Balancing School, Work and Debt: A Community College Student's Struggle

[Fujimitsu]

I'm currently a sophmore at a community college, I work 30 hours a week and take 14-17 hours worth of courses year round. So far I've had little trouble managing my coursework and my job, but my classes have been relatively light.

I'm wrapping up calculus I with a B in the next few weeks, took it online and I'm fairly comfortable with my understanding of the material. Next semester I'll be taking Calc II and Physics II, as well as a few other small courses. What should I expect? I hear that they are going to be much more challenging than what I've done previously. Should I seriously consider cutting back on my hours at work to make room? What's the difficulty of this material versus calc/physics I?

I'm a bit worried that starting next semester I won't be able to work much (or maybe at all) until I graduate, which leaves me with quite a pile of debt that I've so far been able to avoid.

I'm aiming at software engineering, although I may switch to CS depending on how the university transition goes next year.

 

[CloudStrife]

I'm currently a sophmore at a community college, I work 30 hours a week and take 14-17 hours worth of courses year round. So far I've had little trouble managing my coursework and my job, but my classes have been relatively light.

I'm wrapping up calculus I with a B in the next few weeks, took it online and I'm fairly comfortable with my understanding of the material. Next semester I'll be taking Calc II and Physics II, as well as a few other small courses. What should I expect? I hear that they are going to be much more challenging than what I've done previously. Should I seriously consider cutting back on my hours at work to make room? What's the difficulty of this material versus calc/physics I?

I'm a bit worried that starting next semester I won't be able to work much (or maybe at all) until I graduate, which leaves me with quite a pile of debt that I've so far been able to avoid.

I'm aiming at software engineering, although I may switch to CS depending on how the university transition goes next year.

Be prepared for a rude awakening. Trust me on this.

 

[Nick M]

It all depends on your Community College and intended institution of transfer.

For example, I've taken classes at both UMass and a local Community College (GCC). The mathematics department at GCC may only extend through four semesters of Calculus and Linear Algebra, but I've found the courses much more challenging at GCC. Multivariate Calculus, Differential Equations, and Linear Algebra are 4cr courses at GCC, and 3cr courses at UMass. We cover more material, and more is expected of us at GCC. Physics I & II at GCC pulled problems from sophomore level texts in Statics and Circuit Analysis.

Anyways, Calculus II for me wasn't that difficult until the tail end of the class when we covered convergence tests. If you are solid on your Pre-Calc/Calculus I, and have a reasonable ability to visualize things, you should be okay.

Physics II was way more difficult than Physics I in my opinion. I think people should have Multivariate Calculus finished before taking Physics II, and some Universities have organized their curriculums to do just that. I passed with an A, but I'm still re-reading the text to actually absorb the material I regurgitated on the exams.