<p>Hey CC! My parents have been literally screaming at me to get a job. I applied to about 16-19 places and finally landed a job at Panera Bread. I start on Saturday. My parents logic is that 1) I need to save up money for college, 2) I need to save up money so I can put gas in my future car.
You see, my parents refuse to buy me a car, which is extremely frustrating because I have a plethora of ECs ranging from Musical Theater productions to 3 Varsity Sports. I'm involved in about 8-9 clubs and am in a lot of stuff around the community. With this said, I have no transportation except for some friends and my parents who have full time, time consuming jobs (mom is a clinical researcher and dad is a middle school principal).</p>
<p>BUTTTTT I am afraid of two things.
1. Will colleges see this as superficial? My family is pretty financially sound and its not like I'm helping pay the bills or anything. I'm just an average, middle class, African-American student.
2. I have to cut out some ECs and volunteering. Meaning, I might have to give up doing a spring theater production or volunteering at the YMCA. Will colleges understand?</p>
<p>None of my friends have jobs. They have all been given nice cars and gas money from their ever-so-willing parents. None of the students in my AP classes have jobs. I have a lot of stress going on about being in the top 3 of the class, so I need to keep my grades up. Plus, I have the hardest schedule out of any junior in my class including 5 APs next semester.</p>
<p>How do you guys manage this? I asked my friends and they only laughed like "why do you need a job?" , "you won't have a life, your college app won't look as good", "can't your parents buy you a car?"</p>
<p>Super annoying and unhelpful (and before you attack my friends, they honestly don't understand that not everyone gets everything they want, and that I have strict parents lol.)</p>
<p>So how do you guys handle it all? Are your jobs super demanding? Do you still have time for things?</p>
<p>I’m a cashier at Kmart. My parents didn’t want me to get a job because they wanted me to focus on my studies; I wanted a job because there’s more to life than school, and my people skills suck. </p>
<p>Because I, like you, am involved in a lot of extracurriculars and also have a somewhat demanding course load (2 AP, 4 dual enrollment, 1 honors, 1 regular), I only work one day a week for about 5-6 hours. When I was working 12 hours a week, I was doing about 35 hours-worth of ECs on top of school, and I managed to survive (and my only B is in math).</p>
<p>You’ll be fine. Forget about what your friends say- having a job looks good. If you find yourself struggling with time management, see if your boss will cut your hours (my boss was extremely willing to do so because I told her about my academic and EC commitments during the interview… aka before I was even hired), or, if worse comes to worst, tell your parents you can’t handle it and quit.</p>
<p>At my school a good majority of kids over 16 have jobs, and some under 16. I have a job, but it’s not demanding at all; I deliver brochures for a realtor on the weekends, and work about 10 hrs per week. Pays well and I like it. I’m lucky that I don’t have to give any of my ECs up, though it means I can’t volunteer as much. </p>
<p>Colleges won’t see it as superficial; work is a + to your college application, not a -. Your parents want you to actually earn your car, not just be given stuff like your peers are. You’ll be grateful in the future. Panera Bread seems like a lot better place to work than McDonald’s, and you get to take free food home. GOOD food too. :)</p>
<p>I’ve worked at McDonald’s for a year and a half. I applied to twenty million places and they’re the only place that ever called me back. I only get like five hours a week because of all the older people working there who need the money more than me. I’m fairly miserly, at least with money I earned myself, so I’ve saved pretty much all of it.</p>
<p>I don’t have a job. Not many people at my school do. I pride myself in knowing a lot about other people (oops sounds stalkerish, but I’m not, I swear) in my grade, but I only know of 3 people in my nearly 500 person class who have a job that’s not an internship. Most of the people at my school think it’s a waste of time, plus I live in an area where the average household income is in the 6 figures. </p>
<p>But I wish I did have a job. I don’t think it’s superficial at all, I think it’s cool. It kind of does suck to have to pay for things yourself, but hey, it’s practice, right? (Sorry, not good at this pep talk sort of stuff). </p>
<p>I guess I wasn’t too helpful, since I don’t have a job though.</p>
<p>You generally don’t need one, and I highly doubt they care about your high school courses in any case. My McDonald’s application asked about my GPA, and I don’t even remember there being a place to attach a resume.<br>
If you make one, include your GPA and previous work/volunteer experience.</p>
<p>I didn’t have a job because of my fall sport but I am starting next week. I don’t really need to get a job (my parents are not making me) but since I turned 18 I feel like kind of a loser asking my parents for money. My dad said working fast food was one of the most fun times of his life in HS and I’m going to give it a shot. If my grades slip I’ll be back out.</p>
<p>@yankee1995 Yeah I’m just wondering how I’m going to balance my sports, clubs and this job all at the same time. Right now I’m in Varsity Winter Track season which is my most flexible sport. But come Spring when I have at least 2 meets every week, I don’t know what I’ll do!</p>
