<p>Did anyone go to college full-time and work full-time? Is it possible? What was it like? How did you do it? Did you sleep at all?</p>
<p>It’s doable. I’ve done it. I know several other people who’ve done it. </p>
<p>A full-time job is about 40 hours a week; a full-time student should expect to be putting in about 40 hours a week although many people do less. There are a lot of people in the world with 80-hour work weeks.</p>
<p>If you can get a job with “downtime” that allows you to do your own work when they don’t have work for you to do, you can get more done in less time. Some receptionist and security guard jobs, for instance, require you to be in a specific place ready to work when something comes up, but let you study when there’s nothing to do.</p>
<p>The main thing you’ll want to do is to ensure that you’re not letting time get away from you. If you’ve got a class from 9 to 10 and another class from 11 to 12, you should make sure that you’re actually studying between 10 and 11. If you’re commuting on public transit and you’re spending more than a few minutes on a given bus or train you’ll want to make sure that you’re using that time productively. When you take your lunch break at work, either spend that time doing something that you like, like socializing with your coworkers, or use it to study. That way you’ll be able to put in your 80 hours and be able to use the rest of your time to eat, sleep, socialize, watch TV, or whatever else you want to do, instead of letting all the “breaks” in your day eat up all your free time.</p>
<p>And the other thing is to remember that you may need to do things at school during the day – like visiting professors’ office hours, going to a tutoring center, or meeting with teammates for a group assignment – that aren’t on your official schedule. You’re better off finding a job that either isn’t 9-5 or 11-7 or one that allows you some flexibility to miss work when you have things you have to do on campus. It will be easier for you if you’re at a community college, where a lot of students work full-time, or a 4-year commuter college, where they expect students to be off campus a lot of the time when they’re not in class, but if you can work out a schedule that enables you to spend time on campus during the day even when you’re not in class you’ll be able to succeed even if most of your classmates don’t spend much time at jobs.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you find a job on your campus. That is what what I"ve been doing for 3 years. Since you are in an academic atmosphere, your supervisor/boss is usually sympathetic about giving you time off if you need to study for a test, or around exams time.
“nontraditional” makes a good point: find a job that has downtime, since it provides a great time to be focused (some people get distracted at home) and productive, and actually getting PAID!!</p>
<p>This is what I am currently doing and have been doing since I started school. I work 40 hours a week and go to school sometimes full time other times half time. In my personal experience yes it is doable. However, I am definitely not a 4.0 student. Don’t get me wrong I have a high GPA but not 4.0. I know I could do it if I didn’t work though. Sometimes I just don’t care anymore. I still need/want time to myself and my friends. I work at an office so I do get to sneak in my homework every now and then or I will print and email schoolwork from the office. I also have to go to the library every weekend because sometimes I am too exhausted to do any work during the week. I try to catch up or advance all I can on weekends. I also go to every summer session. You can do it.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the feedback. I currently have a full time job but my commute is 1hr with traffic and 30 mins without traffic (405fwy). Schedule starts 6am and ends 230pm. My plans are to go back to college. Start at a community college part time and keep working full time. I would like to save enough so I can go to school full time and not work. The job I have right now is great but it is not for me. You have to make a living with the career you enjoy, right?</p>
<p>I was thinking of recording the sessions/classes and playing them back during my commute.</p>