Do/did you have a part-time job?

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worked roughly 30hrs a week as a server/bartender, kept over a 3.8
 
from what i saw... no one in undergrad really study 24 hours a day... more like ~4-6 hours per week after classes. in the mean while people do work study jobs, research, etc... i did both...
 
I work between 20 and 30 hours a week (at a hospital) and have a 3.7 overall GPA. The schools I have interviewed at were impressed that I was able to handle so much work and school (15+ credits every semester) with extracurriculars and maintain my grades. If you can work, I think you should. School should come first, however, as you are probably paying good money to be there!
 
I used to work 25-30 hours per week my freshman and sophmore year of undergrad as a waitress. Now I work around 16-20 hours as a Junior at a retail store. I have a 3.6 overall and a 3.55 science gpa.
It can be difficult sometimes around midterm/finals weeks when you really need to study, but if you manage your time efficiently, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
My thing is, make sure you're not overworking yourself, and don't comprimise your grades. If you feel like you are, scale back the hours on the job.
 
^^ Agreed it's pretty normal for people to have jobs in undergrad. I don't really see how you could survive without one.
 
MTD52 said:
^^ Agreed it's pretty normal for people to have jobs in undergrad. I don't really see how you could survive without one.
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A lot of students have jobs, a lot of students don't have jobs. Parents give kids debit cards or credit cards and pay the bills. In other words, they support them 100 %. Have you never met an undergrad student who didn't have to work?
 
The reason I'm asking is because I'm going back to school to complete the pre-reqs. My first priority is school, but I'd like to make some money if I have time so that I don't have to burn through my savings. I honestly don't know how much time I'll need to spend studying in order to maintain a 3.5 gpa (my goal).
 
I worked 40+ hours per week all of my undergrad. Freshman year was really rough adjusting, but I started getting the hang of it and started pulling 3.6-3.8 semesters. I typically worked from 7 am to 1:40, ate lunch in the car going to class, has classes from 2-6 or 7, got home and ate dinner with the wife and then studied from 9-midnight (or later). Nope, it wasn't fun at all but hey, now I'm in d school 😎 You can definitely do it, just know your limits.
 
FutureDent020 said:
A lot of students have jobs, a lot of students don't have jobs. Parents give kids debit cards or credit cards and pay the bills. In other words, they support them 100 %. Have you never met an undergrad student who didn't have to work?
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No, I never have actually. I can't imagine living completely off my parents until i was 26. I would hate that.
 
I had a part-time job throughout my undergrad, I had to otherwise I couldnt have afforded my rent! I worked as a coca-cola merchandiser on nights and weekends. Usually 20-30 hours a week.
 
MTD52 said:
No, I never have actually. I can't imagine living completely off my parents until i was 26. I would hate that.
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Most people finish undergrad at 21 or 22, not 26. And yes, there are tons of people who have their parents pay for everything. It's not uncommon.

Personally, I never would have complained if my parents offered to pay for everything. You do learn a lot from having a job and being financially independent, but I would have loved to just focus on school and ECs and not worry about money and bills and student loans and such.
 
TurkTurkleton said:
Most people finish undergrad at 21 or 22, not 26. And yes, there are tons of people who have their parents pay for everything. It's not uncommon.

Personally, I never would have complained if my parents offered to pay for everything. You do learn a lot from having a job and being financially independent, but I would have loved to just focus on school and ECs and not worry about money and bills and student loans and such.
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Yes, but if you go to dental school, at which time you won't have a job, you would be 26 when you're done. Yeah it's great to have the time to focus on school and ECs, but number one you can still do that with a job, and number two, I think you need to learn the responsibility. Having basically no independence or responsibility at that age just makes no sense to me.
 
MTD52 said:
Yes, but if you go to dental school, at which time you won't have a job, you would be 26 when you're done. Yeah it's great to have the time to focus on school and ECs, but number one you can still do that with a job, and number two, I think you need to learn the responsibility. Having basically no independence or responsibility at that age just makes no sense to me.
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That's true - you won't have a job in dental school. That doesn't mean they're living off parents, though. Can't you get student loans that cover living expenses? Even if parents pay for undergrad, I doubt most of them would continue paying for dental school. Tuition is super expensive unless you get in-state tuition (which can still be a pretty large sum depending).

I'm not disagreeing with you. I have a job, I've definitely learned a lot from it, and I think it's something people should do. I just don't think that NOT having a job means you're completely clueless. I have employed friends in college who are irresponsible with their money, don't keep up with their bills and such, wrecking their credit, some still live at home, don't do any other activities or ECs, etc. Then I have friends who had their parents put some money in their account instead of working, but are very frugal and smart about their spending, are very involved in all sorts of activities and had to manage their time, are still responsible for paying their bills on time, live by themselves and take care of themselves, etc. Even though some non-working people aren't financially indepedent doesn't mean they're not responsible and conscious of finances and independent in other ways. And having a job doesn't preclude some people from still being irresponsible and dependent on others.

The most important things I learned from my job was being held accountable for my work and answering to a boss who didn't really care about anything except me earning my pay. Those are important lessons, but they aren't the only lessons.
 
TurkTurkleton said:
That's true - you won't have a job in dental school. That doesn't mean they're living off parents, though. Can't you get student loans that cover living expenses? Even if parents pay for undergrad, I doubt most of them would continue paying for dental school. Tuition is super expensive unless you get in-state tuition (which can still be a pretty large sum depending).
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Good point about the loans. And I guess the rest is understandable, I just don't think that you can possibly have the same sense of the real world without ever having a job until you're 26-27. Think about that. It's utterly absurd in my opinion. But to each his own I guess.
 
