<p>I will be attending university next year where I hope to major in Sociology or Social Work.</p>
<p>I would like to get my Bachelor's in the typical 4 years. (meaning 15 credit-hours a semester.) </p>
<p>I also will be needing a part-time job. My parents are in a bad financial situation and I can't expect to get cash from them for gas, food, clothing, or simple accessories. If I do get money, it certainly won't be enough!</p>
<p>My question is this.. Is it over burdening to take 5 classes a semester while maintaining a job?(Hopefully a job where I can work like 4 or 5 hours a day.)</p>
<p>I ask because one of my brother's professors said that taking 12 credit-hours per semester should be the max someone takes.. But I find this to be silly as most seem to take 15!</p>
<p>its totally depends on what you can manage. Since you’re not in college yet its nearly impossible for you to gauge if you will be able to do it or not. its very doable if you are mature/responsible and that jazz.</p>
<p>So your thinking of working like 25 hours a week or something?</p>
<p>I worked fulltime last semster with 17 credits and maintained stellar grades if you need something empirical…</p>
<p>However difficult, i recommend (if possible) enrolling in your 15 credits then slowly easing in on the hours you take with your job.</p>
<p>Depending on the courses it’s feasible. For instance I’m taking 15 credits this semester, but the workload isn’t very hard. My math class isn’t difficult, nor is my physics class. My criminal justice class is interesting so I don’t mind the large amounts of reading. The only tough one is my Government class.</p>
<p>That is going to be really tough your first semester, do you have to take 15 credits? It’s doable but it’s hard to jump straight into college without getting your feet wet first.</p>
<p>some more clarification on my previous post. I did that (working full time and getting stellar grades) during my first semester. It totally depends how dedicated you are.</p>
<p>I took 18 credits (5 classes) and worked a part time and two side jobs (totaling around 20+ hours a week) my first semester. You’ll live, it’s not even that grueling tbqh. You just need to manage your time.</p>
<p>If you can put off getting a job for a couple of weeks or even months, it’s better. As a freshman, you will be hard-pressed to determine your stress tolerance and time availability until spring semester. I waited until sophomore year to get a job, because I wanted to make absolutely sure that I knew I could handle it. I had several friends who jumped into part-time work during their first semesters, and they burned out quickly. </p>
<p>However, once you’ve got a good feel for what you can handle, go for it! I generally take 15-17 credits and have a part-time job that requires 8.5 hours a week on average. I’m pretty lucky though, because my job is not terribly exhausting and I really enjoy it. :3</p>
<p>So my best advice for you is to be patient… wait until you get a good understanding of your course demands. The best is to experience the finals period just once. That will tell you a LOT about how well you were able to manage your time during the semester. :]</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advise everyone! I’m currently a senior in High School and work a part-time job where I get about $300 every two weeks. Of this money, I have been putting $100 per paycheck into my savings as a “back-up” for money when I’m in college. I currently have $1200 and by the end of this school-year I should have an additional $800, so $2,000. Not to mention that my family happens to know wealthy people, whom I will be inviting to my graduation party… Hehe, so I expect to get a good sum of money for graduation, in which I plan to put at least half in the savings. Not to mention that in the summer I want to get a full-time job where I would save most money. The only problem is finding a place that will hire me full-time, all to work just for 2 1/2 months! </p>
<p>Point being… I have quite a lot of money saved up for when I’m in college. In particular, until I can find me a job given the fact that we are in the midst of a recession and I’m not sure how much better things will be August of next year.(Though things should slowly be picking up.) So, maybe since I have this money, I can just go to school the first semester and not have a job… Just to, as you guys said, see how much I can tolerate and handle.</p>
<p>Also, this is a bit off-topic, but I wonder… Is it true that the Freshman year of college is the hardest? I have heard this but am not sure how true it is, because I would think that the longer you’re in college, the harder the classes, because freshman is mainly pre-reqs, whereas Junior and Senior are more degree-oriented classes. Btw, I want to major in Sociology. :)</p>
<p>It is the hardest in that you have the most adjusting to do. For me freshman year was not hard at all, but seeing how much trouble my roommate is having I wonder how she’ll survive junior year. </p>
<p>Junior year has been my hardest year so far, sophomore was probably easiest.</p>
<p>The classes freshman year are in general easier. However people need to get used to living on their own and the different academic system aswell as balancing school and social life, that’s what makes the 1st year hard.</p>
<p>Whatever job you get, or already have, do make sure that it is ‘student friendly’. The worse position you could put yourself into is one where your job becomes more demanding than your classes, especially as a freshman. Otherwise, I think you’ll be just fine. </p>
<p>I worked part time for my entire college experience; where I ranged in units from 17 to 11. I’m a science major, so its pretty demanding, but my grades have always been good.</p>