I never worked part-time during the school year, but I am thinking about starting to do it. How hard is it?
You can do it. Millions of other college students do it. No more than 10-15 hours a week is no problem.
How hard it is depends entirely on the job. Most on campus jobs are no problem.
Doable. I put myself through college and worked the whole time (the economics of college have changed so I’m not suggesting you can pay for your college with this system any more, just explaining that I have direct experience.)
My older son has worked 10-15 hours a week through high school and still got good enough grades and test scores to be admitted to a very selective college. In fact, I think his work was part of why he was admitted.
You just need to have good time management skills.
No more than 10 to 15 hours a week.
It’s also a good idea because your internship applications will ask if you have worked, and what you’ve done.
They want to see time management skills.
Try to get a job on campus if you can. They are more flexible with classes and tests. At least I am with my college assistant.
On campus is entirely different than off campus. The former can be flexible when you have exams or papers due. In contrast, off campus can mean you compete with locals for the work, have to get to the job, and they usually expect you to work the hours they set and stick to them.
You will be fine. Just find someone that is flexible if you work off campus. I work fri-sat. about 13 hours a week. I want to work more (long story related to where I work) but I am only doing two days a week right now. My plan next year is work Fri-Mon with Tues-Thurs off because those are my busy days. I know people working 36-40 hours a week plus school and they are doing fine. It depends on what free time you want.
Everyone I knew did it.
I was the “dummy” in the group, with a 3.8 GPA. The rest of my friends managed to maintain a 4.0 while working 4 nights a week in a restaurant.