Point in part time job

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David1991

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This may seem weird but does anyone else feel like having a part time job during college is pointless sometimes in the long wrong? Well, not completely pointless, I have one now, but mostly just to get through what I need.

Basically the way I see it is after medical school most of us will probably be $80,000-150,000 (I think) in debt. If we take out a $5000 loan during college for general things would that really make much of a difference in the long run? Like I said I do work part time over the summer but as far as during the year goes most of us are extremely busy with classes, extras, etc. I know I'd personally rather take out a small loan that I could pay off with a few days of work as a doctor than working 50x that many hours during college for the same amount and miss out on social situations and whatnot.

Thoughts? It just seems logical to me
 
The $80-150k figure is low. Also, you might want to run the numbers on how much that $5k loan will cost by the time it is paid off 20 years from now (assuming a standard 10 year repayment after residency). Hint: It's roughly $12k...
 
TooMuchResearch said:
The $80-150k figure is low. Also, you might want to run the numbers on how much that $5k loan will cost by the time it is paid off 20 years from now (assuming a standard 10 year repayment after residency). Hint: It's roughly $12k...
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Well the fact that it would be more than $80-150k just goes along with my point more (as in, the loan will be an even smaller % of the overall debt). Also, I was thinking of a subsidized student loan.

Just to be clear I'm not saying we should all be really lazy lol, this just makes sense to me.
 
David1991 said:
This may seem weird but does anyone else feel like having a part time job during college is pointless sometimes in the long wrong? Well, not completely pointless, I have one now, but mostly just to get through what I need.

Basically the way I see it is after medical school most of us will probably be $80,000-150,000 (I think) in debt. If we take out a $5000 loan during college for general things would that really make much of a difference in the long run? Like I said I do work part time over the summer but as far as during the year goes most of us are extremely busy with classes, extras, etc. I know I'd personally rather take out a small loan that I could pay off with a few days of work as a doctor than working 50x that many hours during college for the same amount and miss out on social situations and whatnot.

Thoughts? It just seems logical to me
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Some of us pay our own bills. And frankly, loans don't cover all of that on their own AND let you save for medical school applications. Jobs are necessary for some people.

I'm taking out loans and I still have to work - my loans don't cover summer classes, family emergencies, etc.

Wish I didn't have to take out loans, but such is life. I dread the interest and payments in the future. 🙁
 
A job during your undergraduate education is not only an opportunity for one to make money to pay for expenses, but also the chance to learn how to properly act in a professional work environment and interact with others...It's a learning experience.
 
More than the money and the lesson in professionalism.. I worked in a hospital for the 4 years of undergrad (and then for a year after), and was able to gain the clinical experience that most other pre-meds simply can't get from hospital volunteer positions.

So not only did I have A LOT of extra spending money/help paying bills, but I got help with my med school application starting from practically day 1 of undergrad.

The point is, part-time jobs serve a major purpose for college students, pre-med or not, when it can also offer you experience in whatever field you may be interested in.
 
Jobs during college are a chance for you to become a (wo)man and I'm dead serious about that. There's nothing like being able to pay for your first car solely on your own. Also depending on where you work, you might be able to make some connection that can come in handy later on down the road.
 
Cypher321 said:
Jobs during college are a chance for you to become a (wo)man and I'm dead serious about that. There's nothing like being able to pay for your first car solely on your own. Also depending on where you work, you might be able to make some connection that can come in handy later on down the road.
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👍👍

+1

I've been able to form professional relationships with attendings, residents, and administrors over the years, and it'll only help me down the road, imho. Put yourself out there, fools! Network!
 
Cypher321 said:
Jobs during college are a chance for you to become a (wo)man and I'm dead serious about that. There's nothing like being able to pay for your first car solely on your own. Also depending on where you work, you might be able to make some connection that can come in handy later on down the road.
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Absolutely. Getting a good part-time job can get you networking opportunities that could get you into med school and even help down the road in many greater ways (e.g., getting a job once your training is complete -- both via networking as well as through add'l skills you might pick up now that could be of add'l value and/or interest even after your medical trng is complete)
 
So I can pay the $1100, $250, $45, $30, $175 bills for rent, food, internet, electricity, and gasoline bills, respectively, that come in my name each and every month as they've always been since I was 18. I guess you can say that I need a job to, ummm, what's the word I'm lookin for, survive. Yeah, that's it. 😉
 
The most valuable thing I have gained from my job (even moreso than the measly amount of money) is the perspective. I definitely have learned that I don't want to be working at a job like this for the rest of my life and would be much happier in med school (fo shizzle).
 
