<p>My D works in the Alumni office and has done it since she began at the school- they are incredibly flexible and nice people. She has also worked out a solution to a problem they had, needing email & summer projects dne- D has not been in any one place any summer yet, but she is set up to log in to their computer from afar and checks email all summer long a couple of times a day, answering all the little things that trickle in. Provides her a nice little income whilst she adventures (even abroad) and helps them out too. She has also done long term projects over the summer, also mutually beneficial. A very nice set up. Most campus employers, whether your student is work study or not, seem to be accustomed to being flexible. D generally works no more than 10 hours, but can take time off any week for sports & academic commitments.</p>
<p>hopsscout- any job where you get paid and you can study is a pretty good gig. My son works ten hours a week for the student tutoring services at his college- he doesn't get to study for his own classes, but I am sure that by tutoring other students he is getting even better at his own skills (he tutors calculus). There is "indirect revenue" and I'd say that being able to do your homework or study on the job definitely makes up for minimum wage. Congratulations for landing a great college job!</p>
<p>I can still distinctly recall my freshman year (30 years ago), with work/study and loans, being assigned to wait tables. Away from home for the first time in my life, learning to juggle academics, live with a roommate, compete with prep-school prepared kids (I was from a public h.s.), and put this job into the mix was crushing (for me). Fortunately, I phoned and asked my folks if I could drop the job, just for first semester until I got my feet on the ground. Fortunately, they agreed, since it only meant adding to the loan repayment which is a long-range activity. By sophomore year, I could handle it. If they'd insisted, I think I'd have sunk academically. </p>
<p>For our 3 kids, all are work/study but each handled it differently.</p>
<p>S-1 spent first year in the college theater department schlepping lumber and building sets for around $8./hour or normal campus rate. By sophomore year, he discovered that his background in Jewish studies and afterschool Hebrew equipped him to become a Sunday School teacher at a nearby synagogue. He made much better money, although working on a Sunday wasn't always ideal socially. He did this for the remaining 3 years, enjoyed it, and used it as a side-job after graduating college. Since he met his goal during the school year, he used summers to do what he pleased in his major field (theater) without worrying about earning $. </p>
<p>D was entirely different, with a hard time learning to manage her campus time for all 4 years. Early on, we told her not to attempt an on-campus job but simply use each summer to earn, while living at home rent-free. She did this and it worked well for her, with a summer day-camp job, and two summers acting in a Renaissance Faire. </p>
<p>S-2 has just started university as a freshman, and my H told him to try to begin working in the Spring (not autumn) of Freshman year. He's using this term to adjust and work well in his major department. He surprised us by saying that he'd found the nearby synagogue and intends to drop off his resume now in the Fall, hoping for a spot in the Spring. </p>
<p>If there's any question about getting off to a solid start academically/sociallly/logistically, I'd say to postpone starting the work/study job until at least 2nd semester of Freshman year, if not Sophomore year. Remember also that summertime is a wage-earning time, too.</p>
<p>I think it kind of depends on the job. My daughter has a job with her college English department, and that puts her in contact with all the faculty on a regular basis. Yes, she's the one they are asking to do their xeroxing or occasionally helping with library research, but I think her job also puts her in a slightly better position to seek academic help if she needed it. She doesn't, but the point is she was spending a time a couple of days a week freshman year in a position where she would be sure to learn about all the academic support programs available for students who needed extra help with writing, and also in a position to figure out which faculty members were the most approachable or most likely to assist a floundering student. So I think any job with an academic department could be quite helpful; same with a research job working for a professor or a job in the college library. </p>
<p>Waiting tables? not so much. ;) </p>
<p>My son opted for one of those jobs sitting in a student center late at night making sure no one started drinking, or smoking indoors, or getting into any other mischief. If they did, he was to tell them to cut it out and if it didn't work, to call security. I called it his "watchdog" job. But he could study on the job -- and it actually kept him busy at a time when other kids were out partying, so I don't think that hurt him at all academically either. He got a lot of reading done during hours (including weekends) when he would otherwise have been tempted to play.</p>
