Thursday, November 16, 2017

Working through College?

How much should I try to work while in college? College is expensive, and I don't qualify for enough financial aid to cover much of the cost. I don't want to graduate with massive debt, so I'm planning to find a job either on or off campus. I'm going to major in engineering, so hopefully I can get a job or internship somewhere where I might want to start a career. However, college courses are rigorous, so I'm wondering how much time I should spend working in a week and how much time I should allot for coursework, extracurriculars, or other activities. I'm also considering if I want to join any hobby type bands so that I can still play my trombone. I'm not planning to major in music, but I want to keep playing at some level. Overall, what is the workload like in college and how many other activities can I fit into my schedule? -Jacob Zollinger

5 comments:

  1. Most incoming college students come in with this mindset of knowing they cant afford it so fhey get a job and before they know it, their schedule consists of work from 8am to 1pm, headed start to school after work until 8pm still having to make time for sleep,eat, and study time, and soon enough you're in your 4th year not having any social experience. I would suggest finding an oncampus job that offers free housing, which is one less thing to pay for, instead of clocking in to a 9 to 5

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  2. The best thing about college in my opinion is that you have the freedom to arrange your class schedule as you want. This is especially helpful when you have a job because you can build your school schedule around your work schedule and maybe even squeeze in the amount of time you'd need for academic responsibilities such as homework and projects as well as commute time if you do end up getting a job off campus.

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  3. Hey Jacob. I’d say it would be good to get a job now and experience what it’s like to work and have school at the same time so that you can learn to manage both and prepare yourself for when you do go to college. Maybe finding an campus job would be best since it would be easier to reach from a dorm or even a nearby apartment that is by the college you go to. Also, if you start working now, you’ll have an easier time with the experience when managing college courses and extracurricular activities in since you have the freedom of selecting your college schedule and will have been used to having a mandatory high school schedule. Overall, managing a work schedule with an on-campus job will probably best so you have an easier time commuting yourself and have more time to do other activities easily.

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  4. Jacob, depending if you are going to be a full time or part time student a job plan doesn't sound bad. College is expensive, for the most part we can't find the funds to pay it off. If you plan on becoming a full time student working on campus would be a better option for you. If you are part time, find a job that involves teaching students how to play the trombone since you want to be involved with your music career. Engineering does not sound like a bad idea, that is something I was interested in as well. I don't judge you for your decisions and I will not tell you what you should do. But some advice I have to give you is my oldest brother told me he was wasting his time trying to become and engineer because he wasn't too exactly sure on what he wanted to do with that career. If you have a plan, stick with it and I wish the best of luck to you.

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