Hi! I am here to get an advice on my major. I am taking my core classes right now, but it is almost the time to decide my major. I am part-time student and work full time. I had social work in my mind from the beginning, but many people are discouraging me from it. They say it’s very stressful and does not pay much. However, I feel like this is something I would love to do. Another option for me is PTA. But, I would have to quit my job and be a full time student. This is very scary decision to me because with my husband’s paycheck we would barely made it. I am not sure I want to put this much stress on him. Pros of this program is that I would finish it soon and have a decent salary, while with part-time working on social work would take me 5-7 years to graduate if not more. Another thing I have to consider is my biological clock. I am 33 years old and would like to have a baby while I can. With part-time, I can somehow manage, but by being a full-time student, I don’t think I would be able to drive 3 hours in a car, study, etc. I am just really don’t know. I don’t know if it is smart decision to wait to be 35-36 for my first child. Were any of you in this situation? What would be a better choice carrier and money vise when it comes to PTA and Social Work?
There’s no right or wrong answer to this; it really depends on your needs and desires.
It sounds like you are currently an undergraduate student. If you are, you should know that many social work jobs require an MSW just to break into the area. You can get entry-level social work jobs with a BSW, but you will eventually need to return to get an MSW. The median annual salary for social workers is $44,200 (May 2012 data; from BLS.gov). It’s higher or lower in different fields - healthcare social workers who work in hospitals average $56K, whereas social workers who work in residential treatment facilities and nursing homes average $35K. I have heard that it is a high turnover field - people do get burned out, and it is stressful. But lots of people really love helping others and doing the direct service work, and MSW holders do often move into community services administration and management (rather than being case workers their whole lives). The downside, of course, is that it will take you 5-7 years to finish the BSW and more time to do the MSW: that’s a long time to struggle, and too long to put off having a child.
Physical therapist assistants average $52,160 (May 2012; also from BLS.gov; click on the pay tab. The median listed is misleading because it also includes physical therapist aides, which are HS diploma-level jobs). Other sources support this rough number. PTA programs generally take about 2 years to finish full-time.
So basically, as a PTA you’d average probably about $10K more in salary to start with, and it’s a shorter period of time. You would have to struggle those 2 years while you don’t work full-time. You should talk to your husband about whether that’s a viable option for the two of you, to take 2 years when you struggle by on his salary. I’m the wrong person to ask because I chose to struggle for 6 years on a PhD student salary so I could get a PhD, lol, but I tend to think that delaying gratification for a few years for better long-term outcomes is a smart move. In reality, you also get to your goal a lot faster - will you want to have a baby while you are a full-time employee and a part-time student? Think about how that will change your current schedule - you still may be struggling, because you will have to pay for childcare while you work and attend school. I also personally think that being a PTA assistant would be a less stressful and more interesting job than being a social worker. That’s why if it were me making the decision, I would choose that program. But that’s my decision based on my personal preferences and desires; you have to make one based upon yours.
These days it is totally not uncommon for women to have their first children at 35 or 36. You do raise the risk of having a child with birth defects, but honestly not so much more than you would if you were to have a baby at 33.