<p>How common is it for college students to work part time? And is there a grade-lag for students who do work? </p>
<p>Is it even possible for an undergraduate biochem major to find the time for school, research, and a job?</p>
<p>Any insight is appreciated. thanks....</p>
<p>It’s doable, you just have to manage your time well. Some student have it so all their classes are on certain days and they can work the other days at an internship or part time job. Since I work on campus, I just scheduled work hours around gaps in my schedule.</p>
<p>School, research, and job? I know more than one person who manages that.</p>
<p>It’s definitely manageable… but doing biochem, research, and having a part time job would probably be pretty tricky. I lucked out and got work study as part of my financial aid, so I found a lab on campus that would pay through work study. It depends on how efficient you can be with studying and managing your time, and it also helps to find flexible research or jobs so that you can have a schedule that works best for you.</p>
<p>Work sort of depends. Those who are working to get money to pay for school are generally going to work more hours, have less free time to relax, etc. Those who work part time just for a little spending money probably will work less hours. As for commonality among college students, sure some have part time jobs during school and some don’t. Those who don’t typically just work in the summer. Its manageable, but whenever grades start to fall is the time to quit the job/limit hours.</p>
<p>It’s completely possible. I work almost full time and go to school full time. I’m enrolled in five classes right now. My job is lucky enough to work around my schedule so I can make my own hours and decided when is the best time to come in. I work overnight so all I have to worry about is making sure I don’t have early morning classes the next day.</p>
<p>I’ve always had a part time job while in school. You learn to manage it quite well regardless of the subjects you’re taking.</p>
<p>Though I have virtually no free time for parties or things unrelated to school. I don’t know if that’s a problem for you but your free time will be limited.</p>
<p>Its very possible–assuming your job isn’t super demanding/also depends on the courses you are taking. Finding the job is the hard part b/c of the economy.</p>
<p>doesn’t research count as a job?</p>
<p>^doesn’t always pay. a paid research position knocks out two birds with one stone… but you have to find one which isn’t always easy. A lot of undergrads do research without pay, especially if it’s their first lab experience.</p>
<p>It’s definitely possible. I did it for 2 years, about 15 hours per week, and my GPA actually went up during that period.</p>
<p>it’s possible, but like vehicle said, it’ll kill your social life. i work 25-30 hours a week on top of a full course load and i’m lucky if i have one night a week where i can just chill out, nevermind go to a party.</p>
<p>Having a part-time job has forced me to think about how I manage my schedule, whereas in high school I pretty much operated on the assumption that things I needed to accomplish would just happen at some point. For me, knowing that my only opportunity to study is between class and work is a big motivator to actually do it. That may or may not be the case in your situation depending on how rigorous classes and research are, but school plus work is definitely manageable.</p>
<p>I worked my way through college, I see no reason why anybody else couldn’t. I studied engineering and if I could find time, so can every other major the world over.</p>
<p>My son worked up to ten hours a week tutoring while in his CS program which took up a lot of time. The nice thing about tutoring is that there are periods of time when no students come in and students can study their own stuff during that time. There are other jobs where you can do this like security (do your rounds and study while you are at the desk), library (study when there aren’t patrons checking out books or asking for help).</p>
<p>I worked about 15 hours during my first year in college. Then worked full-time. I’ve worked full-time and taken courses full-time for maybe two semesters - it was difficult but I managed it. Being very, very busy forces you to become more efficient with everything that you do.</p>
<p>All the girls I live with, myself included have part-time jobs. So yes, it’s definitely possible. One of them is a bio major, and is doing research.</p>
<p>Pretty old thread…My college includes this on the FAQ. They claim those who work a “moderate” amount of 10 hours or so get better grades, possibly because instead of partying even more they learn time management. If you’re on a pell grant or something though, you have to be careful as it affects EFC. So i’m only working about 30 hours total this semester, rather than risk losing the grant.</p>
<p>What i hear also is there’s a huge diff between work-study at some dead end department library and for profit jobs on campus. With the former you can actually study at work.</p>
<p>Not sure why this thread was bumped at 3 years but yes, those who work 8-12 hours tend to have higher grades than those who don’t work.</p>
<p>I’ve read that students who work 10-20 hours a week tend to do better in classes than their peers, but once you get past the 20 hour mark it’s too much.</p>
<p>I have a 3.95 and took 19 hours last semester and 16 the semester before. I’m taking 18 right now and I’m fine. I work 13 hours a week and worked about the same amount last year.</p>
<p>I’m also an active member in some clubs on campus. I still find time to put in 3-4 hours for clubs, go to church every Sunday, and hang out with my friends.</p>
<p>Also someone mentioned the Pell Grant… If you’re getting that you’re probably eligible for work study. Choose work study. It doesn’t effect your EFC and it allows you to have a summer job making up to like $5000. They’re also often easy jobs or good on the resume. I work as an office assistant at my school which I think probably looks a little better than being a bartender or a waitress for post-grad jobs, though a job is a job. Any work experience is good experience.</p>
<p>^ Fwiw, most work study awards are 3k or less- not 5k.</p>
<p>I work 26 hours a week with a 14 credit hour schedule. If I had it to do over, I’d work less hours because I’m always tired and my weekends consist of studying and only studying. In the past, I worked about 10 - 14 hours a week and took 16-ish credit hours but I needed money this semester. Next time, though, I think I’m going to cut back on my hours. The worst part about it is there are times at work where I literally have nothing to do and I could be studying or sleeping. I don’t know how people work full time and go to school full time. I would go insane.</p>