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.

Taking the Leap to Submit

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Submission is a natural facet of life.  Children submit to their parents, husbands and wives submit to each other, employees submit to the boss, and bosses must submit to the will of the customers.  There are times, however, when you must not submit. Do not submit when you are being asked to do something you know is morally wrong. 

My pastor has an expression to help young people understand this mystery of dealing with people who have authority over you:  “Obey when unreasonable, disobey if immoral.”  The idea is that ninety-nine times out of a hundred you will obey and do what you are told.  When a person is in charge they may not have time to explain something fully and need you to quickly follow directions. 

If I explained everything to my kids I’d go crazy.  I am a leader who has lead in many situations.  Explaining why is useless if the followers will not understand the reasoning behind the explanation.  They must just trust me and let it go.  Sometimes as a leader I am not allowed to share the reasoning behind a directive because my superior has asked me to not share that information. 

You need to know that too many questions are considered rude and disrespectful.  Sometimes the issue is timing, if I have time I will explain something later, sometimes I won’t.  So as a follower, you should follow the directive, then if it is really bugging you, talk with your supervisor afterwards when you are alone with them.  As a young adult, you need to know your place, and realize that you just need to follow directions and work hard (Romans 13:1-7).

When you are told to do something that seems illogical (not immoral but illogical), it can be very hard to follow directions.  Fight the urge to mumble and complain along with the other workers. This will be hard because most likely the others will.  If you feel you need to challenge the leader, you should be as tactful as possible.  Be aware that you are stepping into a minefield and proceed cautiously.  You need to state what you see as wrong without coming across as insulting (Daniel 3:13-18).  This takes great courage, but you need to follow God on this. 

If you follow blindly without running things through God’s truth, you can find yourself doing something that could do a lot of damage.  Remember: Obey if unreasonable, disobey if immoral.  If what you are asked to do is against the law, don’t do it.  If it will hurt someone else, don’t do it.  If it goes against your values, don’t do it.

You should not wait until a person is worthy of your respect before you extend them that respect.  Don’t be surprised when respect is not given to you, you haven’t earned it yet.  Your turn will come, and then you will need to use your authority and prestige to help others.

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?

Community College Big Four

1. Beware the Associates.  If your career goal requires only an Associates degree, fine but if not realize you may not be able to earn any more than a high school graduate.  If your future career requires a bachelor’s degree or higher you need to realize that every degree has a list of required courses or acceptable courses.  If you deviate from these lists, you are in danger of wasting precious time and money.  Completing an associate’s degree, and then going after a bachelor’s can add a whole year to your schooling.  Likewise, if going after a Doctorates degree, you can leapfrog the Masters degree and get done sooner.  
2. Beware the knuckleheads.  You will be surrounded by a number of people who do not know how to do college level work.  Do not let their lack of work convince you to do less.  Know the grades necessary for transferring and do the work required to get them.  Many young adults keep their parents off their back by “tread milling” in community college.  You are not like these people for they have no real intention to get anywhere.  Seek out like minded people to study with and get out of there.
3. Save your excess money.  If you are living with your parents and working part time while going to college, you will have excess money saved by the time you begin college.  If your grades are not good enough to get you into a public college, or you want to move out, you will need a lot of money.  Paying for two years of a private school is not as expensive as four and you can combine it with a small loan to make up the difference.  When doing your calculations remember that you will be making money while going to college in your last two years, so don’t forget to add that amount in.
4. If transferring to a private school, make sure the school is regionally accredited.  National accreditation is generally considered not as thorough and may indicate a general lack of standards that mark a good collegiate program.  Some professions are very picky as to which degrees and accreditations are acceptable, so do your homework.  You don’t want to waste time and money doing something that adds no value to you.

Community College

Community college is a common destination for many high school graduates.  There are many reasons people do community college.  The best case scenario is that a student quickly completes the general education requirements and gets good enough grades to transfer to the local four-year college.  Many young adults delay as long as possible real decisions about the future so they by default go to community college.  Is this what you are doing?  It has been my experience that many high school seniors are frozen with fear over the future, but do not want to appear to be doing nothing after high school.  They want to present to others a sound plan for the future and the responsible sounding response to the question about the future is to say they are going to community college and transferring.  I did a little research and found only a handful of our high school seniors actually registered and took classes.  The vast majority were not actually enrolling in that college.  They wanted to appear to have it all together, but either weren’t following through on their plan or they were never really going to execute the plan in the first place. 

Community college has a low image in our society because so many have attempted and failed to walk away with any tangible benefit.  According to the California Postsecondary Commission, the transfer rate for California’s community colleges are somewhere in the 2% range.  This is awful and represents a huge waste of taxpayer funds.  It also represents a huge waste of time and money on the part of the student and parent.  If a young adult were to forgo a four-year college degree, join the military, take vocational courses, or just start working an entry-level job; they will be much further along than if they did a few years of community college before dropping out.  There are many jobs that require a specific degree, so stopping prior to finishing that degree makes you unable to have those jobs.  There is no credit for time served in college.  You must complete the degree or you may have no more earning power than if you had not done “some college.”

When doing community college, it is important to know that many different things are taking place on that campus.  Not all of the people are doing the same thing you are doing so you need to be aware.  By now you may be thinking, “So, what are the different things going on at a community college?”

1. High School classes for dropouts
2. Study courses for General Equivalency Degree
3. Hobby classes
4. Vocational Certification courses: quicker to career, focus solely on specific career skills.  May limit future promotions 1-2 years
5. Associates: Vocational + General Education  or just General Education 2 ½ years
6. Transfer to 4-year school:  Avoid Associates if classes that will not transfer 2 years

Community colleges have many missions as shown above.  When looking at the number of students who successfully transfer to a four-year college, it is very low.  If you are in a community college, you need a plan to make sure you get what you want from them.