<p>The only thing I don't like about it is there is only so much for me to study. And I find it difficult to study my Anatomy and Physiology at work because I obviously have other responsibilities which require me to be glancing up every minute or so. We have two rec centers and the one I'm at only sees maybe 100 people a day and we're open 5:30AM-9PM. The thing about SRC-South is we're basically instructed to bring homework with us, otherwise we're gonna be bored!</p>
<p>SEMO allows students to work 20 hours a week on campus. They don't regulate offcampus. Though it's quite a drop from what I was making this summer, I like being able to have $25/week. Now if I'd be smart and save it, that'd add up pretty quickly especially if I was to throw in a few more hours a week (definitely possible b/c there is always somebody looking for a sub) but right now I'm lucky to have the job at all. My schedule was hard to find a time slot that worked.</p>
<p>My S has always worked in a grocery store (since age 16). When he went to college (he's a jr. now),he was able to get a transfer to a store in his college town (same chain). He currently works about 25 hours /week in Customer Service. He is paid pretty well. He was recently sent to another city (all expenses paid) for the weekend to train the new CS employees at a new store just opening. The managerial skills he has learned over the years will be a tremendous advantage in his after college life.</p>
<p>Freshman year I worked at the IT help desk for about 5-10 hours a week. I think most people have time to do a job in college - it teaches responsibility and helps you manage your time better.</p>
<p>When I was in college I worked behind the bar/counter at a local dive (sort of a campus watering hole). My core hours were the Thursday and Saturday night shift. Saturday's was a huge shift (5 to 1), so I was getting in between 10 and 15 hours a week. I got to spend my one weekend night watching other people get drunk! Yaayyy. But what else would I have been doing on that night anyway? That was back in the day of MTV (when it first started and showed real music videos), Space Invaders, PacMan, Defender, and pinball.</p>
<p>Like paying3 tuitions, my two are different kids and majors and have done what works best for each. </p>
<p>DS is a senior in architecture. Because his major is very time-demanding and because his school's program incorporates school and co-op, he doesn't work while taking classes. Then during his co-op quarters he makes money to tide him over until the next co-op session.</p>
<p>DD is a sophomore business major. Once at school her freshman year, she got a job working about 6 hours/week as a referee for intramural sports. She loved her job, and one of the high points for her was that she met a whole group of people that she may not have otherwise met. She returned to that job this year and was also asked to TA for TWO different classes (she had to turn one down.) So this year she has the 6 hour/week referee job and ~8 hour/week TA job. Needless to say, she thrives on being busy. And her summer job is waitressing at a local restaurant (fast table turnover and no alcohol) where she made over $4000 in tips this past summer.</p>
<p>my D has a WS award but found an outside job that tied in with her career plans. Her hours were about 15 hours a week. The number of hours were not so much a problem but when they were became a problem. She found had no time to complete her tuesday assignments for her thursday classes so became quite stressed. She handed in her notice and is a lot less stressed. In retrospect it would have been better to take her first semester to get used to college. She will probably take advantage of the WS in the future.</p>
<p>Although she enjoyed the job she realised it was actually not what she wanted to do the rest of her life so it was a good lesson learned plus a few dollars earned to see her through the rest of the semester.</p>
<p>My son just told me he picked up a job at a local breakfast type joint. His D and I did not encourage it nor discourage it, we said school first then job. He got a tiny amount of work study, which S says he might use next semester. He's working about 10-12 hours per week. He's done restaurant work, washing dishes, busing, prep and line work since he was 16 so he rarely has trouble picking up those types of jobs. He has never waited tables because all of the restaurants he's worked in served alcohol. He tells us he's doing "as expected" grade-wise and that he just wrote his first sociology paper on balancing school, social life and a job (like the profs haven't read that a million times!). All seems to be going well, but H and I won't stop holding out breaths until after this first semester of course.</p>
<p>D is a sophomore this year. Last year she worked 8 -10 hours a week to earn her own spending money. She got a job working in the Music Dept office (double majoring....Music and IR). This year, she is working 10-12 hours a week.</p>