to work.

This is working out perfectly right now - but if I have to take classes across the entire day, I will have to reevaluate my job.
 
  • #23
mege said:
My days are generally work 11p-7a, eat large breakfast, class 8a-noon (depending on day varys a bit), sleep until ~6p, eat dinner/see wife, maybe do some homework at home if I know I'll be time crunched at work, then go to work.

The first time I attended college, I worked graveyard shifts (10pm-6am) five nights a week; I'd go home, shower, take the tiniest of naps--one or two hours, tops--then head to class (I was a full-time student).

I somehow managed to do it. I was 17, 18, 19 years old at the time; I had youth on my side. However, now that I'm in my 30s, there's no way I could pull it off.
 

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