So here's my story. I've been a working nurse for about two years now ( LPN then RN). I recently have made the decision to go back to school and pursue medicine. I'm taking a chance here as I work fulltime to support myself (no kids, not married). Unfortunately, many of my classes I took prior to nursing school do not count towards going pre-med. So, I'll almost be starting from scratch other than the basic general education requirements (I only have an associates). I've struggled with math since I can remember but am going to bite the bullet and try my hardest to do well. My concern is having to work full time. Basically I'm just looking for some advice from someone who has done it (made it through undergrad while working, if you're bad at math that's a bonus!) and what your advice would b regarding studying/ balancing work and school. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!
I worked my way through undergrad, and I am also horrible at math! haha My suggestion is to either work part time (and pick up more hours during breaks and summer time) and take out some student loans if you need the cash buffer, OR to take a lighter load of classes and just allow yourself more time to finish school. I majorly burnt myself out doing work and school. The first year of college I worked full time, and had a very heavy course load. I just about killed myself. Granted I also had a few personal and family events happen that year. I wore myself so thin my immune system went out the door. I ended up with a raging case of mono that lasted a very, very long time, on top of catching every single cold that went around campus it seemed. My grades suffered. I ended up so burnt out. I was determined to finish in 4 years, and I was determined to not take out loans. After the first year I realized I wasn't going to be successful if I burnt myself out so badly every year. But I still had to support myself (rent, food, bla bla) AND pay for my own schooling. And I didn't have a fairly decent paying job like you, I was working a job paying $10/hr, in a town with very high cost of living and absurdly high rent costs. Finally I caved and cut work down to part time. I tool classes every summer and I worked full time during vacations, holidays, and summer break. I caved and took out some SMALL loans, and lived very frugally. My grades shot back up, I became a lot healthier, and I wasn't killing myself to keep up.
I'm not saying you can't do it. Who knows, if I hadn't of become so horribly sick and hadn't had a family emergency and hadn't been trying to do Calculus II without ANY trig background (long story, missed it in high school), then maybe I would not have burnt myself out so badly and could have continued working full time. I don't regret bumping downto part time though. Even that was challenging, and my grades were definitely lower than hey would have been if I wasn't working and had all the time in the world to study. I did to back up to full time my senior year of school, but I also had a lighter load by then as I had knocked out a lot of classes by taking summer courses.
As for math, I highly recommend a tutor. It was a huge hit to my pride. I was used to always excelling at school. Even in math I managed to get A's. To admit I needed help was very difficult for me. It really makes a difference though, it is very worth it.
Whatever you do I wish you luck. Be confident that you will succeed, and you will.
