Does anyone go to school full time while working full time?

[matéo]

Or have you completed a degree while working full time?

I have been on and off schooling since highschool but I have a strong urge to get it together and go hard. I have a full time career which takes alot out of me and i'm wondering if its even possible to acheive something liek a university degree while working every day. My interests are communications, Journalism, Poli Sci, and Economics. I'm wondering if I already know the answer to these questions and if its just a kick in the ass that I need to go out and do it. You think? Let me know what your experience has been.

[MissMarz]

actually i stopped working all together when i was in school... did a couple random jobs here and there on the weekend, but for me doing a 4 year program in 2 was really time consuming. I felt it more appropriate to focus on study. In the end I got one of the highest GPA's in my class, but it didnt come easy.

If you have an opportunity to not work, or work less, and you want your studying to pay off, then i'd take it.

[Alex]

I don't go to school but a guy that works for me is in a full tiem program at AI and works full time for me as well... he keeps a crazy schedule. Very motivated guy... motivated by fear from his daddy. lol(That's right Pascal, miss a day of school and your dad is pulling out the wrench...)

[bebu*funfun]

last semester i kept a steady 30 hours a week and i was going crazy. DONT DO IT. this semester im just gonna be poor and work maybe 12 hours a week or so...less drinking and more hw'ing and sleeping. one thing though is that i HAVE to work cuz it keeps me sane. i take school home with me... and having to stare at school stuff 24/7 is unhealthy. work forces me to take a few hours off school..much needed.

maggie..do u work at studio or anything now? or just freelance?

[Dancingbee]

it would definetly be easier if you didnt work as much!
but anything is possible if you put your mind to it..and stick to your plan!
i went to school full time and worked 40-50 hrs a week at 2 jobs last year..youll find you wont do as good in school as you could be..but if you really need to do both..it will work.

don't back out when your there...youll have no time to do anything else..but hey sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

[cinist]

you can do both if you want to matt, or maybe just take a couple courses at a time. i think you would be the better judge of what you can handle.

[Gusto]

not a degree, but i did a 2 year diploma while working full time. it definitely cramps your style. i'd get to school for 8 am, finish at 4, start work at 4:30 and finish around 11. it sucks and i didn't get the best grades because of it, but it got me ahead of the game and i've paid off my student loans (because i was working full time, i barely needed to take one).

[yoko*]

It's definitely NOT for everyone. Simply being in attendance at work and school on a full time basis is NOT hard. The hard part is making it work: doing well at work and school at the same time. You're going to have to be able to handle stress well, be able to juggle work and school with ease, be organized and good at time-managing. It also helps to be a pretty good/efficient studyier & learner.

A few extra worth considering before you choose:

*The subjects you just mentioned you were interested in are all pretty reading-intensive (what university class isn't though...) so you're going to have to set aside enough time to study. Economics involves a lot of math (calculus) and unless math comes easy to you, you may find it even more of a struggle.

*If you work full time and go to school full time, you might find yourself struggling to find time to talk to your profs or T.A.'s during their office hours to discuss a paper or get help for class. You're going to have to be a pretty good self-learner

*Group projects. I hated group projects because I never had time to get together with my group. This often meant that we corresponded through e-mail and didn't actually meet as a group.

*Campus life: So many people say that a huge part of the university experience is the campus life. If you're going to work and school full time, chances are, you won't have much time to appreciate fully what your school has to offer..

*Put simply, you're going to have to work your ass off to do well in school.

*Luckily, nowadays many universities offer distance education courses so you might be able to take some courses at home. The only thing is that distance education is not for everyone and not every school that offers it has a great name. Some people do not learn well on their own and miss being engaged in physical classes. Some people are poor at time-managing and find it difficult to follow deadlines without going to classes.

In sum, unless you have extremely good time-management skills and handle stress well, I don't recommend it.

[a10aleks]

Dam that sounds super tough to do. Good luck with all that!

[.anya]

Originally Posted by bebu*funfun

last semester i kept a steady 30 hours a week and i was going crazy. DONT DO IT. this semester im just gonna be poor and work maybe 12 hours a week or so...less drinking and more hw'ing and sleeping. one thing though is that i HAVE to work cuz it keeps me sane. i take school home with me... and having to stare at school stuff 24/7 is unhealthy. work forces me to take a few hours off school..much needed.

maggie..do u work at studio or anything now? or just freelance?

I pretty much agree with this. I was working between 25-35 hours a week last winter term and taking 6 classes (18 credits) at ubc. I was so stressed out, not getting enough sleep, cranky, and just not happy. I still think it was a big mistake, and this term i am working to get my GPA up. I am still working, because it also keeps me sane, and the work is pretty laid back. I would definitely suggest doing only a couple of courses if you are planning to work full-time, and even then, it will be hard to balance. I suppose it depends on what you need to feel 'balanced', but I am kind of looking forward to enjoying just being a student (mostly). :)

[Lush]

Originally Posted by yoko*

It's definitely NOT for everyone. Simply being in attendance at work and school on a full time basis is NOT hard. The hard part is making it work: doing well at work and school at the same time. You're going to have to be able to handle stress well, be able to juggle work and school with ease, be organized and good at time-managing. It also helps to be a pretty good/efficient studyier & learner.

Exactly, I was working full time and going to school full time and I managed to be present in both environments but maintaining the work became super difficult.
I only did it for a semester and I have to warn you that it really does catch up with you, it's not impossible but it takes some serious dedication.
Like Yoko mentioned, time management is key, you need to make use of all your time - whether it be for reviewing or even for napping (I started falling asleep in classes at one point and my immune system became super run down).
Also holding any sort of relationship becomes difficult and you won't be seeing your friends as often as you'd like. But in the end I think it really teaches you to be disciplined and productive.

