Working + Premed = Disaster?

[Esviel]

Okay so i got my job lined up for next year with my boss. Starting in september when i start Penn pre-med, I will be working 15 hrs/wk making $15/hr. Now, will this be manageable? Will i have time to study/volunteer/research/party? What do some of your schedules look like? Is this job a good idea?

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[neuro1617]

It really depends on how good you are at time management. Different people can handle different schedule loads. How many credits are you taking? This semester I work 8hrs/wk, volunteer every weekend + some miscellaneous volunteer work, president of a club we formed this semester (kind of a lot of work) + peer mentoring. I have 13 credits, individual chem work & 3 labs a week. Just to give you an idea...of course you'll be working more but that's some good $. If you manage your time & do what you need to when you need to do it, you can find time for fun & some relaxation. I don't know about time for research though...

 

[mdgator]

I managed to work throughout most of premed, usually 20-30 hrs/week. It's definitely manageable. I know that many pre-meds work...maybe most. And we also manage to have a decent social life, for the most part. And 15 an hour is a good paying job for a full-time student. Go for it. The extra money can be helpful, and you can always cut back if it gets to hard.

 

[dd128]

You should be fine, just get down all your time management stuff. Make schedule if you have to. I worked full time through undergrad and did fine. You may even be cut a bit of slack on extracurriculars if your occupied in this fashion. Granted you still need clinical work and volunteer experience but maybe not as much as if you were unemployed.

 

[45408]

I did it for over half of undergrad. It should be manageable.

 

[167649]

Okay so i got my job lined up for next year with my boss. Starting in september when i start Penn pre-med, I will be working 15 hrs/wk making $15/hr. Now, will this be manageable? Will i have time to study/volunteer/research/party? What do some of your schedules look like? Is this job a good idea?

I worked while an college, it'll take some weekly organization on your part but you should be fine.

 

[Tizoc]

I'm doing it right now and I'm managing it just fine. Though it does help I work from 6-9am Mon-Fri. and I've been able to schedule all my classes in the afternoon.

 

[HumidBeing]

Fifteen hours/wk is very manageable. Congratulations on being able to get such nice wages as an undergrad!

Here's something else to think about. Work is considered an EC. Now, nobody's going to cut you any slack if your grades aren't where you need to keep them, but as long as the grades stay good, you get extra kudos for maintaining both a job and grades.

 

[wisconsindoctor]

Okay so i got my job lined up for next year with my boss. Starting in september when i start Penn pre-med, I will be working 15 hrs/wk making $15/hr. Now, will this be manageable? Will i have time to study/volunteer/research/party? What do some of your schedules look like? Is this job a good idea?

Take your $15/hr and run with it. You will make close to $900 a month (before taxes). That is very good money as an undergraduate student.

If you end up liking the lab and you don't get fired, you could ask for a pay raise once you graduate (up to about $17-$18/hr) and make more money then most graduates start out with. This would be a decent paying job while you develop your career.

Now don't go spending all of the money on drugs and beer.

 

[Myuu]

I'm semi-disorganized, working 20+hrs/week, the president of a club, volunteering, and still surviving.

I would caution you against doing this during application season, though, as that's an extra "job" in itself. But you won't have to worry about this for a while, so go for it!

 

[Maxx4]

I currently work 30 hours per week, go to school, shul (Fridays & Saturdays), volunteer at the hospital on Wednesday, and manage to be apart of three clubs. I'd say you could manage with only 15hrs a week but then again it depends on how well you study.

 

[Livingapparatus]

I work 55 to 60 hours a week with 3 science classes and i have a 3.7 gpa this semester so far. I think it really helps to stay so busy the busier you our the less time you have to mess around and mess up your jobs. All though i probably dont get out with friends as much as I should.

 

[Lecter]

15 hrs/week! no problem.

 

[ThinkaLot]

It's totally manageable. Just don't load on the other extracurriculars until you know how comfortable you feel after just starting college and a new job. I always worked two jobs each semester (20+ hrs a week) with at least 4 hr/week volunteering plus some other activities.

Ease into it, though, to avoid burnout and crash.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

Def. can be done. HOWEVER, biggest caveat, IMO; if you feel its becoming too much, then stop. You don't need to justify stopping for any other reason than grades coming over work [unless you need the money to pay tuition...but i didnt think that was the case here?]. People sometimes get that ..."Oh but i feel bad quitting or stopping w/club XYZ....etc". If you stretched yourself too thin, acknowledge it, and FIX IT.