Some good points. I work as a waiter so there's not really any connections to be made but it has put me in the real world a little more I guess. Still though, everyone who works there is between 16 and 23. It's actually been good socially for the summer.

I guess some people need to have one for things. I have some money saved up from high school (seemingly more than many of my friends who work all the time...I guess I don't spend a ton) which gets me enough for gas, books and whatever with the summer job. But I think if I needed more during the year I'd rather take a loan out because with how busy I was last year my social life sucked 🙁
 
ditch the job.
 
my part time job in undergrad paid for beer, going out to dinner and other stuff i didn't feel like my parents should be paying for (they were the ones who took out the loans).
If nothing else, it was something to do and taught me responsibility
 
Trexate said:
:laugh:
It's the Daily Double.
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yeah seriously...I worked full-time in college to keep my parents from having to pay all the costs.

Kids these days.

Good luck getting dates in college if your known as the guy who has to ask mommy and daddy for 20 bucks to take a girl out to the movies.
 
ShinyDome19 said:
yeah seriously...I worked full-time in college to keep my parents from having to pay all the costs.

Kids these days.

Good luck getting dates in college if your known as the guy who has to ask mommy and daddy for 20 bucks to take a girl out to the movies.
Click to expand...

lol....as if my parents would give me money anyway. I've bought all non-essentials since I was 16-18 but I guess I just don't spend a lot in general (I've spent about $80 on gas this summer which is relatively really low).
 
ShinyDome19 said:
yeah seriously...I worked full-time in college to keep my parents from having to pay all the costs.

Kids these days.

Good luck getting dates in college if your known as the guy who has to ask mommy and daddy for 20 bucks to take a girl out to the movies.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately those also seem to be the kids that drive daddy's Corvette to pick up chicks and strut around in the latest designer clothes.
 
I can't wait to tell my kids that they're paying for their own education. Then listen to them whine when they can't get grants and have to take out student loans.
"But you can afford to pay for my tuition."
"You're right, I can. Looks like you need a job."
 
Reading this thread, seems like it took a turn for the worse right around Cole's post.

How did OP betray a "sense of entitlement", exactly? Looks like someone's reading comprehension needs a little work.
 
My first semester in college I worked weekends in a grocery store, I really hated it. Now I work in library on campus during breaks between classes, which leaves my weekends open for studying. I do find working during college pointless, but at least helps to minimize my undergrad debt and have gas money.

EN
 
redsquareblack said:
Reading this thread, seems like it took a turn for the worse right around Cole's post.

How did OP betray a "sense of entitlement", exactly? Looks like someone's reading comprehension needs a little work.
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Hey now, he got a 15 in VR
 
Electronegative said:
My first semester in college I worked weekends in a grocery store, I really hated it. Now I work in library on campus during breaks between classes, which leaves my weekends open for studying. I do find working during college pointless, but at least helps to minimize my undergrad debt and have gas money.

EN
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I actually had a job my first semester too, but ended up turning it down because I just couldn't fit it in with everything. Part of it is because I can't run on ~5 hours of sleep per night like I know some can, and I'm sure part is that I'm just inefficient lol. Something like a library/check in type job seems like it would be good though because I always see these people just going on their computers or reading anyway.
 
What about car insurance bills, phone bills, etc?

How do you pay these?
 
redsquareblack said:
Reading this thread, seems like it took a turn for the worse right around Cole's post.

How did OP betray a "sense of entitlement", exactly? Looks like someone's reading comprehension needs a little work.
Click to expand...

I interpreted it as a response to red10's post about working part-time to buy beer and go to restaurants while the parents took out loans for tuition.
 
Dannyw said:
What about car insurance bills, phone bills, etc?

How do you pay these?
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Car insurance I pay with what I make over the summer since I don't have a car during the school year. Phone bill is part of a family plan so I think it's only ~$15/month which my parents pay. I don't have any internet or special features for my phone that would cost extra.

Ugh my one friend's parents actually pay her because they don't want her to get a job, they want her to focus on her studies. She's pre-med too so at least she's working hard at school, but still....
 
