Just need a positive place to share thoughts and hear about the obstacles others are having to overcome (and how they're dealing with them) in this grueling process of GPA repair.
I work 40+ hours/week as a tech support lead at a well-known cable/internet company (Friday-Monday).
I am in school full-time, busting my a** trying to complete this DIY post-bacc - while maintaining a 3.7 (barely). I am doing Alzheimer's research on Tues. and Wed. while also volunteering for the Alzheimer's Association on Thursdays. My days feel full!
I am taking Calc and Orgo I lab over the summer. Taking Biochem, Physics, Orgo II (w/ lab), and Neuroendocrinology in the fall. Still not sure how I'm going to swing this and keep my GPA afloat.
How are you guys dealing with the stress of personal, work, and school life? How are you cramming volunteer time in?
[Edited]
Wow, I'm incredibly impressed. Does the tech job give you fairly flexible hours? I think I see other peoples schedules and can't imagine. But I have to remember that mine was a special brand of crazy as well.
I started last summer (just over a year ago - I got my first Orgo exam back just one year ago. I can't believe it!). I started with 10 hours over the summer - my first time back in over 13 years. I was PETRIFIED. Orgo I and II with labs. Oddly, I found I was very good at orgo, so it was actually a manageable summer and I was much better at studying. I was volunteering on the weekends and went straight to work Sat and Sunday. I tried to do work from school during the week (I had to sign up for classes at a school 2.5 hours away since the local school was full) - it worked well for some of the time. I also spent time in the car listening to Khan Academy videos to try to keep up with everything (Bless them - they were not around when I was an undergrad and I feel like i really missed out, especially since I learn from listening).
Not sure about your fall - you are crazier than me. I took Cell Bio (w/lab), Genetic s(w/lab), and Advanced Biochem 1 in the fall - all 2.5 hours away since the local school was STILL full. NO REGRETS. I got involved with undergraduate research and had a blast. I was still volunteering and going into work Friday through Monday and I got SUPER sick for about 6 weeks straight at the end of the semester (stomach flu, head cold, stomach flu - never got to recover). I used all of my vacation time. Our firm changed hands before the spring and I went part time, so I had a much more manageable spring (but we struggled financially. Welcome to grad school living) (still struggling).
I have found that my schedule was easier when it was a SCHEDULE and I was used to it. Oddly, summer required the earliest hours, but it was easier to handle since every day had the same wake-up time and I managed to get in bed early. I wasn't a huge fan of fall since two days required an early rise, but my research went pretty late, so I was burning the candle at both ends. My first few weeks volunteering were tough because I wasn't sure what to expect, but they got a lot easier just after a few weeks. And the first few weeks of school are always tough. Fall was hard because I had some seriously long lab reports due - always at the same time - as well as at least 16 exams and something like 5 bio quizzes and 10 lab quizzes. I always had to be "on."
Spring felt like my "hardest" semester because I was going to just one class, doing some research, but primarily studying for the MCAT during the week, which got very monotonous. I tried to cram everything in Tuesday-Thursday so I could be a semi-normal person on the weekends. No luck. I just felt like I was in a holding pattern. I started taking practice exams after spring break, as well as shadowing a doctor on the drive up to school, and that seemed to get me through the doldrums. There was something oddly exciting about seeing how I could do on the exams. And I was in countdown mode, so I had a little extra energy to get me through.
Of course, my husband got a new job in the middle of this and I had to beg him to put the start date one week after the MCAT. We're STILL in the process of moving. It seems like the move that will never end. But I'm so happy I decided to start this last year.
As far as balance goes, I found that some semesters were easier to balance than others (summer was the easiest). I've always been known to cram a little too much in, so I guess it was par for the course, but watch your health carefully. Mine went downhill fast when I went over my limit. You might have to go part time in the fall. If your company is fine with that, use it to your advantage and try to cut back on spending. I spent anywhere from 3 to 10 days away from home at any point in time, and I hated weekends away. But I got into a habit of calling my husband on my drive home every night, and we always had one night out together (when i came home). I also learned to say "no" to family events a lot more often. But I think we all hit that point where we're balancing everything and you have to give a little at one point to stay afloat. You'll have to determine what needs to give, because something will give. I'm sure it only gets harder after we get accepted.