I work 40-60 hours each week. 3 jobs-- horse farm, teaching chem labs, biology research. Made out of this semester with a pretty 4.0 taking mircobiology, genetics, and ecology. Just need some self-discipline.

My idea of justifying the work is to keep the student loans down. I don't know if any of you are Dave Ramsey fans or not but if you aren't or haven't heard of him, google him or listen to some youtube. Smart man. He has a quote.. something along the lines of "Live like no one else (now), so one day, you can live like no one else." The idea is to not be strapped by dept and always be working for the man. Once you're free of debt.. there's 90% of your worries out the window. Honestly if you take the time to look into him and if by some chance you do pick up on what he's saying.. it WILL change your life.
 
worked 20-30h a week and was self employed providing moving, landscaping, painting services and everything in between. Maintained a 3.98 GPA

Edit: I guess it's worth mentioning that I lived on my own and paid mortgage too...
 
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arginine1 said:
worked 20-30h a week and was self employed providing moving, landscaping, painting services and everything in between. Maintained a 3.98 GPA

Edit: I guess it's worth mentioning that I lived on my own and paid mortgage too...
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Nice. Good job on that.
 
Working 48-84 hours a week on the ambulance and have maintained maintained ~3.6 GPA over the last five semesters.😱

In 2010 I will try to keep it at 48 hours a week for tougher classes and trying to increase my GPA further. I'm 26 years old and have bills to pay. So in order for me to go to school and pay those bills I have to work. I paid my car off this year but still have a mortgage, credit card, cell phone, insurance, cable, and TUITION! The last one hurts the most and I make too much for financial aid.😡
 
TexanMedicRN said:
Working 48-84 hours a week on the ambulance and have maintained maintained ~3.6 GPA over the last five semesters.😱

In 2010 I will try to keep it at 48 hours a week for tougher classes and trying to increase my GPA further. I'm 26 years old and have bills to pay. So in order for me to go to school and pay those bills I have to work. I paid my car off this year but still have a mortgage, credit card, cell phone, insurance, cable, and TUITION! The last one hurts the most and I make too much for financial aid.😡
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What did you do when you graduated? JW because obviously you already have a job and are switching over to dentistry. And what makes you have to work 84 hours per week to pay those bills? That's rough, and congratu-friggen-lations on maintaining a 3.6 with that schedule. That's crazy man.

FWIW, to the OP, if you haven't already figured this out, I did have a PT job throughout my undergrad. I worked about 15-22 hours per week throughout the course of it. I think that's pretty standard, if you have to pick an "average", about 20 hours/wk. I actually perform better when I am more regimented like that and work sort of has to be done at a certain time because it's all the time you have.
 
TexanMedicRN said:
Working 48-84 hours a week on the ambulance and have maintained maintained ~3.6 GPA over the last five semesters.😱

In 2010 I will try to keep it at 48 hours a week for tougher classes and trying to increase my GPA further. I'm 26 years old and have bills to pay. So in order for me to go to school and pay those bills I have to work. I paid my car off this year but still have a mortgage, credit card, cell phone, insurance, cable, and TUITION! The last one hurts the most and I make too much for financial aid.😡
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Wow. You have some determination. That schedule is intense.
 
OP, I work a full time and a part time job and go to school full time! Plus I shadow my dentist at least two days a week, its tough but I have two bad kids to feed lol....Its definately hard though but I feel like if you really want to go to dental school and nothing else is an option then thats what you have to period! I do wish I could sleep sometime though😴
 
MTD52 said:
What did you do when you graduated? JW because obviously you already have a job and are switching over to dentistry. And what makes you have to work 84 hours per week to pay those bills? That's rough, and congratu-friggen-lations on maintaining a 3.6 with that schedule. That's crazy man.
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I never did graduate. Hence the reason I am back in school at 26 years old. I basically messed up my first two years of school and dropped out. I took an EMT course and progressed to a Paramedic within two years. I started working in EMS when I was 21 and have been doing it since. I started back in school in the summer of 2008 and have been going strng since.

I have to work 84 hours a week due to the previously stated reasons(motgage, tuition, house bills, gas, food, phone, etc). I'm technically single so al of the bills are mine. Girlfriend has her own place and things. I generaly average 72 hours a week. I will hit 84 or 96 on occasions. If Its a major test week I will try to only work 48 that week. My full time job is 48 hours a week and I will usualy try to work at least 24 hours a week at my part time job. We work 24 hour shifts at the fire department so that puts me there three complete days a week. I jam all of my classes into two days a week. I have two days to do whatever I chose.

Its getting old and the burn out is setting in. I plan to only work my full time job once the spring semester begins. Fire/EMs does not pay great. That is the reason why most if not all of us work part time jobs. My FT job is on the upper end of the spectrum but my PT job pays 13.50/hr. :scared:

Right now I am finishing up my degree and pre dent reqs. I still have a couple of cycles before I apply.
 
I worked 25-30 hours a week since 10th grade.
 
I have worked also while going to school. Do well in a few of your classes like physiology or biochemistry and apply to be a tutor. You not only make money but you get to review material that you will see in dental school.
 
I have family to take care of, weekends are never "free", and I have a part time job as well. It is always good to keep busy and stretch/challenge yourself and still attend school. A great benefit is that when you start dental school you are used to pressure, lack of sleep, and have time management skills 👍 Sleeping 8 hrs or "me" time have become a fantasy! BUT, I'm making the effort this year to think about me again....if mama is not happy....you know the rest 🙄
 
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