Asyouwereatrio said:
A job during your undergraduate education is not only an opportunity for one to make money to pay for expenses, but also the chance to learn how to properly act in a professional work environment and interact with others...It's a learning experience.
Click to expand...

I agree. I generally do not like hiring people without experience because they are difficult to work with. Of course since I'm a retail manager, sometimes you just have to. They tend to be more unprofessional, whiny, and don't want to stock shelves or whatever else they were hired to do. There is a huge difference in working with someone who has held a job in the past and someone who has never had to work.

I also can't stand working with managers that have been hired straight out of college with no real experience. They usually don't have a clue how to relate to the staff, know how to really get the work done, and complain all day. I've taken many business/financial/management classes and they definitely didn't prepare me for the job. The work is more than telling people what to do and analyzing reports. I am not saying it's impossible to train someone, but it's hard to teach someone how to be professional, interact with others, and be professional.
 
pvmed said:
I certainly hope your kids go to public school their whole lives, otherwise you are a hypocrite if I've ever seen one.
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That would make me a hypocrite. But I won't be sending them to private school either, so no worries.
 
pvmed said:
I swear I'm not bitter, and I have accepted my fate of being in debt for the next 30 years of life, but it really is a shame how expensive college and med school are becoming. For God's sake, my dad could pay for his entire year of college expenses (tuition, living, everything) with a summer job in 1970. Now you can make enough to eat, and maybe pay a month's rent.

So yeah, working a job for <40 hours a week and <10$ an hour with no benefits is damn near pointless. Do something you enjoy, and you won't feel as bad about going into debt. We all have PLENTY of time to work our asses off in med school and real life, so don't waste your free time in school working in a grocery store where you are 1 promotion above a 16 year old. Ain't worth it, character-building be damned.
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That's basically my thought on it as well. 30 years though, is that just from med school or college and future mortgage/whatever too?
 
pvmed said:
BRB, waiting until this poster is sending his kids to private school k-12 and then arbitrarily cuts them off when they get to college and the education actually is WORTH something.

I certainly hope your kids go to public school their whole lives, otherwise you are a hypocrite if I've ever seen one.

Won't it be interesting in 20+ years when a summer job is only going to be good for 10% of a state schools tuition bill? Just to be clear, minimum wage does not keep up with the inflation of school costs.

This is one reason I don't know if I'll even bother having kids. I don't want to have to tell them that intelligence on the whole is disregarded as useful to society. My parents placed way to much emphasis on grades for how meaningless they truly are. Much more important is manual labor, athletic talent, and social skills.

I swear I'm not bitter, and I have accepted my fate of being in debt for the next 30 years of life, but it really is a shame how expensive college and med school are becoming. For God's sake, my dad could pay for his entire year of college expenses (tuition, living, everything) with a summer job in 1970. Now you can make enough to eat, and maybe pay a month's rent.

So yeah, working a job for <40 hours a week and <10$ an hour with no benefits is damn near pointless. Do something you enjoy, and you won't feel as bad about going into debt. We all have PLENTY of time to work our asses off in med school and real life, so don't waste your free time in school working in a grocery store where you are 1 promotion above a 16 year old. Ain't worth it, character-building be damned.
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I see no reason to assume that a college education is actually worth anything to most people.

Hopefully, our current debtucation system will collapse before tuition rises another 1000%.
 
pvmed said:
Just a rough estimate. I'll be going into debt about the time 2011 rolls around, probably out of debt sometime in 2036. They have 10, 20, and 30 year plans to pay off school debt if I'm not mistaken.

Really though, work a job only if you have NOTHING better to do. If you have friends, hobbies, sports, etc. that you want to spend time on, you'll find it's more than worth the 8 bucks an hour.

Money is a moot point in undergrad (assuming you can get enough loans) in my opinion, everyone goes into the same debt black hole from med school when the smoke clears.

I recommend that we all stop placing emphasis on money right now, because none of us will have it for a long, long, LONG time.
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And if you stick to a 30 year repayment plan, you will never have money.

$200k laon, 2.5 year repayment = $218,046.20 total
$200k loan, 5 year repayment = $236,483.75 total
$200k loan, 10 year repayment = [FONT=ARIAL, HELVETICA]$276,192.62 total
$200k loan, 30 year repayment = $469,386.44 total
.
 
