<p>Currently I work full time and attend community college. I take on average of 14 units a semester and maintain a 4.0 GPA. I'd like to try to transfer to UCLA in the fall of 2015, but I'd also like to continue working to offset the costs of tuition. It's your standard 8AM-5PM office job, Mondays through Fridays, so it's standard enough to schedule around. I could forseeably do their classes that are after 6:00 PM, online, or on weekends to meet the 12 unit full time requirement if I have to, though I also saw something on the website about being able to register at half-time? But I don't have any information on that -- I've reached out to a UCLA representative for info on that, but I'd appreciate any info anyone has on a half time enrollment there.</p>
<p>Really my question boils down to this: how painful/plausible is this kind of arrangement? Would twelve units a semester be too much for a UCLA degree plan? I'm almost thirty years old and I've been working full time for over ten years now with no break, so I've got a decent grasp on balancing work/life. The only unidentifiable factor for me is how intense a UCLA workload is.</p>
<p>What would be your intended major? I’m not really familiar with any classes that are offered at night, online, or on the weekends (very rare), but I suppose they may exist outside of my program. I believe that being enrolled half-time simply means taking 6-11 (at least 6, less than 12) units for an undergraduate program. I don’t think there’s much to it other than just enrolling in about 2 classes a quarter–whatever adds up to six to eleven–which would also affect your financial aid or university housing if you were to receive those.</p>
<p>A lot of people struggle with just the courseload itself (about 3-4 classes a quarter). Some people are able to work part-time and be fine, and I’m sure there are some students who work full-time as well. If you think you’d have a good grasp on it, then go for it, but it doesn’t sound like there would be a lot of time for you to work full-time and study full-time.</p>
<p>The latest class I’ve taken started at 4pm. Even if you are a part-time student, you would need to attend most of your classes. You could skip a lot of lectures for some classes, especially if they are bruincasted. There are some online classes, but they’re really new.</p>
<p>While I think working full time is possible (and I don’t doubt that some people have done it) working full-time, 9am-5pm, M-F is not possible. </p>
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<p>There are going to be a lot of required major classes that will be offered 9am-5pm timeslot that you simply won’t be able to take. UCLA has to schedule most of its classes to the benefit of most of its students, who are largely between the ages of 18-24 and don’t work (or work very little) while they’re going to school there. And so, most of the scheduled classes, including required ones, are between 9am-5pm.</p>
<p>Another thing is, your classes will probably take at least 2-4 hours per week per class for studying (probably more for more intensive majors) and that’s not including time you actually have to go to class. I don’t see where you’ll find much time for studying unless you’re an [url="<a href="http://www.spotlight.ucla.edu/alumni/james-franco/“]exceptional”>http://www.spotlight.ucla.edu/alumni/james-franco/"]exceptional</a> student<a href=“and%20most%20people%20aren’t.”>/url</a></p>
<p>My advice is see if you can work at your job part-time 3 days a week, and try to schedule most of your classes (and studying) on the other two days. And see if you can alternate the days in your office by what classes you want to take in a particular quarter.</p>
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<p>It might better to try to save now and cut your expenses rather than work while you’re attending. UCLA will require a lot more of your time than community college did. For what it’s worth, I knew two people who transferred from CC with 4.0s, and neither of them had a 4.0 at UCLA. I also knew two 30 year+ students, and neither of them worked very much when they transferred there (both took out loans I think.)</p>
<p>Lastly, assuming the amount of loans you’d need to borrow is reasonable (which is generally considered less than 30k in total) you shouldn’t be too worried about borrowing as the expected gains in income far outweigh the debt you’re undertaking.</p>
<p>Good luck with the counselor, hopefully they can find something that works out for you.</p>