<p>I was offered about 3k in Work-Study at Cal. I'm kind of torn as to whether or not I should accept this offer. </p>
<p>During my two years at Community College, I took up to 20 units/semester and worked about 20 hours/week. It was challenging, but totally doable. </p>
<p>If I don't work I'll have to have my parents cover the difference in my budget & I would feel bad for having to dig in their pockets even deeper. </p>
<p>During CalSO I felt like we were persuaded not to work our first semester since transferring to Cal can be overwhelmingly demanding.
Will being employed on campus hinder my adjustment to a new environment and rigorous courseload?</p>
<p>Does anyone have insight as to how demanding work-study is at a UC- particularly Berkeley? Advice would be much appreciated. :) Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what grades you're looking for and how you want your college life to be. Its going to be more difficult so you're going to have to study much harder. Even if you do pull great grades at Cal while working up to 20hrs a week, you'll have little time for your social life( which is one of the main points of college). But even if you are willing to make that sacrifice, you still might not get good grades because work takes up so much time. So if I were you, I wouldn't take any risks that first semester. I'm planning to take out loans so that I wouldn't have to work. I'm going to have more time to focus/study and meet new people.</p>
<p>I have no choice, I have to work (no work-study, though). Luckily I can keep my current job and work only 12 hours/week. Let's just say I'll be making about as much money as someone working 24 hours/week at a campus job. :) Have to commute to SF though, so we'll see how that goes. :( Spring semester I might change my mind about where I'll be working, but I know I'll still be working somewhere.</p>
<p>I have to work or I would never have money to leave the house. Luckily, I only have to work 24 hours where I can occasionally get a tiny bit of studying in. Even a half hour of studying at work is successful for me.</p>
<p>I've been working year round --- interning.</p>
<p>please,please,please be careful about working your first semester at Cal. I worked my first semester and it was a disaster. I thought that since I was used to working full time and getting excellent grades at the CC level that if I just reduced my hours a bit when I got to Cal it would be fine...I was WRONG... I subsequently quit my state job and worked at a less stressful very part time job during the spring semester and it went much better. If you must work like I have to then be sure to have only the min amount of classes that first semester so that you are not overwhelmed. A job that allows you to study during down times is ideal.</p>
<p>I was going to try to find a <10 hour a week job, but after getting into a research seminar, I decided it would be best not to.</p>
<p>I honestly have no choice since I got basically no aid other than unsubsidized loans. I have to be able to live, pay credit cards (duh, I know I was stupid to rack them up), etc. Otherwise I will be way more than 25k in debt after only two years at Cal and I would really rather not take my 401k out right now.</p>
<p>I am taking 15 units this semester, with 2 credits being a DeCal and 1 being a TRSP seminar. I might drop the DeCal. My job is not very difficult, and I might be able to study, or at least read or do online research, while at work.</p>
<p>I will see how it goes and will quit work or cut back my hours even more if I have to. But I am not so worried about getting all A's or even all B's at Cal since I don't really have plans to go on to grad school (I'm a bit old to think of grad school and want to move to Europe).</p>
<p>thatgirltoo...what do you mean by a bit old to think about grad school? Your never too old to go to grad school. i'm in my late 30's and still going straight through to grad school (law school).</p>
<p>luv> I second that. I'm also late 30s here and intend to continue on to a grad program (history Ph.D.).</p>
<p>Meaning I sort of want to get on with the rest of my life. Confession: I've been in school, albeit part time, for the past 8 years - it is getting a little bit tiresome. I also want to own a home someday, or at least be able to live somewhere for more than 2 years at a time. I'm very supportive of anyone else who wants to go into grad school or PhD no matter their age, but for me, I guess I'm just not seeing it. I might change my mind once I'm officially at Cal since I have toyed with the idea of earning a Masters in Public Policy, but I've always been a bit lazy and can't see myself competing for research projects or having the desire to write a senior honors thesis in preparation for grad school. </p>
<p>I've spoken to many people about the work issue. Almost everyone I know who graduated from Cal worked while there. One of the lawyers at my firm worked 30+ hours/week from the time he was a freshman at Cal through the end of his law school days. He said it was tough, but necessary. It probably helped him when it came time to put in 80 hours/week as a law firm associate... So while it would be a sweet luxury to quit the job and not work for a semester or two, I think that whoever has to work will be able to survive just like all of the alumni who went before them.</p>
<p>If you're just looking to cover that 3k, then another option is to convert your work study to loans, subsidized or unsubsidized, depending on your current package. That's what I did.</p>