I just wanted to add one more thing about my own working experience...I didn't work in a healthcare profession, but rather, I worked in retail sales as a manager. Even though it seems totally unrelated to medical school, it paid the bills and became a big part of my application to medical school (for certain essay prompts), because it was indeed an insightful experience. There were many people at the store where I worked that were very different from me in terms of education, background, etc...like I'm pre-med and practically everyone there barely went to college..or was like "college?! *huh?*" so..definitely was insightful and helped me learn to better interact with people that aren't like myself..

just my $.02
 
TooMuchResearch said:
And if you stick to a 30 year repayment plan, you will never have money.

$200k laon, 2.5 year repayment = $218,046.20 total
$200k loan, 5 year repayment = $236,483.75 total
$200k loan, 10 year repayment = [FONT=ARIAL, HELVETICA]$276,192.62 total.
[FONT=ARIAL, HELVETICA]$200k loan, 30 year repayment = $469,386.44 total.
Click to expand...
If you stick with 30 year plan can you still repay all of you debt in 5-10 years without any penalties?

EN
 
TooMuchResearch said:
And if you stick to a 30 year repayment plan, you will never have money.

$200k laon, 2.5 year repayment = $218,046.20 total
$200k loan, 5 year repayment = $236,483.75 total
$200k loan, 10 year repayment = [FONT=ARIAL, HELVETICA]$276,192.62 total
$200k loan, 30 year repayment = $469,386.44 total
.
Click to expand...

What would you say is typical? $200k seems about right but most make about $50k in residency right? And if I go to dental school hopefully I can start making $100k+ right away so hopefully no more than 5 years. Although I think I remember my dentist saying he's still paying off his debt and he looks around 40 years old, not sure how that worked out. Maybe his divorce?
 
David1991 said:
What would you say is typical? $200k seems about right but most make about $50k in residency right? And if I go to dental school hopefully I can start making $100k+ right away so hopefully no more than 5 years. Although I think I remember my dentist saying he's still paying off his debt and he looks around 40 years old, not sure how that worked out. Maybe his divorce?
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He likely consolidated his loans at about 2.75%. With such a low rate, it makes way more sense to pay it off as slowly as possible while investing the rest in something that yields greater than 2.75%. You will not have that option.
 
Electronegative said:
If you stick with 30 year plan can you still repay all of you debt in 5-10 years without any penalties?

EN
Click to expand...

Federal Stafford/Direct Loan programs do not have any prepayment penalties. I'm not sure about private/alternative loans...there are no prepayment penalties on mine, but YMMV.
 
People who have never supported themselves are very obvious. It's like when someone is a virgin. The way that they carry themselves always gives it away. I don't care if someone has never had a job/been laid, it's only when they start acting like their hot **** and start acting like they're so accomplished is when they start to look really dumb. Someone who has never had a job who tries to brag about their "accomplishments"/their 4.0, is like a virgin trying to brag about a blowjob. It's not really something to brag about and others aren't going to be impressed. So as long as you're not one of those people with no job who acts like they're better than others because of a 4.0, you should be fine. 😉
 
ILikeDrugs said:
People who have never supported themselves are very obvious. It's like when someone is a virgin. The way that they carry themselves always gives it away. I don't care if someone has never had a job/been laid, it's only when they start acting like their hot **** and start acting like they're so accomplished is when they start to look really dumb. Someone who has never had a job who tries to brag about their "accomplishments"/their 4.0, is like a virgin trying to brag about a blowjob. It's not really something to brag about and others aren't going to be impressed. So as long as you're not one of those people with no job who acts like they're better than others because of a 4.0, you should be fine. 😉
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THIS. Exactly.

Now to be a little hypocritical and self-indulgent: I've worked my butt off since I was fifteen years old to support myself. Multiple jobs, loans where necessary, budgeting like crazy, etc. Then my friends excitedly brag about how they're soooooo independent now, since they moved out of their parents' place. They complain about having to work to afford their Starbucks, since their parents won't cover that. And all I can do is listen and nod, then head off to work myself because rent isn't going to pay itself!

It is possibly the most annoying thing in the world to me. Thank god that next year, I'll be getting free room and board. That eases my bills a lot. 👍
 
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