Talk to me about working part time during full time post bac

[meander]

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Hi fellow non-trads, I'm about to start a full time 12-month career changer post bac. I'm moving to a new city to do so, but when I gave notice at my job, my manager asked me to stay on and work part time/remotely as much as I can. Honestly I was overjoyed to hear this because I could use the money and I would never get a salary this high at any other part time job. I'll be able to set my own schedule and a lot of the work I do can be done outside of business hours, ie nights and weekends. Realistically I think I need to put in 10-20 hours/week in order to keep it up.

Has anyone tried something like this? Common pitfalls? What do you wish you'd known?

 

[WaterPog]

I wasn't in an organized fast-track post-bac like you're heading for, but I was a full time student with two part time jobs and did just fine. Your plan sounds even better because you won't have the scheduling issues that I had trying to coordinate my classes and both work schedules, along with kids and everything else.

I say give it a go and see what happens, just be prepared to drop work first if your grades start to suffer. GPA is king, MCAT is queen and the rest are just the pawns.

 

[one2bDr]

That sound great! Do you need more people?
Lol..all kidding aside it sounds doable. I have a full time 9-5 where I was working overtime, recently adjusted to 30 hours and I feel like time is my friend now. Manage your time wisely and you can do it. One tip I can give you Ido became am early riser.

 

[mdambitions]

This sounds like a dream...

I designed my own full-time post-bac and worked full-time on the night shift in order to make my path to MD feasible. If you can get paid well, to work part time from home, without worrying about the logistics of an office job... GO FOR IT. Certainly nothing bad can come of this if you feel overwhelmed and need to resign, since you had already planned out the transition without this job. As always, be careful not to burn any bridges if you do have to quit, in case you're counting on a recommendation from this employer.

Your plan is totally doable. Good luck!

 

[deleted480308]

I did full time class work while working a full time job...just did classes at night and online. A couple of 3am nights but really not impossible, just really difficult with the kids and all.

 

[deleted389100]

I did a full-time post-bacc with a full-time job. Honestly, not a good idea unless you absolutely HAVE to work (I did because I also relocated for my post-bacc program and was fully independent... Financial aid only covered about half the cost of tuition, but you have to live/eat/pay bills as well, right?) I was truly jealous of the students that were able to just go to school, live at home, and not have anything else to worry about besides their grades). Granted, I probably struggled a little bit more than your average student because I was out of school for a VERY long time before returning via post-bacc.

I don't know what your work entails, but I had a hard time keeping up with my studies and working. It's definitely possible, as some people mentioned that they had to work, study, AND balance a family... but you should probably schedule your life out at the beginning of every quarter/semester. And if you feel like you're slipping from your studies for any work-related reason, I would say drop work ASAP and focus on school. That's what I would have done in retrospect.

Good luck!

 

[DocWinter]

You've got it made, my friend. Having flexible employment part-time to keep the finances afloat is a great thing. They like you, they want you, they want to pay you, and they accept that you will put your classes first and work second.

I worked too much my post-bac, and I wish I could have afforded not to. Keep your work hours to a minimum, prioritize the important, get enough sleep and make your studies important. You've got a great thing.

 

[meander]

Thanks for the replies everybody! I think I was so excited about this opportunity that I needed to make sure I wasn't overlooking some really obvious downside...

The post bac starts with a summer session for gen chem only, which I have taken before (albeit ten years ago), so I think that will be a slightly lower stress environment to assess whether I can handle work and school simultaneously. I do not strictly need to work (I have just barely enough savings to do my postbac year out of pocket), but obviously I would like to delay taking loans as long as possible.

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