<p>My SO and I are having a rather heated discussion over my DS heading off to freshman year next year. DS was fortunate enough to win fantastic scholarship at state school. Tuition, room/board, books, stipend. Our contribution was going to be minimal and then we found out DS won an additional local scholarship last week. DS will actually be in overaward situation. They are going to reduce DS scholarship and we will be paying very minimal expenses. I think DS needs to study hard, keep up grades; (must maintain 3.3 GPA) To me this is his job; (keeping the scholarship) no need for employment. My SO (his dad) says he should work; even a few hours a week; because "that's what college kids do; he will fit in, and it will be good for him to earn his pocket money." Any thoughts?</p>
<p>How about a compromise. Do not have this youngster work the first term. See what his grades are like. Reevaluate the work situation after the first term grades are in.</p>
<p>A 3.3 is on the higher side for maintaining scholarship eligibility. </p>
<p>We didn’t want our kids to work freshman year at all. Both had earned adequate spending money during their summer jobs (does your son have a summer job?). However, both kids found little jobs that really didn’t interfere with their studies…10 hours a week, or less.</p>
<p>But we also made it abundantly clear that if they lost their scholarships, they were not returning to those colleges!</p>
<p>A few hours at a campus job allowed me to stay focused since so many other things were drawing my hours away. Since my work schedule was set, I knew i could rely on it. I don’t know about your kid, but I worked all thru college w/o any hiccups.</p>
<p>I second thumper’s idea of not working the first semester. Let him get a routine going, give him a chance to find out if he wants to work, and also to scope out the job possibilities. I would set an exact limit of any funds you offer to support him with (we will send $X dollars per month for spending money) and let him fend for himself if he doesn’t budget well.</p>
<p>My daughter chose a college that was above parents’ ability to pay, and so she is willingly working 15 hours/week in addition to having to keep a good gpa for scholarships. She is doing well, but it is stressful for her. She acknowledges she misses out on the social “downtime” in her dorm. But she has done so well in her lab work, she promoted to research position for her sophomore year. So work related to your major could have additional benefits if you can find openings.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you as you search for compromise.</p>
<p>Another vote for not working first semester. Adjusting to the life change and new environment is enough, and I agree that his primary job is maintaining a good GPA. Evaluate after that. I agree that paid employment of a few hours a week can be very beneficial in multiple ways. However, if OP’s SO thinks that working is the norm for college students and is therefore almost necessary in order to fit in (possibly implied by the original post), that doesn’t seem to be true at my D’s college (state flagship; not an enclave of the highly privileged). There are plenty of students with jobs, of course, but also plenty who don’t have jobs during the academic year. He’ll fit in either way.</p>
<p>DON’T WORK! I wish I had never had to work during college even though I learned from my Res Halls food service job my last year. There was so much to do on campus plus the academics. Although I had very little discretionary money at least I had the down time. First semester it is especially good to have time to get to know people and the campus.</p>
<p>I was able to defer one scholarship to my second year maximize my dollar amounts. It may be too late but you check on this.</p>
<p>My kids worked in the summer to earn their “pocket money”. They were responsible for providing their own spending money and paying for books. Both went into college with enough in the bank to cover those costs for a couple of years if necessary (from work summer before freshman year and money from graduation and other savings). Neither worked freshman year. D1 was offered a job working in the writing center for her college after freshman year, so she did that for the next 3 years. D2 is at a very difficult school – not sure if she will be able to work or not during the year (but she is earning about $2,500 after expenses in her research position on campus this summer). She does have work study for next year, and is going to see if her summer research professor is going to continue his research work during the year and if she could use her work study to work on that a few hours a week during the year.</p>
<p>My nephew didn’t work his first two years at a large state university because he had trouble finding a job during the year (not on work study, big school with a lot of kids looking for jobs). He has a job now as a junior, but did not work the first two years.</p>
<p>A 3.3 GPA can be challenging to keep, especially if he is in a STEM major. Some schools KNOW that some kids won’t make the GPA mark and they won’t have to pay out generous scholarships for four years. I say don’t take a chance on it if you don’t have to. Your SO is going to be kicking himself if your son loses his scholarship over GPA issues, and could have had more time to hit the books. Plus, good grades his first year can help cushion the blow if he hits some rougher courses later on – you don’t want him hovering at 3.35. College is a lot harder than high school – if you can afford to let him adjust without a job, it is a good idea. And… ask your SO why working in the summer to earn money wouldn’t serve the same purpose.</p>
<p>See how he does his first semester, GPA wise. I remember my daughter texted me that college is hard.</p>
