How many work hours do you think is too many for a full time college freshman (who is not obligated to work that many hours)?
I’m asking because my mother is trying to discourage me from working 2 part time jobs (would be about 20 hours weekly total). She is offering to give me a weekly allowance so I won’t feel like I need a second job, but as much as I appreciate this offer, I’d like like to be able to cover extra/leisure expenses myself.
I am not expecting my course load to be easy at all, but I am not taking any STEM courses, if that makes any difference.
I would just like some unbiased opinions because my mother is pretty emotional about this whole process (I will be empty nesting her)
My D takes 18 credits, mostly STEM related, and works 10-12 hours/week. She does not play sports and her only extra at this time is guitar classes. Its doable for her but she has great time management skills and it is through the work study program which is flexible according to schedule and testings. I would definitely discourage her from working 20 hours/week.
Many moons ago I worked 15 hours per week. I made good grades and had a social life but didn’t sleep much. I think depending on course load, 10-12 is right.
@NEPatsGirl thanks for your response. is 18 credits above the normal course load there? I will be taking a regular non stem course load, which means 4 courses at my school and no labs.
@Sportsman88 thanks for your response. What kind of job was it?
No, I think most kids take four classes or so. My D takes four or five classes depending on rigor and usually a one or two credit research component. She generally takes one “fun” class each semester, something diversity or culturally related. Anything more than 18 credits cost additional.
For additional info, one job would be work study about 12 hours per week and is something that I might want to do as a volunteer if I wasn’t work study because I think I’d enjoy it and the other would be on campus and 6-8 hours per week. The second smaller job money would go partly toward tuition and partly just for me, and all of the money from job #1 will go to tuition.
This is pretty hypothetical because I don’t know that I will even be offered either of these jobs (still in interview process), but it’s what I’m thinking about.
For a first semester freshman, ID limit to 10-12 hours.
Research has shown that 15+ leads to lowered grades even for upperclassmen.
I’d stick to work study for first semester and if you’re okay add a few more hours, limiting to 15 a week total (you can decrease your work study hours if you find better paid hours, but unlike work study your other job doesn’t have to take your classes onto account, nor exams or finals) .
In terms of number a credits a semester how many do you need to graduate in 4 years. I needed 120. It was the norm for people to take 15-18 credits a semester most semesters since taking less meant catching up somehow (assuming no credits prior to starting). I wanted out in 4 years no summer classes.
There is no right/wrong as to how many hours you can work but there are things to think about:
1 is the money a want or a need
2 will working just one job we enough financially
3 can you work and successfully keep up academically
4 will work prevent you from being involved in school activities
5 can you pick your own hours for the job to work around school and activities
6 you mentioned tuition and you mentioned spending money
if you only need spending money how much do you need
7 where are the jobs, how long it the commute etc
I would not encourage my daughter to work more than 6-10 hours to start to give her time to figure out what works best for her. That is probably what I worked for work study which was my spending money.
@momtogirls2 I need 45 units of credit to graduate. Most classes count as one credit, so a typical course load is 4 courses per quarter to graduate in 4 years. (weird quarter system things)… below is me thinking about all of the things you mentioned, but you are welcome to skip to the question at the end. Thank you btw for a very thoughtful response
1 and 2 are kind of subjective I guess. The more money I make, the less debt I will have. Theoretically I could just not worry about the debt until I graduate and start a career, but I’d rather decrease it as much as possible.
3 and 4 are question marks and 3 is probably my biggest concern. I know there is no one answer to this, but how many hours a week to you think is a good amount to spend on studying for classes?
My first quarter classes will include my freshman seminar, 1-2 foreign language courses, 1-2 linguistics courses (but will be 4 total). I keep trying to imagine what a full schedule will look like including work, classes, studying etc. but I really don’t know how much I’ll want to be studying/writing papers for each class.
5 I’m not sure about the work study job, but the other employer (on campus) says that my hours would be very flexible.
6 I don’t only need spending money but I don’t know how much exactly I’d want. But if I don’t take the second job, my mom has offered to almost match the amount I’d be making.
7 the non work study one is a less than 10 minute walk from my dorm room. the work study one will be 5-10 minute drive or 10-20 minute bus ride.
For clarity, the question I asked above: I know there is no one answer to this, but how many hours a week to you think is a good amount to spend on studying for classes?
@MYOS1634 yeah the lower grades are definitely a concern for me, especially because I don’t have a good sense of what the course load will be like yet. I’ll keep thinking about that over the next few days. Thanks for your response
Campus job mostly officiating intramural sports. I could not study on the job. I had friends with campus jobs that could study on the clock. That changes things.
@Sportsman88 My sister has a job where she can study, but mine wouldn’t be like that. The work study one I applied to I chose specifically because it involves working with children, so I wouldn’t be able to study during that.
IMO it would make sense to start things off with one job and see how it goes. If you find you have free time you can pick up a second job (or try to add more hours to your first job) down the road. Give yourself a bit of breathing room to make the academic and social adjustment to college life.
Your intentions are honorable, but if your mom can afford to help you out a bit, trust me (as another mom) it would be her pleasure. I am certain that what she wants most is for you to have a happy and successful 4 years at college. Repay her by keeping in touch, saying thank you, and graduating.
@happy1 the problem is that i’d have to go a whole year without the extra job because it will be harder to get work after the first quarter, and I can’t add any hours to the first job because there is already a fixed limit based on my ws amount and they don’t pay more than that amount.
You can always find something down the road if you have time or maybe work one job freshman year and you can add over the next three years if you have time. IMO the worst scenario you can have is not to have enough time to do well in your classes.
I’m starting to lean towards taking the weekly allowance (its between that and the two jobs). I don’t want my grades to suffer, but it’s hard to swallow my pride and take the money. I mean, she’s already paying for tuition and room and board. My sister had an allowance her freshman year, but I would feel kinda snobby and immature. Idk
You’re doing work study. You’re working.
I concur your mother will be happier if you get good grades, make good choices, and send her texts every day just to say what you saw/did/thought about, or just to say hi - than if you take on too many hours to possibly do well in class, ruin your GPA, all for pocket money she could have given you.
@MYOS1634 I know you’re probably right. Orientation week starts this monday. I will set up my interviews when I get my schedule, and if I get the ws job I’m hoping for, I’ll prolly turn down the other one. If I don’t get it, maybe I’ll look for another job with less hours so that together it won’t be more 15 hours max. The non ws job I was looking at is 6-8 hours. Is it hard to find jobs with that few hours on campus? for ws or non ws (I can do either). My sister says she knows people with jobs that are like 5 hours a week, but that’s probably not common right?
