Other OT-Related Information Part-Time Job During OT School

[FutureOT17]

I apologize since I know there is definitely a thread about this already, but I was hoping for some personalized advice. I will be starting the MOT program at NYU in the Fall. I will have to take out loans to be used for a little more than half of the tuition costs (About 80k in total, for the 2.5 years of the program). I am anxious about paying them back of course, but I have received a lot of advice saying I shouldn't worry, I will pay them back before I know it, etc.

Does anyone have any experience working during OT school (either on weekends, or after class at night). Is it manageable? I want to look for part-time work, but I feel that it will be difficult for me to make that commitment if I don't even know what I'm getting myself into in OT school.
(If someone has the same experience and actually went to NYU that would be appreciated as well 🙂

Thank you!

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[MrTL]

I apologize since I know there is definitely a thread about this already, but I was hoping for some personalized advice. I will be starting the MOT program at NYU in the Fall. I will have to take out loans to be used for a little more than half of the tuition costs (About 80k in total, for the 2.5 years of the program). I am anxious about paying them back of course, but I have received a lot of advice saying I shouldn't worry, I will pay them back before I know it, etc.

Does anyone have any experience working during OT school (either on weekends, or after class at night). Is it manageable? I want to look for part-time work, but I feel that it will be difficult for me to make that commitment if I don't even know what I'm getting myself into in OT school.
(If someone has the same experience and actually went to NYU that would be appreciated as well 🙂

Thank you!

Depends on what you're capable of doing? For example, I was a personal trainer for the past 7 years, so I know I can some weekend warrior clients during school without affecting my studies and I wouldn't take any evening clients. And I know personal training pay can be good and worth the time I invest into it. I wouldn't take some minimum wage job.

 

[SandmanOT]

Personally, I think it depends.

If you have always had a job when you were younger and when you were in college, I think you could swing a part time job. However, you have to make it clear to your employer that school will come first. Stick to your scheduled shifts and be cautious when picking up extra ones because OT school can go from 0 - 100 very quickly.

A good suggestion I could offer you is looking into work study opportunities. During my second year in OT school I did some work study at my school's Rec Center and my shifts were 6-10am. You'd be surprised how much school work you can get done during that time. lol

 

[occupationalguy]

Can be done. Ill advised in your first semester. If you're killing it in school, go for it. If not, don't bother.

 

[Evie]

I'm struggling with this too. Because of my online-hybrid program, it's incredibly tempting to work...but about every therapist and student I've spoken with either said they were unable to keep a job during school or they couldn't work during the first semester. I just need to step back and become acclimated to academics full time again. For any students/OTs, were you able to 'get used' to OT school by 2nd semester enough to start working again? I've already sent my 2 weeks notice for one of my jobs, and will have to send another one tonight before starting OT school in August..

 

[c2902]

I'm struggling with this too. Because of my online-hybrid program, it's incredibly tempting to work...but about every therapist and student I've spoken with either said they were unable to keep a job during school or they couldn't work during the first semester. My OT boss wants to keep me as long as possible, but she doesn't understand that since it's been a while that I've taken 16-18 credit semesters, I need to step back and become acclimated to academics full time again. For any students/OTs, were you able to 'get used' to OT school by 2nd semester enough to start working again? I've already sent my 2 weeks notice for one of my jobs, and will have to send another one tonight before starting OT school in August..

I was in a hybrid program and worked about 20ish hours a week throughout, except during Level II fieldwork (only worked weekends), with no detriment to my academic record. It's doable, but you have to be responsible and disciplined.

 

[FutureOT17]

Thank you everyone for your great advice! 🙂

 

[agingold]

I'm going to look into a small job as well, most likely babysitting with its ability to get school work done while "working" and flexibility of making your own hours.

Another thing to look into as seasonal jobs winter break! I'll be taking my nanny job back while at home over Christmas which will at least help with some extra spending money.

 

[c2902]

I'm going to look into a small job as well, most likely babysitting with its ability to get school work done while "working" and flexibility of making your own hours.

Another thing to look into as seasonal jobs winter break! I'll be taking my nanny job back while at home over Christmas which will at least help with some extra spending money.

That's what I did - worked as a nanny part-time for a family who was able to work with my schedule once Level I fieldwork began (once you start Level IIs, you will only have weekends free). I also sacrificed most of my Friday and Saturday nights to babysitting; once the kids are sleeping, you can do schoolwork. And it may depend on the area where you live, but as a graduate student who is certified in CPR and has knowledge of child development, you can charge a competitive rate and most people will be happy to pay it, even if it's a night-time gig. Many parents prefer peace of mind over paying the neighborhood high school kid a lower rate than you.

 

[lilbunnies]

I start in the fall and I will have a small job as a proctor on campus. I can work up to 20 hours a week. A girl in my program got me the job and said it's laid back with lots of downtime to do homework. I think if you can find one like that it would be great.

 

[Evie]

Someone just suggested to sign up on rover.com to do petsitting. I don't know if it pays as well as babysitting but it sounds like a good gig that allows unlimited downtime.

 

[dobber]

I'm a tutor and I plan on working in the library if the job becomes available.

The only reason why I chose to work these jobs specifically its because there's A LOT of downtime I can use to study