Working During Undergrad at UCD

[Darth Revan93]

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Hey everyone! I'm relatively new to the forums and any help would be fantastic. I'm currently attending a local community college and working part-time. I completed a TAG with UCD and once I get the official news in April, I will be transferring for the Fall 2014 term as a NPB (Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior) major. I would love any insight from anyone who has attended UCD as a NPB major or any other pre-med at an university if working part-time while completing your undergrad and maintaining your GPA is possible. My parents expect me to work while I'm at UCD, but I do not know how realistic that is since I will be in the quarter system and my studies are of the utmost importance. Any suggestions in ensuring that I have money in my pocket for gas and food? Any insight would be great!

 

[kyamh]

If you get enrolled in a month long sleep study once a year, you can get as much as 10k. It would have to be all you do, but it may be worth it to give up two months over four years or something like that. 🙂

Current example: https://sleep.med.harvard.edu/resea..._Research_Study_Needs_Participants_Aged_18-35!

 

[Darth Revan93]

So basically you're saying unless I do a research study like the one you posted, maintaining a job during my upper division while at UCD and maintaining my GPA is near impossible? How difficult is it to maintain a job and still find time for ECs?

 

[Patros]

So basically you're saying unless I do a research study like the one you posted, maintaining a job during my upper division while at UCD and maintaining my GPA is near impossible? How difficult is it to maintain a job and still find time for ECs?

I worked part-time for 3 years from freshman year through junior year. I worked 10-15 hrs every weekend, and then in summer/winter breaks. In my experience, maintaining your GPA shouldn't be too bad as long as you take a workload you can handle (12-15 credits). In one semester, I took 21 credits, worked part-time, volunteered in research, and took the MCAT. My GPA and MCAT are decent, but I would NOT do that again.

But the biggest con is that it will seriously cut into time for EC's. I only had time to volunteer during summers, and short stints are not considered impressive by adcoms. Now most secondary apps will ask you "Did you work during the school year? How much?" so in theory they take this into account. Honestly though, I am not certain adcoms appreciate how hard it is to try to maintain some disposable income and do all that touchy-feely, heart-warming stuff that is basically required by adcoms.

So basically I am saying you can feasibly choose three of the following at any given time: 1) Take classes 2) Work part-time 3) Volunteer for clinical experience 4) Volunteer in research (OR ideally get paid for it) 5) Study for the MCAT. Try to spread them out during your two remaining years.

 

[Darth Revan93]

I worked part-time for 3 years from freshman year through junior year. I worked 10-15 hrs every weekend, and then in summer/winter breaks. In my experience, maintaining your GPA shouldn't be too bad as long as you take a workload you can handle (12-15 credits). In one semester, I took 21 credits, worked part-time, volunteered in research, and took the MCAT. My GPA and MCAT are decent, but I would NOT do that again.

But the biggest con is that it will seriously cut into time for EC's. I only had time to volunteer during summers, and short stints are not considered impressive by adcoms. Now most secondary apps will ask you "Did you work during the school year? How much?" so in theory they take this into account. Honestly though, I am not certain adcoms appreciate how hard it is to try to maintain some disposable income and do all that touchy-feely, heart-warming stuff that is basically required by adcoms.

So basically I am saying you can feasibly choose three of the following at any given time: 1) Take classes 2) Work part-time 3) Volunteer for clinical experience 4) Volunteer in research (OR ideally get paid for it) 5) Study for the MCAT. Try to spread them out during your two remaining years.

So what would you recommend? Work part time or focus on ECs? I figured adcoms don't really take into consideration if you worked, but it's almost impossible for me to survive without a source of income. My parents are not exactly willing to help me with necessities like food, gas, and insurance and they don't see how important it is for me too actually devote time to ECs.

 

[Patros]

So what would you recommend? Work part time or focus on ECs? I figured adcoms don't really take into consideration if you worked, but it's almost impossible for me to survive without a source of income. My parents are not exactly willing to help me with necessities like food, gas, and insurance and they don't see how important it is for me too actually devote time to ECs.

So I don't know your resume and what you have taken care of yet, but here is some general advice.

I would recommend getting a job in a health-care or biomedical research field. ER scribe, lab tech, pharmacy tech, something like that. This way, you can knock out the "clinical exposure" criterion while simultaneously having some disposable income. If you don't work with physicians, then you should make room for some shadowing hours. Make sure to contact some physicians and request some shadowing hours, and do this soon. You don't want your first time seeing a physician in action to be in your senior year.

Take the lightest course load you can, since if you MUST work, then you can't afford to try and impress adcoms with a heavy course load (I took 20+ credits every semester and nobody was impressed). Maintaining high grades is more important than the number of classes you take.

Also realize that working in research will take 15-25 hr/week for anything meaningful to come out of it. If you don't intend on research, focus on spending time volunteering or participating in some altruistic pursuit. Basically something to show you care about people's welfare. If you do intend on getting a research job, try to squeeze in this volunteering before you have to start. Who knows, perhaps you will find a way to do both simultaneously.

And then you have to consider making time to prep for the MCAT, which is a whole another story. How you find time to prep for this will depend entirely on what you are involved in and when you intend to take the test.

However, I was on the east coast and applied with a research-heavy focus. Perhaps someone on the west coast can give you some advice on balancing volunteering with your part-time job.

 

[Darth Revan93]

So I don't know your resume and what you have taken care of yet, but here is some general advice.

I would recommend getting a job in a health-care or biomedical research field. ER scribe, lab tech, pharmacy tech, something like that. This way, you can knock out the "clinical exposure" criterion while simultaneously having some disposable income. If you don't work with physicians, then you should make room for some shadowing hours. Make sure to contact some physicians and request some shadowing hours, and do this soon. You don't want your first time seeing a physician in action to be in your senior year.

Take the lightest course load you can, since if you MUST work, then you can't afford to try and impress adcoms with a heavy course load (I took 20+ credits every semester and nobody was impressed). Maintaining high grades is more important than the number of classes you take.

Also realize that working in research will take 15-25 hr/week for anything meaningful to come out of it. If you don't intend on research, focus on spending time volunteering or participating in some altruistic pursuit. Basically something to show you care about people's welfare. If you do intend on getting a research job, try to squeeze in this volunteering before you have to start. Who knows, perhaps you will find a way to do both simultaneously.

And then you have to consider making time to prep for the MCAT, which is a whole another story. How you find time to prep for this will depend entirely on what you are involved in and when you intend to take the test.

However, I was on the east coast and applied with a research-heavy focus. Perhaps someone on the west coast can give you some advice on balancing volunteering with your part-time job.

Ok, thanks for all the help! I will definitely take what you said into consideration. Looks like I probably won't be able to get a job in a healthcare-related job until after I get onto the UCD campus, unless there are other ways?