Balancing Work and School

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Most students report difficulty getting their work schedule to accommodate their class schedule.   If you put work over college you will never finish your degree.  Sometimes a lower paying job will net you more money if your schedules can mesh. 


For some people, there is a cool job factor, whereby some of you will take a lower paying job because you feel this job impresses friends.  Conversely, some of you will take less pay to avoid jobs you feel are beneath your dignity.  

Photo by DAEllis

Think about this, if you had a high paying job where you couldn’t work as many hours, you make less money but will tend to spend more money because you have more time on your hands. Also if you can get paid more it can reduce the number of hours that you need to work and have more time to study.  If you are concerned about spending more because of free time, then just work the full schedule and save the excess. 


 Many companies exploit young workers because they are cheap.  Once your boss sees how hard you work it is highly likely that you will be pressured to work additional hours.  Remember that time is a scarce commodity during college, so additional work must come out of your play time which we earlier noted was very low.  You will need to be firm but tactful in ensuring that you are not made to work more hours than you have available in your schedule.  


Be careful about loading your schedule too heavily, because breaks and diversions can help to reduce the likelihood of burnout. You studies will probably suffer if you work beyond 20 hours because you will tend to forgo study over having a good time with your friends.

For those living at home there will be an adjustment that parents and adult children both will have to undergo.  College takes more time than high school.  Parents sometimes don’t get this.  If your parents did not go to college, you will have to respectfully explain your time commitments.  This sample schedule could be a useful conversation tool with your parents.  Some of you have huge family commitments you need to renegotiate.   If you don’t then you will not have enough time to study.

Remember, you will need to recreate your study schedule every semester as class schedules change.  In addition, as you near the end of your degree, you will see less flexibility as you will need to do certain classes at certain times.  It is also rare to get exactly the classes and times that you want, so you will need to constantly adapt to a changing schedule.  


Multiple classes can fill some requirements, so look for those opportunities to create flexibility. If you are inflexible, you will take much longer to finish your degree.  The longer it takes for you to do your degree the less likely you will complete the degree. 

Study Schedule Anaylsis Part II

Image by Peter Griffin

It is suggested that you not work more than 20 hours a week while school is in session.  The problem is that you can not earn enough money to live on your own.


Working 20 hours a week would not even pay rent costs of a mini-dorm, much less other expenses.  This means that parental support or a loan will be required.   There just isn’t enough time available to earn enough money to support you without a loan.  


Loans aren’t evil; you just need to be aware of what you can afford.  The basic rule of thumb is to not borrow in more than you will earn in your first year of salaried work (about $45k).  You will need to beware that once you borrow, you must pay back the money with interest.  


Government loans offer better terms, watch out if you need to work with a bank.  School loans typically aren’t repaid until after you graduate, and you will have a tiny bit of grace period to find a job.  The problem is if you drop out.  You must pay it back even though you will have no more earning power than someone with just a high school degree.  College loans are similar to a chainsaw.  You need to use them sometimes, but remember they can maul you badly if you stop paying attention just for a second.  


Even if you worked full time and didn’t go to college, you would probably struggle to support yourself financially, so don’t feel guilty about taking a parental “handout.”    All parents want to see their children become self-sufficient, but they also know that you will need help. 

Many college students get bitter over the amount of work needed to pass classes, and the apparent abundance of free time of parents, siblings, and friends eats at them.  A student is in a sense doing two jobs.  


The thing to remember is that college is demanding and only 25% of our population has a degree. The time commitment is demanding but well worth the lost leisure time.  Another thing that embitters college students is the good life exhibited by their friends who did not go to college. 


An adult homebound child not in college has a lot of discretionary (play) income.  A college student will not be able to match the apparent fun factor of doing no college.  I believe the “deadbeat threshold” is reached much quickly for a child not in college.  If you can keep these things in mind it will be easier to tough it out and get your educational goals accomplished.

Study Schedule Analysis

For those of you in college, you need to be aware of the large amount of time it will take out of your schedule to do study.   For the purpose of this discussion let us assume study is defined as all of the work you will need to do outside of the classroom in order to achieve your target grades.  For those of you hoping to be admitted to a graduate program, beware that you will need outstanding grades.  Do your homework and find out what the requirements are because this will determine the time requirements for each person.  Study activities include homework, papers, research, reading, and test study. 

            If you are taking a three credit hour class (which is standard) then you would expect to spend about 6 to 9 hours per week studying for that class. 5 classes times 10 hours study per class equals 50 total study hours.  Remember the ratio is 2:1 meaning you should spend twice as much time studying as sitting in the class.  This is an average and some classes are much harder and some much easier.  You will need to quickly determine the amount of work each class will demand.  After you have done this you can then do the work necessary to figure out your study schedule. 

Let’s assume you had the following “typical” schedule.  You will work 20 hours a week Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.   Assuming you have a full load of five classes you would need to study at least 45 hours to do well academically.  Where would you put the 50 hours?

There were 63 total hours of time available for study leaving (assuming no more commitments) 13 hours of “free time.”  How do you feel about the prospect of only 13 hours of free time? Which day would be the most challenging for you and why?

If you didn’t have to work and lived on campus, how much time would you get back as “free time?” would there be time for an additional class?  If you did one additional class each semester, you would finish a semester early.   Is this something you would want?