Im an incoming freshman, and I was given a work study award for $2000 this year. In your experience, is it too much to balance a job, classes, homework, extracurriculars, and hanging out with friends, especially in your first semester here? A lot of the work study positions say they’re up to 20 hours a week, but is this really the case? Do you recommend that I do the work-study, or just apply to the positions that have shorter hours, or wait until my second semester? Thanks!
I think that 20 hours seems like a bit much - start with something closer to 10 unless you absolutely need the money. If you can afford it, it probably doesn’t hurt to have the extra time, but a smaller job 10 hours a week would probably be fine.
Is the $2K for this year or this semester? If it’s for the whole academic year, 10 hours a week will more than get you all of your work study.
It’s for the whole academic year. You’re right - I’ll prob end up doing something closer to 10 hours a week. Thanks!
I’m guessing that 20/week is the maximum you’d be able to do in a week, not the expectation that’s how many hours you’d have. At minimum wage, 20 hrs/wk would only be 14 weeks to use your work study quota, so it wouldn’t be possible for you to do a full 20/wk for very long, anyway.
Definitely take advantage of the work-study- it’s a part of your financial aid, so any hours not worked are just lost dollars. That being said, I can’t imagine you’d need 20 hours a week to hit $2,000. It depends on how much you’re paid, but most employers will set up a weekly/monthly schedule with your hours paced to hit your allotment.
For what it’s worth, I recommend the mail room. It’s only minimum wage I believe, but the schedule is a breeze. I worked there freshman year, and there was no set schedule; you came when you wanted for pretty much as long as you wanted. You were expected to help sort and deliver mail, but an average delivery took probably an hour max, and there were generally only 2 delivery times per day. I had classes off on Tuesdays and could basically sit in the mailroom 8 AM - 5 PM with maybe 2 of those hours being “work”, the rest being homework/Netflix/whatever. If I was busy one week or had unexpected extra time I could always skip a usual shift or come in unexpected. Great for a college student.
Personally, I’m jealous of work study students. I disagree with nova about the mailroom though: try to work somewhere that actually advances your education. I work at around 10-15 hours/week in the lab during the school year for free, whereas the other undergraduate in the lab uses those hours for work study. She makes something like $15/hr and quickly maxes out for the semester.
I’m sure that there are similar opportunities for CS/Econ
@julianstanley Work study students get work study for a reason. And that reason is not something to be jealous of.
OP - I’d try to find something that may help you with connections, like working in a Dean’s office, or something that you enjoy, such as working in a lab or with the center for student programming.
@whitespace You’re right–I’m sorry if I offended. Jealous was a bad choice of words–I’m lucky to not need work study. Better: I see work study as an positive opportunity, not a tedious chore. Many great campus positions are work study-only.
Hey @novafan1225, I’m also an incoming freshman and I want to work in the mailroom for work study. How/where did you apply? I searched for anything mail related on the Student Employment myNEU page, but nothing came up.
Think it’s something like mail service associate? Not sure. It may not be posted yet, though. @thesebajun
I applied for that job “Mail Services Associate” and got it, and I work at ResMail in Speare where people pick up packages. It doesn’t seem that chill! Also we never make “deliveries”, we just sort incoming packages, and then search for students’ packages when they come pick them up.
Did I apply for the wrong job? haha
@thesebajun yeah. ResMail on Columbus is what I was referring to. It’ll slow down pretty soon though, people are still sending things they forgot from home/books for the semester.