A Job?

[Brooke4Jesus]

There are so many students at my college that dont have jobs but then complain about not having enough money. So here is my question.. Is it better to have a job and take a full load and have a little extra money or focus completely on school?

 

[christianflyboy]

IMHO everyones diffrent. Frankly if I had a son going to college, he's got to get a job and pay for college, now I would of course be willing to pay for part, but not all.

Second a job does train one with a sense of responsability, do something wrong and their will be consequences to your actions.

Third a job should teach one to be fiscally conservative (I hope) and budget their expenses.

Fourth. Tell those who complain about not having enough money to get up of their lazy rear end and get a job instead of mooching of their parents and/or friends.

 

[Brooke4Jesus]

woah watch it my friend... I have a job .. infact i have 2 and i dont make enough to even think about paying for part of my expenses for college even with student loans and crap.. if my parents didnt help me i wouldnt be in college... I am very gratefull to have parents who are willing to pay what they can for me to go to school.

 

[KellyLeigh]

It definitely depends on the person. Some people would fold under that much pressure and that much work. Other people, like myself, just procrastinate and don't get anything done when they have more free time. I work part time just because with that much more to do I know I will get all of my work done in a timely manner.

Def. depends on the person.

 

[katluver3781]

Yeah, I have a friend who works full time and has a full course load.. Crazy, In the beginning of my 1st sememster I had a lil trouble working part time and college (mostly just missing my social life), but im def getting used to it now.

 

[jturpin4]

Yeah, it definately depends on the person. I took time off this semester from working since it was my first semester of college and I didn't know how the workload would be. Now, knowing how college "works", I am going to get a part-time job as a bus aide, something that doesnt take up too much time and to get a little extra cash.

 

[arunma]

There are so many students at my college that dont have jobs but then complain about not having enough money. So here is my question.. Is it better to have a job and take a full load and have a little extra money or focus completely on school?

In my experience as someone who just finished college, there seems to be an optimal number of hours that college students should work. Somewhere between 5 and 15 hours a week seems to be the best choice for someone on a 16 credit load. There are also good jobs and bad jobs. For example, cashiering at the campus cafeteria essentially means throwing 10 hours of your week down the drain. It'll certainly earn you a little spending money, but there are better choices for someone on a college campus.

My last one and a half years of college, I worked as a physics and math tutor. I got plenty of time during work to do my own homework (when no one came in). But more importantly, tutoring the freshmen and sophomores forced me to remember all of the things that I had learned in lower level classes like calculus 2. This in turn helped me to do better in school. My other friends found clever ways to use campus employment to their academic advantage. Some of my friends worked for campus parking. Essentially they'd sit in a parking booth for four hours a day, three days a week. Aside from the occasional busy periods, this gave them four hours a day to get paid to sit in a room and do their homework.

Living on a campus, you have more opportunities than the average Joe in the suburbs. Find a job that gives you some sort of academic advantage.

 

[Sketcher]

I had 2 different jobs at 2 different times in college. The first time, I did alright. My grades were overall decent. I had the attitude of "If I'm not going to study, I might as well make some money" and it worked out a little better than that. The second time I worked, I was suffering from academic burnout and my grades dropped. That one was at the school too, where you could technically study on the job whereas the previous one would not allow that. Go figure.

 

[david594]

On campus jobs have big advantages in that they know how to accomodate students schedules. My biggest suggestion would be to find something that has a consistant schedule from week to week.

Im a senior now and for the last 3 years have had a job producing and video taping lectures for our distance education department. I do 3 courses in total and it works out to 12 hours a week. Again, its the same 12 hours every week which allows me to plan it into my schedule. No suprise conflicts this way

2 of the courses are evening courses so those can be annoying as they have a greater tendancy to conflict with nearly everything. But my other course(and most I work) are in the mornings so I can just pencil in the spare 2 hour block into my schedule. In the end I just get up at 9 AM for a production instead of 11AM for a class.