PS. HI ANYA!!!!

[Skitzo_Style]

the production assistant at my work is going to school full-time in the evenings earning her MBA in Marketing, and working here 50+ hours a week. she's works herself to the bone, but she is the most orginaized person in the office.

I can only wish that i have 1/10 her orginization skills when i go back to school.

[yoko*]

Originally Posted by Skitzo_Style

the production assistant at my work is going to school full-time in the evenings earning her MBA in Marketing, and working here 50+ hours a week. she's works herself to the bone, but she is the most orginaized person in the office.

I can only wish that i have 1/10 her orginization skills when i go back to school.

Yeah, my old assistant Manager at a previous job was a machine! He was a part-time assistant manager and a Teaching Assistant at UBC and was also working on his Masters in Family Studies.

But he was a machine! He was the most organized and self-disciplined person I know and he had a strong drive to succeed. He also studied on the bus and made the best of every minute of his life. He was also a GREAT manager.

Seriously, I admire anyone who can do it and do it well, but it requires a lot of discipline.

[Akeel]

I wouldnt recommend it...i worked pretty much the whole time I went through school and grades and social life suffered, now I work 70+ hours a week and if I decide to go back to school i'll probably drop that down to 10hours a week

[LDUB]

I'm with everyone else, it's doable, and I've done it... but my grades did suffer slightly. By the end of the week I'd be so tired I could hardly think. If you fall behind even the slightest bit everything can come crashing down.

If you work somewhere quiet where you would have an opportunity to study it may work out better for you.

I went back to PT school, if I could have I would have dropped my hours at work and kept school FT but they wouldn't have it.

[matéo]

thnx alot guys. I have alot to think about. Its really quiet at work but 3/4 of the time my brain is occupied so it would really difficult to get schoolwork done here.

Hey Lauren I know you own a place. Were you able to get student loans no prob?

thnx again guys.

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by matéo

thnx alot guys. I have alot to think about. Its really quiet at work but 3/4 of the time my brain is occupied so it would really difficult to get schoolwork done here.

Hey Lauren I know you own a place. Were you able to get student loans no prob?

thnx again guys.

I refused to get a student loan... partially why I ended up working so much so I can't tell you :( sorry!

[bungoshlung]

Originally Posted by Dancingbee

it would definetly be easier if you didnt work as much!
but anything is possible if you put your mind to it..and stick to your plan!
i went to school full time and worked 40-50 hrs a week at 2 jobs last year..youll find you wont do as good in school as you could be..but if you really need to do both..it will work.

don't back out when your there...youll have no time to do anything else..but hey sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

I don't think it's possible to compare highschool with post secondary.

------------------------
Matt, you should probably take it easy your first semester and see what works best for you.

Personally, full time school and 12 hours a week is more than enough for me. Even though I don't work much, I still find it difficult to squeeze in social time.

Give it a try and see if you like it, just don't go overboard your first time around.

[FlorpIncarnate]

The general rule of thumb that I observed from my own university experience and after talking to a lot of my classmates is this: Go ahead and work if you are taking lower division courses (100, 200 level), but don't even think about doing it while taking upper division courses (300, 400 level). Of course this depends on your program... engineering and the sciences are often killer at the 200 level as well because that's when they hit you with the theoretical maths required for the upper div courses.

I know _nobody_ from my graduating class at SFU (applied science) who worked more than a few hours a week at a paying job while taking upper division courses. That's just suicide...

[thechix0r]

Did it for a semester and nearly died... I wouldn't recommend it

[Dean]

i did it for a full last year taking 3 classes and working full time
i even took on another job on the weekends working about 60 hours a week

i worked during the day and had classes at night... i found the only way i could do it was to go directly from work to school so i would have a couple of free hours before class to really study/do assignments and stuff....
it was kinda crazy my grades didn't really suffer too much
i did however totally crash near the very end of my last semester

this semester i'm taking four classes and working about 34 hours or so a week... if i cant handle it though i'm just gonna work less

[Magi]

I tried working 40 hours and taking 3 classes last semester.

Basically, I failed 2 of my midterms and was on the verge of failing the third, so I slashed my hours and dropped the hardest course, thus salvaging a decent GPA.

It's hard, but I know people who have done it.

I am one of those who have not.

[Cosmos]

Im starting cooking school in less than a month for an advanced diploma and I will be working 40 hours a week ontop of school. Its not a big deal, as long as you still have some time to relax and chill on the weekends.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by FlorpIncarnate

The general rule of thumb that I observed from my own university experience and after talking to a lot of my classmates is this: Go ahead and work if you are taking lower division courses (100, 200 level), but don't even think about doing it while taking upper division courses (300, 400 level). Of course this depends on your program... engineering and the sciences are often killer at the 200 level as well because that's when they hit you with the theoretical maths required for the upper div courses.

I know _nobody_ from my graduating class at SFU (applied science) who worked more than a few hours a week at a paying job while taking upper division courses. That's just suicide...

your friends were pussies

[Goat]

Originally Posted by FlorpIncarnate

The general rule of thumb that I observed from my own university experience and after talking to a lot of my classmates is this: Go ahead and work if you are taking lower division courses (100, 200 level), but don't even think about doing it while taking upper division courses (300, 400 level). Of course this depends on your program... engineering and the sciences are often killer at the 200 level as well because that's when they hit you with the theoretical maths required for the upper div courses.

I know _nobody_ from my graduating class at SFU (applied science) who worked more than a few hours a week at a paying job while taking upper division courses. That's just suicide...

And your momma dresses you funny