<p>I have a dilemma and would really appreciate any advice you can give me! It's second semester, so all my college applications and midyear reports are in. I recently applied for a job at a retail store...and was hired. The only problem is that there are LONG hours involved. (Typically 3:30-9:30 four days of the school week, and even longer on the weekends.) I really want to take the job, I need the money for college, but I -- and especially my parents -- don't want my grades to suffer. As it stands now, I will be validictorian...my parents obsess about this, but I need straight As second semester to pull it off. </p>
<p>As much as I would like to be val, I don't feel that it's the most important thing. I could earn a lot of money and my grades don't really figure into college acceptances anymore...do they? Unless of course they drop drastically and my admission is rescinded. </p>
<p>By the way, I attend a not-so-good high school, and typically have no more than two hours of homework per night. I frequently have none!</p>
<p>ECs don't require as much of a time commitment as they have in previous years, but the job will cut into EC time.</p>
<p>Tens of thousands of high school students successfully work hours similar to these, some of them signficantly more, many of them beginning in their freshman-sophomore years. A high proportion are providing income for their families. Not many are first in their class though. </p>
<p>Only you can know if your grades will suffer, and what it's worth to you.</p>
<p>I would not do something that made your grades suffer and only you know how you can budget your time to make it work. That said, I have a kid who was val and another kid who was a top student and their activities also had them out of the house during the hours you are stipulating and they had more homework than you seem to. They managed. You have to figure that out. If it means cutting ECs, I'd be hesitant to take a job that required 40 hours per week. I'd find a job that was more like 20 hours per week, still do your ECs and also your homework. I'm not sure what you can find but it is about balance. I don't think this is about being val but I do think you should maintain your schoolwork and that NO EC or NO JOB should deter you from that mission to do the best you can at school. If you can handle long hours of either ECs or jobs, and still do well at school, that is the factor, in my view. When one starts impacting the other, then you need to figure out the best balance or amt. of hours to devote to each. My D who was val had a job but for far less hours but her EC load was almost as heavy as your work load. Only you can figure out how to make it work schedule-wise. It sounds like you are thinking that the job will impact your schoolwork and that is where I draw the line. Either take a job for less hours, or perhaps you can manage this schedule as my own kids were out every afternoon, night and weekend at their activities and managed to not skip a beat at school. You'll have to answer that one. But don't let work take from school. Your main job is school. Work is important, too, but not MORE than school.</p>
<p>Mini, lots of kids work where we live, too. I'm not sure I'd agree with your statement that many work significantly more hours than this girl is talking about. She is talking about a 40 hour per week job. I don't know many kids who have a job that exceeds 40 hours per week on top of full time school. The ones I know who may work more than 40 hours, are not going to school for the full school day.</p>
<p>By the way, in my senior year of high school, I went to class until noon and had a job. I was a top student as well.</p>