<p>My D received work-study money as part of her financial aid package at one school. Do you think there might be too many adjustments that first semester away at school to add working 8-10 hours a week? The school said we could either accept for second semester only, or if she started working and found it was too much for her she could stop. I'd welcome any advice CC parents might have.</p>
<p>Both of my kids worked 10 hours a week during undergrad (dd still does). To be honest, it helps them budget their time a bit better...not as much "down time". DD has a work study job and DS had a regular job. It was not too much for either of them.</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore at UCB and has put in 8 - 10 hours of work study per week since fall semester, freshman year. It is totally doable for him. </p>
<p>One benefit by starting right away is that there seems to be more choices fall semester than spring. Son found a job where he is allowed to do homework if he completes his other tasks.</p>
<p>As a freshman my D also worked up to 10 hours a week with her work/study job. Many of those on-campus w/s jobs are actually very easy and do not tax the students in either time or energy. And yes, they do help kids organize their time better.</p>
<p>Did your D work in HS? Does she have time management issues or is she generally on top of deadlines? When she's on vacation does she sleep until noon or is she able to get up and moving without too much nagging? Any health problems? Does she do her own laundry and keep up with her household responsibilities/taking care of younger siblings???</p>
<p>If she's a kid who can generally manage her schedule then 8-10 hours a week is probably quite do-able and she will also probably appreciate having some structure in what seems to many Freshpeople to be a LOOONG day with many temptations (there's always a party; there's always someone to hang out with; there's always something fun to do.) If she's struggled to keep up with school, EC's, chores at home, etc. then you might want to wait until second semester.</p>
<p>My daughter had an outside job for the 1st half of her first semester. It did make things difficult as the hours were awkward with certain parts of her schedule (completing an assignment given on tuesday by thursday was really stressful as she worked tuesday evenings, wednesday mornings, had classes wed afternoon and a lab wednesday evening). Then she quit that and started a WS job. That worked very well - being on campus made things much easier and her particular job the prof was very flexible about hours. So a WS job is doable. I second the organizing time better - my daughter's job has been on hold due to some delays in a project and that lack of structure in her day seems to encourage her procrastinating tendencies.</p>
<p>We did have part of her WS award changed to a subsidized loan as the award was $3400 and we did not think she could earn that. We were right. She has the same award this year. Plan to have part changed to a loan again.</p>
<p>As a freshman and recruited athlete in a highly demanding sport, my son has not had the time to take advantage of his WS award. We did tell him this past summer if he worked hard enough and made enough money in the summer then he would not need to have a job during the school year</p>
<p>He has managed his money well and paid for all his books, living expenses and other fees. We will likely make the same deal with him as his sport goes from Sept-April and eats up 3-4 hours per day--he needs time for his studies too!</p>
<p>As a high school senior, I moan and complain when I only get 8-10 hours a week from work. Seriously, it's just enough to be worth it but not enough to feel like it's not wasting my time.</p>
<p>Both my boys have had work study all four years, starting as soon as they could find a job. D didn't qualify, so didn't work this (freshmen) year. She did get a job for next year as a German tutor, so we'll find out how she does. We had decided that even if she'd been awarded work study, we would probably not make her start right away - she has never held a job, and has a few more organizational challenges than her brothers (she's ADD). However, I am thrilled she is going to be working next year, and this will be the perfect job for her.</p>
<p>We pay tuition, room and board, and necessities (like books and travel), but our kids have been responsible for everything else. I think D is going to enjoy being able to eat out, go to a movie, etc - the thrill of having pocket money.</p>
<p>My personal feeling is that it's good if freshmen don't have to work at a part-time job while making adjustments to university life. Obviously, working may be a financial necessity, in which case perhaps a fairly light, low-stress job can be found. However, I think it's ideal for students - especially those going away from home (for the first time) to difficult schools - to have the time needed both to adjust to the demands of college coursework and to create a whole new network of friends. I want my daughter to really be able to take full advantage of everything at the university: the classes, the profs, the extracurricular activities, and the other students. She'll probably get a job in future years, hopefully one that will be a good learning opportunity for her, but this first year we plan to try to do without...</p>
<p>My d was awarded work study and procrastinated about applying first semester. Second semester she did apply and got a job she loves. They told her she could earn the total amount in one semester, so she adds hours whenever possible. Truth be told, I was annoyed with her for not working first semester, but she's "got it together" now, and this approach worked for her.</p>