Full time school while doing full time work

[dezmarez]

So I accepted a job last year working full time as part of a Work Study, I still had 4 "option" classes to finish up which I planned to do part-time over the next 2 semesters, (fall and winter)...
i had everything planned out perfect...

now i went to go pay tuition but it turns out i have scholarships that would pay for all 4 classes...i'm thinking sweet...i will have my classes paid for and don't have to worry about paying another dime for school...

turns out i have to be registered in full time status to receive the scholarships...

now i have never worked full time and gone to school full time....
the total amount of tuition for 4 classes is $2,200 which would be covered...
now i dont really care about my marks because after this I'm done and i dont think my GPA could be hit to bad...

anyone work full time and go to school full time?
think its managable?

or should i just not worry about the scholarships and go ahead with the 2 courses a semester as planned.

any thoughts would be great.

[Amysicle]

I think it would depend on how long this job will last (is it a set term like 2 years or would you still be employed after you finish your studies?), how much they're currently paying you (enough for expenses and tuition at the 2 courses/semester rate?), and if you're living at home (if you don't need the extra money from your job and it sounds like the scholarship doesn't cover living expenses anyways).

Also, what is full time? Is it 60% of your course load which may be 3 classes or....? Could you possibly do distance education as the courses?

I think the work experience may be pretty important, as well as not burning any bridges, having a job right now when so many new grads do not. But the paid tuition is really nice and if you could somehow juggle it all, you'd have free education, spending money and work experience.

Good luck with what you decide.

[max_boost]

It's manageable if you are hardcore but for most working ft + school ft = fail. You need to have the ability to cope with the demands of both, lose your social life and just have your shit in order.

Personally I blamed my inability to finish school because I had to work so much but as I got older I just know it was an excuse and that I never really wanted it bad enough to sacrifice what was necessary. Yep, me=fail but I still had to blame it on something.

[thinmyster]

3 courses is full time as mentioned above

[kaput]

.

[BananaFob]

I did it in my final two semesters of university. I managed to get most of my classes either at night or on the weekend so I could make it but I still had to skip quite a bit. Surprisingly, I was still able to pull off a decent GPA and do a good job at work too.

[benyl]

You can register full time and take only 2 classes per semester. The fees are higher.

Well, at the graduate level anyway.

[w_man]

I did it in the final year as well ... its extremely tough but manageable. As someone mentioned already .. i had zero social life, most of my friends pretty much stopped calling me since I was never available to do anything and people at work thought I was 32 when I was 20.

goodluck ...

[Justing]

depending on the what the options are, consider doing them online through U of C or Athabasca if applicable.
That would make it much easier.

Also, if you can find a late afternoon class, you could see if you can leave work early 2 days a week to attend your lecture and make up for lost time on other days.

[Hamann]

I was Sort of Lucky, i Did it my First year at UofC, but my boss was really good, took classes Monday to friday from 8-noon, then left and went straight to work (Usually worked from about 1pm till Midnight/1am). I kept a social life as best i could though so my grades did take a pounding for it. I wasn't living at home at the time so I didn't really have much choice in the Matter.

Well worth the Money and the Job experience, for me atleast

[topmade]

I did it for my entire degree, ft work + ft school + some part time jobs here and there for 3 years and finished with a decent GPA. It all depends on how dedicated you are to your work and school, but sure it can be done. One thing that helped me was that we developed a small group of friends and everyday after classes were done we would get together and finish every assignment we could so there was not much if any homework to do at home, then go out for some food.

[Marsh]

I had a friend who did Mech Engg and 3.5 gpa, trained for Canadian national Karate team 4 days a week and worked 20 hours a week...if he could do it, you can too...mind you he had no life, but still..its possible.

It would just be for one semester right?

[freshprince1]

I did 5 classes per semester for the full 4 years and worked 6-7 hours almost every weekday and all day saturday.

I was living away from home and had to pay my own way through university. My GPA wasn't the best, but I made it through okay. It was busy, but managable...you just don't have time to party as much as all of your classmates.

If money is the issue, I say go for it. If you can afford $2200 easily, then stay on plan and ace your GPA.

[B20EF]

For my last three years of my degree i did 40/hrs week plus full time school. I rarely went out because all my free time was studying. I was also pretty snappy by the end. I took a three month vacation after graduation.

[hampstor]

I did it for my last 2 years in school...

36-40 hour work week (worked tues/thurs/sat/sun), had full course load of 5 classes on monday/wed/fri. During spring summer, I had 2 classes each session (considered full), both were monday/wed and I worked tues/thurs/sat/sun (took friday off).

I had to make up for fucking around my first few years in school. Still ended up with a decent grade over my last 20 courses (balanced out my shitty 1st 20.. haha). I still managed to go for beers at least 1 night a week otherwise I would've gone batshit crazy.

[dezmarez]

Thanks for the help!!

I decided to go ahead with it, I'm going to be taking 4 classes, which are all electives. I will be working Tuesday-Saturday full time, get off work early on Tuesday's and Wednesday's to go to night school, and then go to school Monday for the day to do my other 2.

I think I can manage it, and I honestly don't really care about my GPA, as long as I get C's or above, and the classes I'm taking shouldn't be to hard.

I figure I will also be able to save a decent amount of money since I won't have time to go out and spend.

But ya, it's only one semester and free school!!

How often can you say that.

Again appreciate the advice from everyone!!

[pinoyboy88]

A saying that got me through school was ""C's and D's get degrees"