<p>@Milliee I applied to 18 places online and got nothing. Then I actually called the stores and all they said was “yeah just apply online” (as if I hadn’t done that already). Finally I walked into panera and asked to talk to the manager who offered me a job right then and there lol. The online application asked for previous volunteer and work experience. Some asked for GPA. But its not like a college application, they don’t really care about what courses you are taking and if you are president of the math club lol.</p>
<p>I always feel like I have a job but since it’s not paid, it’s volunteer work and considered an EC. Even though others where I “volunteer” do the same thing and are paid and it’s their job. </p>
<p>I feel like you kind of get shafted on the pay thing. If you’re getting paid you get more credit; if you’re not getting paid, you get less. Doesn’t seem logical but whatever.</p>
<p>I was told not to get a job because you will have to add the money you made to your FAFSA, and it will make you look like your family income is higher. But if you really need money for school,i will tell you to keep it.</p>
<p>HalcyonHeather yeah I just feel like it’s looked at differently.</p>
<p>If you’re being paid, you look like you’re scrappy, entrepreneurial, you need the money and you are a self-starter. Do the same job without pay and you look like you’re a pampered baby, mom and dad got you the job and no one’s going to fire you because you’re not paid.</p>
<p>I just think paid jobs say more. I’m sorry I haven’t had one. And I wish all the kids who have been working their way through HS get credit for it.</p>
<p>@Condor, I think you’ve got it a little twisted. How in the world does volunteering look like you are a pampered baby? I mean maybe if you go on one of those “outreaches” for a week where you pay 3000 to go to Costa Rica and “minister” (but really vacation for the majority of time).
I volunteer with the local theater, with children, and with a nursing home. I don’t think that colleges think that screams “pampered rich kid” at all! I mean, a lot of people volunteer because they are passionate, and would do it with or without pay. Volunteering shows you are dedicated, and doing it because you want to, not for money.</p>
<p>@pink4life18 “As a student, you can make up to about $6K before your earnings affect your aid. Do run the numbers though the FAFSA calculator to be sure. If you have other income this may not be the case, but that is the usual result.” </p>
<p>If I even do make this much, it will affect FASFA very little.</p>
<p>Funny, I work at Panera Bread, too!
5 AP classes, a job, and sports are hard to juggle, but you DO learn to juggle your crazy life. And, if you manage to keep your grades up, it looks good on an app because it shows you can handle more than one thing. My one suggestion is to do homework on your break, cut back time with friends (it sucks but it’s worth it) and count on losing sleep. Jobs and getting money are fun(ish) and it won’t hurt your app chances.</p>
<p>My completely unjustified theory on this…
If you get paid by someone other than a relative, colleges (or whoever) can be reasonably certain that you actually did something. The same can’t be said for volunteer work. I’ve “volunteered” at places where everyone just sort of stood around and no one said anything because our lack of productivity wasn’t hurting anything.
Also, getting a job is generally harder than getting volunteer work…you have to demonstrate a certain (though small) amount of competence to get a job, and if you screw up one too many times you don’t have it anymore. My job at McDonald’s was the first time I was ever really treated like an adult. An adult with a bad job, but still.</p>
<p>most great people don’t care about money so…</p>
<p>but the theory is I had maybe 7 decent EC including one 18+ hours job per week, dual enrollment classes (we don’t have AP). got 28 college credits. and upon graduation, my physical condition got worse. I handled everything very well, straight A’s everywhere but now, they don’t worth a dime until my acceptance to one college.</p>
<p>I work at the local public library as a page. I get paid horribly, but my parents are making me pay for gas money and band/choir tours so I need to acquire funds somehow. I get paid around $160 a month for about 6-7 hours a week. Not that bad at all.</p>
<p>When I was in high school (a couple years ago), I had to work year-round to help out my single mother with bills. I actually got a job at a small local business (while also babysitting and such on the side), and I still work there to this day in college.</p>
<p>The difference between working in high school and in college is that in high school, you don’t usually need to. Maybe if you’re poor or if you’re being forced to pay bills, but colleges won’t hold it against you if you don’t have one. It looks great if you have one, but it’s not a deal breaker. </p>
<p>In college, however, when you graduate and apply to jobs, your employers are going to expect to see a steady job and also a job related to your field. Sure, working at McDonald’s helps you scrape by, but what are you doing to enhance your proficiency in your foreign language or hone your writing skills? Also, even if you work your butt off and make 6k over a summer for tuition, how are you furthering and complimenting your education? </p>
<p>Working is a big deal and it helps build great character, but I wouldn’t worry about it if you guys don’t have one. I know this sounds soo clich</p>