<p>I'll be a sophomore this year with a 3.1 GPA. I've worked 5 hours a week since I graduated high school. The GPA is lower because of math, but I just finished my math requirement so I hope to raise it up again.</p>
<p>I work for a large organization and was offered an additional position that would add 15 hours a week. I get paid a decent wage and this was too good to turn down.</p>
<p>My parents pay for my school and my mom is really against me working 20 hours. Is she overreacting? I just wanted to know what other parents' opinions on this are. I'll be taking 15 credit hours with 5 courses.</p>
<p>P.S. It will be 2 days @ 4.5 hours and one weekend day @ 6 hours, in addition to one hour each weekday morning.</p>
<p>My parents pay for my school and my mom is really against me working 20 hours. Is she overreacting? I just wanted to know what other parents’ opinions on this are. I’ll be taking 15 credit hours with 5 courses.</p>
<p>Your mom has a valid concern.</p>
<p>*It will be 2 days @ 4.5 hours and one weekend day @ 6 hours, in addition to one hour each weekday morning. *</p>
<p>the problem could be that the 4.5 hour days could be on days when you have other homework to do. Are either of those days on a Friday after classes? If so, then not so bad.</p>
<p>Anyway…going from 5 hours a week to 20 is too much. Your GPA is “ok” but not great. Your GpA could slip with that many hours.</p>
<p>The one hour a day is actually a substantial hourly pay compared to my peers. So it pays for gas in a guzzling Explorer and the other 75% for savings. GPA was 3.48 before the last math class. Of course the standard I am expected to meet is a 4.0. But I understand now… being addicted to the paycheck is probably right on the money.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses; I couldn’t get an understandable answer from my mom, but now I understand why she would react that way. I’m going to try it with the stipulation that if my grades slip, I will cut the extra 15 hours.</p>
<p>Advice given to students at the university at which I teach is this: Research shows that students who work 10 hours a week at on-campus jobs have higher gpas than students who do not work at all or who work off campus more than 10 hours a week. Students who work more than 10 hours a week on or off campus have a lower gpa. The reason for the difference in gpa between on and off campus working is that campus offices tend to be flexible with student hours before tests and exams - off campus employers tend not to let you change your hours to accommodate studying for tests and finals. This data suggests that 20 hours of work a week is likely to impact your gpa negatively.</p>
<p>Your mother is right to be worried. A 3.1 GPA is barely above what would be minimally acceptable to most entry-level employers from what I’ve seen and from my older cousin’s bitter experience. Personally, I’d be infuriated with myself if my cumulative college GPA was that low. </p>
<p>If you want to make a stronger case for your mother, raise your CUMULATIVE GPA to at least a 3.3 or higher first. While working part-time is great…studying and doing well in your courses is your first priority…especially where you are right now.</p>
<p>You have the rest of your life to work. If you are in a position financially where you don’t have to work the 20 hours, I wouldn’t. I agree with the research that shows up to 10 hrs/week can be beneficial, but more than that starts cutting into study time. I worked 30-40 hrs/week to put myself through college and it definitely affected my GPA and my quality of life. I’d scrub floors and eat a lot of Ramen noodles so my kids didn’t have to work that many hours during college.</p>
<p>Another mom…our kids worked an average of 10 hours per week. Both had jobs with varying hours per week…sometimes 5 and sometimes 15…but the average was 10. Personally I think that is plenty of hours to be working while attending school full time.</p>
<p>Your primary, and full time job, is school. This is also the only time in your life to enjoy the full college experience. You will have the rest of your life to earn money. You also need to spend more time on your school work- the courses will be more advanced and easily may require more work. If you can’t negotiate to a maximum of 10 hours stick with the 5. You owe it to yourself and your future to focus on school instead of easy money now. Also agree you need to raise your cumulative gpa- you have to improve a lot to make up for your freshman year. It wasn’t just one math course that gave you that gpa.</p>
<p>But working also gives you good experiences and organization skills which are very valuable. So find the 10 hour job if you need cash (and who doesn’t). I think being able to show you were employed while in school will be valuable to show future employers when you graduate.</p>
<p>Is the part-time job something that will help you get a full-time job after you graduate? If so, it is worth considering. </p>
<p>Are you the type of person who is more efficient when busy, and will be motivated to fit everything in? Or will working more hours cut back on your time to study?</p>
<p>Go to the organization that wants to give you 20 hours a week, and tell them you’d like to go up to 10, but not 20. Try some negotiation. If they like you, they may work with you.</p>
<p>OP, what is your major (besides drumming ;))? I think this is a factor. Whether you can manage the 20 hour job AND the studies depends on you. I wouldn’t let “statistics” get in the way.</p>
<p>I have a different perspective. I was most successful in college, with better grades, when I worked 20 hours a week (also had to drive 20 or more minutes to get to my job). Otherwise I had too much time on my hands and was much less efficient with my studying. The job was in the area of my major, I enjoyed the job, and it made me much more engaged in the classes in my major. I didn’t really have a choice in whether to work or not, as I was mainly self-supporting at that time. I made life-long relationships at the job as an added bonus!</p>
<p>I really appreciate the different perspectives on this matter. My major is Public Safety Management and my job is related to the field. I’m also stubborn, so I’m going to try the extra fifteen hours and see how it works out. </p>
<p>Since it is in my major field, I have met many public safety personnel to network with. </p>
<p>I drive 20 miles to school, in order to have the job that pays really well and a great education. So I’m not selling the truck and I’m being stubborn even with statistics in mind.</p>
<p>I understand why my mom reacted that way and we agreed that if the extra work affects my performance, I will cut it off. Last year I spent a lot of time sitting around bored, and I was content with my grades. I don’t have the highest GPA, obviously. I wouldn’t have accepted a job that was 5 days a week for 3 or 4 hours a day. I only have 4 days of classes a week, so I have hope that it will work out. And if it reaches a point where my grades are negatively affected., I’ll heed your advice and add truth to those statistics!</p>
<p>I worked 18 hours a week in my first year in college and my grades were a disaster but the work experience was useful in life and in getting my first professional job. At the moment, there are lots of grads without work and many that would probably love to have your job.</p>
<p>Is it possible for you to do a coop or take fewer credits? Work experience in your major and an ongoing job is valuable these days.</p>
<p>This approach may be detrimental to your GPA but you have a bird in the hand with it.</p>
<p>BTW, a job where you work one hour a week per day for five days is a bigger burden than working five hours for one day per week because of travel and prep time.</p>
<p>I can’t take fewer credits because I need 30 credits a year to graduate in 4. I think the experience is great. My sister is a college grad in Phi Beta Kappa and 4.0 GPA and couldn’t get a job. So I still think the experience is worth it. Below 3.0 GPA is when the alarms will be set off in my mind.</p>
<p>My older cousin thought the same way when he was a STEM major at URochester. Had outstanding part-time and summer working experience at some computer engineering/software development firms during his undergrad. While those experiences got him many interviews, every interviewer he had abruptly ended them once they found his cumulative GPA was ten thousandth of a point below 3.0 and he needed another six months after graduation before he landed his first entry-level job in his field. </p>
<p>If you said the above to my older cousin, he’d be livid as it would be too late when your GPA has actually fallen below 3.0…especially if it happens later in your undergrad career. Alarms should start sounding when you’re nearing the 3.0 mark.</p>