<p>I agree, best not to work first semester or even the first year and see how things go. Certainly the most important thing is to maintain the GPA and the scholarship. Many students work over the summer to earn some spending money so that may be the better way to go.</p>
<p>Although I worked during my first three years of college and maxed out my credit loads, I don’t recommend doing it during the first year if one doesn’t have to. Especially if one has a scholarship conditional on maintaining a minimum GPA. </p>
<p>That creates an added layer or two of pressure that could be detrimental to your S’ college experience…especially considering the risk to his GPA conditional scholarship if he fails to maintain that 3.3. </p>
<p>If I were you, I would not encourage him to work for his first year and certainly not his first semester until he has a better idea of the academic pacing and workload he’ll be undertaking. </p>
<p>I had to do work study and although I never minded it–and thought it had no impact–I was amazed at how much easier I was able to get my work done when I did study abroad. I even went on a few weekend away trips, and I STILL felt more rested and more prepared. It finally dawned on me that not working 10-15 hours a week was the difference. </p>
<p>The money earned from scholarships is likely far more than he can realistically earn from working typical college student jobs. His (and your) first priority is to ensure keeping the 3.3 GPA, because losing the scholarship will be very costly. Given the full ride with the 3.3 GPA requirement, it is best for him not to work first semester.</p>
<p>I would give your student the first semester to adjust and then let him determine what is best for himself second semester .</p>
<p>But I might so encourage him to think strategically about achieving his long term goals.</p>
<p>Instead of pushing him into taking any old food service or library job (even if he could get one without work/study) or a similar job off campus just for pocket change, I would ask him to find and pursue those opportunities that would help him compete for good internships and career opportunities–for example, working with a professor, or getting involved in projects/activities that would add skills to his résumé.</p>
<p>deleted</p>
<p>At least not the 1st semester. I know more than one student who lost h/her scholarship bcs h/she did not meet the credits/GPA maintenance requirements. </p>
<p>After that, I agree w your SO. I think it’s worthwhile to work some limited hours, not just for pocket money, but to develop some financial sense. Kids who get an allowance in exchange for nothing and have not worked a humble hourly-rate job and have seen that awful FICA deduction, don’t have an appreciation for the value of money.</p>
<p>I am against working at least the first semester, because transitioning to college can be difficult for some kids. Learning to live with different people, doing one’s laundry (yes, that can be tough on some kids, if their parent did everything at home), time management, etc. My older son picked up some pocket money by participating in some studies and surveys. It was not a lot of money, but it was money. It did not interfere with his studies, either. So maybe your student can go that route? But his priority is keeping his GPA at 3.3 or better. He does not want to lose that scholarship. I have a nephew who worked throughout college to keep his loans down, but his grades suffered. Yes, he got a great job recently, but going to grad school (should that be in his plans) could be difficult. </p>
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<p>Yes, but it really isn’t critical that kids do this DURING the school year unless they need to financially. I am all for kids working (insisted that both my kids have paying work the summer before college – one ended up as a night shift stocker at a big box store, she REALLY was ready for college in the fall). And I am all for kids having a bit of financial skin in the game (for us it was books, spending money, and covering living expenses if they took an internship – paid or now – when they couldn’t live at home).</p>
<p>OP, what is your son’s major?</p>
<p>I was wondering the major as well. If it’s engineering, keeping a 3.3 GPA freshman year could take some work.</p>
<p>Or math or physics or a major where there are a lot of pre-med students gunning for good grades.</p>
<p>Two of my kids went to colleges that had an expectation on paper that students on financial aid would contribute a certain very modest amount through earnings, but neither had this requirement for the first year. </p>
<p>Definitely don’t work the first year unless something comes up that enhances study or future prospects. We told my son we didnt want him to work as a freshman but he ended up getting paid to manage the admissions office website and did sound design for theater productions. These activities did help him get a great paid summer internship. But he thrives on stress.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it is better to focus on long term employment prospects and independence over making low wages just to contribute small amounts and maintain some sort of work ethic and sense of autonomy. I agree that extracurriculars, volunteering or interning may be a better use of time, if the student does not need the money.</p>
<p>My kids have all worked in the summers but I explicitly said I thought it would be better if they did not work during the school year at all. This has even paid off with funding for grad school, for one, due to the fact that she could focus more on their work and take advantage of opportunities outside of class without work conflicts as a factor.</p>