The perks of making the job first thing in the AM:

Can never just accidnetally over sleep class cause you have to be up.
Can never intentionally oversleep class cause you have to be up.
More likely to pay attention cause you have been up for 3 hours.

Worst case scenario it makes me go to bed at 3AM instead of 5AM and in reallity who actualy gets productive work done after 3AM anyways?

 

[arunma]

Can never intentionally oversleep class cause you have to be up.

Ah, but is this really a good thing?

Kidding, of course. I talk big, but I haven't skipped much class since freshman year.

Worst case scenario it makes me go to bed at 3AM instead of 5AM and in reallity who actualy gets productive work done after 3AM anyways?

Oh, how true! But until 3, it is possible!

 

[david594]

If your physics Graduate then maybe you would understand.

I am a Computer Science major.... All my 4000 Level courses for my major are optional attendace. None start before noon and I still sleep through them. Getting up before sunset is an achievement nearly as great as going to bed before sunrise. Going to class more than once a month is better than most. And starting a project by 3AM is getting a good head start when you know your pulling an all nighter. I do enjoy though taking a 16 credit semester and only having to show up for 4(humanities) hours a week.


But I hear for students with every other major its different.



Back on topic.... Jobs Are Good!

They make you feel productive when you are utter school work slacker.

 

[arunma]

If your physics Graduate then maybe you would understand.

I am a Computer Science major.... All my 4000 Level courses for my major are optional attendace. None start before noon and I still sleep through them. Getting up before sunset is an achievement nearly as great as going to bed before sunrise. Going to class more than once a month is better than most. And starting a project by 3AM is getting a good head start when you know your pulling an all nighter. I do enjoy though taking a 16 credit semester and only having to show up for 4(humanities) hours a week.


But I hear for students with every other major its different.



Back on topic.... Jobs Are Good!

They make you feel productive when you are utter school work slacker.

Oh, I had my share with that. During my junior year when I took experimental physics, there was a lot of coding to be done. And when I did my senior thesis the next year, it was essentially all coding. Nothing beats staring at a screen at all hours of the day and night, and with a can of Red Bull in your hand.

 

[ZACTAK]

In my experience, I prefer to have a job. My first semester at my university, I didn't have a job and I got bored a lot, especially on the weekends. My grades are actually better now that I have a job. I work full-time and go to school full-time! But I love to be busy.

 

[Arclight610]

I have class and ROTC. A job is almost nearly impossible.

-TJ-

 

[david594]

I have class and ROTC. A job is almost nearly impossible.

-TJ-

You in college though?

Correct me if I am wrong, but doesnt college ROTC pay a stipend to its cadets? Which would pretty much make it a job in its own right.

 

[Shyguyelite]

Fourth. Tell those who complain about not having enough money to get up of their lazy rear end and get a job instead of mooching of their parents and/or friends.

Hey hey... its all fun and games. Til they stop sending money

I would encourage people to try to get skills instead of jobs. Jobs can teach skills, but they can also be just work. Nothing wrong with making cash and supportin yerself, but if ya can... don't be like me and not work.

I seriously feel useless; I 'know' things in chemistry, but I have no skills. Unless lazy lab work is a skill. It is, but its not one to develop.

 

[arunma]

Hey hey... its all fun and games. Til they stop sending money

I would encourage people to try to get skills instead of jobs. Jobs can teach skills, but they can also be just work. Nothing wrong with making cash and supportin yerself, but if ya can... don't be like me and not work.

I seriously feel useless; I 'know' things in chemistry, but I have no skills. Unless lazy lab work is a skill. It is, but its not one to develop.

There's always grad school!

 

[david594]

There's always grad school!

Yeah, but he wants to feel useful....

 

[shaslove]

I think that you should work somewhat, but I work full-time and go to school full-time, and there are days when it is REALLY hard, because i do not have enough time to study. I do have an advatage-my school is online/correspondence, so I can do schoolwork when ever I want, but there are days when it is very frustrating-ie 11:00 pm at night when you have a question and you have no way of getting help.

 

[arunma]

Yeah, but he wants to feel useful....

Grad school gives the illusion of being useful.