Working Full-time and going to school

When I transfer I’m going to have to find an apartment therefore I’ll be working full time.
I’ll be majoring in environmental engineering. How many classes a semester will it be safe to take?
If there’s any engineering majors reading this and have worked full time, what was your course load. I would still like a life so I was thinking 9 hrs/sem. Is that reasonable?

This is highly dependent on many factors, how challenging your classes are, how organized and efficient you are, whether or not you can study while working, etc. it would be hard for anyone to really advise you with so little information.

I got an MBA while working full time in my early 20s. I could not manage more than 2 classes per semester. But you have to see what issues it raises with your college to take various numbers of credits. There are minimums, especially for “regular” degree programs not aimed at full time working students.

The ultimate goal for any college kids is to get a job. Not just a job but high paying job. High paying job requires high GPA and/or REU, internships, etc especially for any engineers (engineering majors). You should know by now that engineering degrees are not easy; especially if you want to maintain high GPA like above 3.3 3.4 or 3.75 out of 4.0. So, if you instead of concentrating to purse such high GPA are already in as full time worker in workforce then it is really hard. I am not kidding. I know also that having some money is nice as you can pay for apartment, buy books, pocket money, etc. But, don’t lose your focus about getting high GPA as mentioned above. The solution (s) for your dilemma is trying to get any type of Financial help from your school like internal or external scholarship, student loans, getting part time job only and get REUs in the summer every year.

@Tulanefan101 yeah I will definitely try to apply for scholarships but they let you pay rent with them? I really want to try to graduate with as little debt as possible. What is REUs?

REU is Research Experiences for Undergraduates; that is the research for undergraduate students and usually is done in the summer time. It pays handsomely and it is a competition to get it; not given to you. If you can get any REUs, it will look good on your resume. My Son did not have outside experiences but he was loaded with REUs. REUs will be counted as Professional Experiences too (especially for engineering as it is showing you have engineering skills). Anyhow, regarding internal and external scholarships, I believe they don’t pay your rent. However, they will reduce your tuition and fees. So, you pay less tuition and your money allocation for paying the school can be used toward your rent (and books) etc.

And also keep in mind that an MBA is much easier to complete part-time than an engineering degree for various reasons, including relative rigor of the program and accommodation for work schedules. Honestly I would generally recommend going to school full-time whenever you actually have a choice in the matter. School is tough; school plus work is truly draining.

Yes, I agree. Engineering courses are more rigorous.

Keep in mind that REUs primarily accept students that don’t currently study at an R1 university. The purpose of the program is to give students who don’t have much access to research opportunities a chance to experience that. It isn’t unheard of to do an REU as a student at an R1, but for the most part, it’s not all that common since those students already have access to world-class research labs.

Well my Son is the exception to the rules mentioned by boneh3ad. He has not one by three of REUs. One for his physics from Tulane (R1) and the others were from Vandy (R1 too). Therefore, when he finished 3+2 of those schools, he was able to travel using the excess money.

I am not really sure what you were saying there, @Tulanefan101. Are you saying he has done three REUs, and one was at Tulane while the other was at Vanderbilt?

He did 3+2 program. Physics (Tulane) and ME (Vandy). One REU at Tulane for physics in Electrochemical intercalation in layered materials and at Vandy-Mechanical Engineering in Magnetic Ride and the other one I forgot what he did but it was something to do with aerospace. Anyhow, do you agree that REUs will pay good money right?. Therefore, if OP got one of these REUs, it will be helpful financially for him and it helps also with his resume/professional experience. All of these REUs and coupled with high GPA and his passing the FE, he has been able to secure a high paying job with Northtrop Grumman (NG) in Cali-Redondo Beach as engineer.

Of course they pay well. They pay well enough that, in grad school, we grad students were always a little irritated that the pay rate for REUs we were hosting over the summer was higher than what we got paid even though we were essentially their supervisors.

Out of curiosity, are you using the term REU to encompass all sorts of undergraduate research or are you specifically using it to describe the actual REU program funded by the National Science Foundation? Undergraduate research is primarily performed internal to a given university. The REU program is one where professors write a proposal to have their lab (or a group of labs at their institution) designated an REU site for several years, and the positions are typically filled with undergraduates from other universities for the duration of a summer. Probably the biggest benefit of these programs from the perspective of the host school is as advertising to undergraduates from other schools with the hope of luring them into their own graduate program, so it is very unusual for an undergraduate to do an REU at their own school. Instead, those schools just hire them directly.

I think this miscommunication of the terms we are using is probably why we haven’t been on the same page, since it sounds like what your son did was actually serving as an undergraduate research assistant at his school(s).

For what its worth to all involved in the discussion here, undergraduate research experience is absolutely helpful as job experience when it comes to searching for post-graduate employment. However, it is usually not as valuable to an employer as internship experience. It really depends on what skills were acquired during the research experience, though, which can vary greatly. However, when it comes to applying for graduate school, undergraduate research is the gold standard and is far more valuable than internship experience in most cases.

Frankly speaking, I know nothing about REUs at all and my college days are over years/moons ago. The real REU that he did was at Tulane as a bunch of kids (master and PHD) took part and the fund was from NSF. The other two from Vandy were internal research of that school. Anyhow, all I know is that REU pays well and it is good for your resume in getting entry level job (as my son was able to sell his skills on the resume to his employer). In addition, I know my son when he was in school, he was kind of lazy to get any external internships or jobs. So, I had to open my mouth in order for him to get additional money for his school.I hope also OP will try to find REU or external internships or internal scholarships so that it lessen the burden for him in terms of paying apartment, school tuition and fees, etc. Anyhow, I am sorry if I misuse the REU terms. Be blessed to both of you.

Not a big deal. I was just trying to make sure we were all on the same page, and I’ve recently done a lot of research on the issue because I was thinking of writing a grant to try to fund an REU site in the next few years, so it’s fresh on my mind.

My kid goes to a small LAC that has a ton of research opportunities, and she and her friends have still gotten REU offers.