<p>This is one of those things I was wondered about since I was curious about how college life has changed since I was in college a few years ago. </p>
<p>How many college students in college on this forum work between 10 - 20 hours a week, approximately, and how many work between 20 -30 hours per week and ho9w many work 30-40 hours per week?</p>
<p>My understanding was that in our parents generation students worked on average 15-30 hours a week in school, but college expenses were so much lower that working this much could essentially pay for almost all college costs. These days, I imagine that if students have to pay their own room and board and are not getting financial or family aid that their odds of paying their own way are slim to none. I read a statistic on one off the many college costs write ups that detailed how a student, if she or he was not getting family or financial aid, would have to work 48 hours a week in a min wage job just to pay for tuitions, and that is not including any other college expenses. </p>
<p>The number of hours I worked varied during undergrad from 0 to maybe 15 during the semester. During the summer I worked full time for the summers right before junior year and right before senior year, pretty much the whole summer. I think both of those summers I didn’t do anything the week right after the semester was done. </p>
<p>Internships in many fields can pay well and if not pay for a year’s tuition entirely, pay for a very large chunk of it. Though this is not the case in all fields. </p>
<p>Thanks for commenting. I know that in some fields like chemistry, math, biology and physics </p>
<p>they have TA ships and RA ships, but often for undergrads<br>
they do not pay that well and are very time consuming<br>
and so betweeen these commitments and their schoolwork
, which at many colleges has become incredibly ddmanding by itself<br>
even for the most capable students, it has become very hard to be able<br>
to fit in other jobs of any kind.</p>
<p>Among college students I knew, if they were a STEM major in addition<br>
to being an undergrad TA or RA , very few of them were able to<br>
work at any other kind of job of any kind, at least during the school year,</p>
<p>^^^ How, that seems highly impressive, even if you are among the older generations of college students. What was your major and undergrad institution? </p>
<p>I was a STEM major and have known literally of no college students that worked upwards of 50 hours a week during the semester. I am well aware that they are indeed out there even now but I am just saying I never saw them. Especially if they were looking to get into phd programs afterwards; this required TA and RA experience on top of coursework as I noted above.</p>
<p>In any event, good for you for working so unusually hard. </p>
<p>I work anywhere between 0 and 20 hours a week during school. This summer and fall (I’m taking a semester off) I’m scheduled to work between 35-60 hours a week. </p>
<p>And holy crap @romanigypsyeyes Did you go to school full time?</p>
<p>I’m a STEM major. I don’t work. Not by time constraints, but by (forced) choice. I could easily work a job if I wanted, too. I have too much time on my hands, currently. Next semester, I will be working a as a paid tutor by my university. </p>
<p>I graduated with a BA in Arts & Humanities and a BS in Anthropology. </p>
<p>I was not a STEM major though generally 6-9 of my semester credits would be STEM classes (I took a very bio & zoo-heavy courseload). </p>
<p>To be completely honest, it sounds like a lot but it really wasn’t. School and time management have always come very easily to me and I had a great partner that did things like the laundry and cleaning. </p>
<p>I’m only working about 10 hours a week in my Master’s program and it’s driving me bonkers. I can’t wait to get back up to 45ish hours this summer with my double internships </p>
<p>Thanks for the explanation. I get the impression you were more mentally and emotionally mature than the vast majority of college students today and planned your trajectory much, much better. I do say that since I know that there are very few college students who would be able to handle 50 hours a week on top of their college schedules if inf act they were looking at getting into a desired grad school after college [which often requires numerous commitments on top of simply doing your coursework].</p>
<p>I worked 20-40+ hours/week in undergrad depending on the quarter and sometimes the week, but that was usually across 2-3 jobs/internships. Summers would go up to 40-60 hours/week, depending on whether I took a class or not.</p>
<p>I definitely had friends who worked more, but I don’t think that experience is typical. Most students I knew worked 5-19 hours, if they worked at all.</p>
<p>I’m currently working 15-20 hours a week because I have an online class this semester. This gives me extra time during the day to work and less time at night to mess around. By filling up my days, I force myself to get more done at night. Last year I found that I always shut down after like 7 because I’d be bored, but since I don’t really have time to lose, I get more stuff during the evenings now.</p>
<p>However, I might cut my hours next year because sometimes 20 is just too much when I have 3 papers due in the same week. In hindsight I should have planned ahead better, but feeling the extreme crunch and panic made me realize that a few extra bucks in my bank account just isn’t worth that kind of stress. </p>
<p>I guess it’s different for me since I have a full ride and a housing grant as well, but that’s how i tend to look at it. I like staying busy and focused during the school year, but I also want to make sure I’m being productive in school.</p>
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