Dealing With Your Parents

Some of you bristle when your parents start giving advice.  Don’t completely write off what your parents say, no matter how annoying they seem (Proverbs 15:5).   They know you well and you should bring all important decisions to their attention to get their input.  They love you and would be honored to be consulted.  When you start hiding things, you erode the bonds of trust.  Because your parents know you so well, they can almost innately know what will work for you.  William McRae in his book Preparing for Your Marriage explains that if you are dating someone and your parents intensely dislike that person, then you should beware because these marriages tend to not last.

If your parents did not go to college you will obviously be getting technical support from classmates, study group members, faculty and counselors, but your parents should always be allowed to speak in to your life (Proverbs 23:22) (Leviticus 19:32). 

“You don’t trust me,” says the daughter.  “You need to just get over it and let go already.  I’m grown up.” And now, using my powers of an older adult who works with young adults I will translate what your parents hear when you say this.

“Waaaaaaaaah! See how childish I am, Wwwwaaaaah! Let me have what I want. Waaaaaaaah!” 

Why would any sane parent extend more freedom to a child who shows a lack of maturity?  You must earn your respect, by being mature and proper submission is a sign of maturity. Here’s an adult tip:  Next time you don’t get your way from your parents, suck it up and accept it without pouting.  You can state that you disagree, but that you will obey because you respect them.  Wow!  That’s an adult response many adults never seem to learn.  Submission is a powerful form of love and it shows your strength of character. 

            Joseph (Genesis 39:20-23) and Daniel (Daniel Chapter 2) are excellent examples of submission.  Joseph became second in command to Pharaoh king of Egypt, but he started off as a faithful servant.  Daniel likewise was servant to the evil emperor of Babylon.  Both treaded the fine line of submission to authority while remaining faithful to God’s commands.  Joseph was thrown in jail over his convictions and left to rot, while Daniel was thrown to the lions.  Both were protected by God.  There will be times when you will stand your ground and God will supernaturally protect you.  Unfortunately God doesn’t always choose to do this and you will never know which it will be (Hebrews 11:35-40).

The Quest for Better Student-Parent Relationships

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     Below is one of the most amazing tools for those of you looking for a breakthrough in the relationship with your parents.  Warning, this tool is dangerous and should only be wielded by people who truly want a breakthrough. A parent-student contact clarifies expectations and responsibilities so that everything is out in the open.  As mentioned in earlier posts, if you do not show your parents that you are moving forward in life they will be less likely to support you going forward.  

     Most young adults would instinctively run from such an agreement but the things that seem counter-intuitive are often the best decision to make (Prov 14:12) (Prov 11:14). This agreement will show your resolve to execute a well thought out plan of becoming financially independent through your college education. 

Parent Student Contact Template

The contract can be modified to fit the intent of the situation in any way. Contracts can be annulled by either party, but must be renegotiated by both parties.   

Student Responsibilities:

·          Work hard and accept responsibility for my own learning.

·          Maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average.

·          Do all of my work to the best of my ability.

·          Make good use of private study time.

·          Ask for help when I need it.

·          Attend all classes.

·          Keep parents informed about important college matters.

·          Abide by the college rules.

·          Employment; I will get a part time job. The exception will be my first semester. For the first semester I will not work and commit myself to college and getting acclimated.

·          Graduate from _________ University in four years

·          Manage my money wisely and do not obtain credit without consulting parents.

·          If I drop a class I will be responsible to pay for any replacement classes.

·          I will always attempt to choose the best option that considers my own well-being, health, and safety.

Parental Responsibilities:

·          To be positive, helpful, and supportive.

·          Pay for tuition, room, board, books and fees (or whatever you agree)

·          Pay for transportation to and from _________ University.

·          Provide a weekly allowance which is to be paid one time at the beginning of each semester.

·          We have read the above stated responsibilities and agree to jointly work toward the successful goals of completing your college experience at _________ University.

Student Signature: _____________________    Date:___________

Parent Signature: __________________     Date:____________

Parent Signature: __________________     Date:____________

This contract will take time to hammer out so you should enter the negotiations with the understanding that you will need to accept less then you want.    It is highly possible that after the contract is complete, you may be disappointed.  It could feel that nothing has really changed.  This could be true, but the important thing is that you have agreed to be held accountable.  This builds trust with your parents and they will be more likely to take you seriously.   We all long to be seen as competent by our parents, and this feeling does not go away with time.  I believe it increases. When you make good decisions, it brings joy to your parents.  A parent-student contract is a way to honor your parents, because you are seeking their advice and truly submitting to them. 

• Proverbs 13:1     A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.
• Proverbs 15:20    A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother. 
• ^{Ephesians 6:1-3}   "Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—  “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. 

Regarding the contract,  if it contains a lot of changes from how you were operating, give it time to feel normal.  Go easy on each other as it will be a bit weird as you both adjust.  The reality is that much will change due to the nature of your demanding schedule.  This is a new phase of your life.  It will be different.  Please trust me.  You should not worry about constant nagging and micromanaging from your parents because you will be so busy studying and working. Parents need to see you doing well.  The onus is on you to do things that build their trust.  It doesn't work the other way around.  

It would be foolish to slap a 10-year old child in a car and let him go cruising. A wise parent will look at the capabilities of their child when determining what is appropriate and will not set arbitrary dates when certain privileges are extended.  Don't expect your parents to blindly trust you to make adult decisions, you must show yourself capable.  This contact is one of many things you will need to do to earn that trust.

See: Billy Grahm on Deadbeat Adult Children