That said, good luck to ya

 

[Blade28]

Okay so i got my job lined up for next year with my boss. Starting in september when i start Penn pre-med, I will be working 15 hrs/wk making $15/hr. Now, will this be manageable? Will i have time to study/volunteer/research/party? What do some of your schedules look like? Is this job a good idea?

Agree with the above posts - it all depends on your time management skills.

I worked 40 hours/week through all four years of college, plus was an engineering major AND did research. So it's certainly possible!

 

[Zoroaster]

I worked 20-25 hrs/week during most of my undergrade taking full class loads and doing research and all that. You can do it but it definitely takes some time management skills. And sometimes i envied my classmates who weren't working. Especially when a big O-chem midterm came around and I didn't have as much time to study. But 15 hrs/week should be manageable, and I definitely wouldn't pass up $15 an hour as a student.

 

[Blade28]

I totally envied my classmates who didn't have to work (rich families and all). Plus while they were out partying and getting wasted during freshman year I was getting beatdown by o-chem.

 

[Zoroaster]

I totally envied my classmates who didn't have to work (rich families and all). Plus while they were out partying and getting wasted during freshman year I was getting beatdown by o-chem.

That's what you get for taking O-chem as a freshman you overachiever. I had a hard enough time with inorganic chem as a freshman. In fact I failed it! but that's another story.

 

[Bacchus]

I love how these threads somehow always turn into e-size contests. As I said plenty of times before, zip up boys and go home .

P.S. Penn doesn't know how to party (Ohhhhhhhhhh).

 

[meggielou]

I worked part-time in undergrad and played a DII varsity sport (I cut my hours waaaaaaay back during the season to preserve my sanity), and my advice would be, if you want to work more than those 15 hours, do it at a job where you can study when it's not busy. That totally saved my GPA! Good luck

 

[gamepad]

I currently work 60 hours a week while taking 15 hours of classes.

It's very manageable as long as you're organized.

 

[RoadRunner17]

I love how these threads somehow always turn into e-size contests. As I said plenty of times before, zip up boys and go home .

P.S. Penn doesn't know how to party (Ohhhhhhhhhh).

Lies. On my block near campus, the undergrads are always out in numbers on most weekends... and even weekdays. I swear, I don't think some kids know when NOT to party..

 

[ORTHO4ME]

Okay so i got my job lined up for next year with my boss. Starting in september when i start Penn pre-med, I will be working 15 hrs/wk making $15/hr. Now, will this be manageable? Will i have time to study/volunteer/research/party? What do some of your schedules look like? Is this job a good idea?

just dont waste most of your time listening and singing to kate bush, bjork or bonnie riatt like myself, and you should be fine.

 

[futuredrcrawfor]

You should be fine if you learn how to manage your time (keep a calendar!)

I take 12-15 hours a semester (I will have around 15-18 hours from summer study abroads and maybe a summer internship) and will be done with my bio major in the normal 4 years. I also work 15-20 hours a week as a nanny (making in the same range as you).

On top of that I mix in around 5 hours a week of volunteer work at the hospital (this semester I had to put it on the weekend but usually do it in the week)

I play volleyball between 5-10 hours a week (depends on the league but it is 1-3 nights a week).

I did a research project over the last year but it wasn't a weekly time in the lab (it was public history) it was a great group based project and I did a lot of individual work with 1-2 group meetings a month. Remember you can start researching as a freshman but many people want you to have greater skill level and class background than in high school.

So here are some time management tips
1. Make to-do list- put things in order of importance, be ambitioius but if you don't make it to the bottom don't freak out
2. set aside one day a week that you will do less than 2 hours of studying
3. Sit down at the start of the week and go through your calendar so you know what the week is like- always use pencil in a calendar
4. I am not perfect but I try not to procrastinate- have papers written 2-3 days before they are due!
5. Remember to throw in activities you enjoy or you get burnt out! (for me volleyball is great exercise and I love it!) - if that means partying do it (I don't drink so partying isn't up my ally)

 

[Blade28]

That's what you get for taking O-chem as a freshman you overachiever. I had a hard enough time with inorganic chem as a freshman. In fact I failed it! but that's another story.

 

[Myuu]

just dont waste most of your time listening and singing to kate bush, bjork or bonnie riatt like myself, and you should be fine.

I do that in the car (the singing, not the kate bush or the bonnie raitt)! Learn to multitask!

 

[DoctorDreamer]

There are times when I was working 30+ hours a week and studying my rear off for upper level classes, and acting in theatre shows. There are also days where I do nothing but watch Friends reruns. My basic life experience is that, if there are things that must be done, I get them done. Otherwise, I wait till I have something else that must be done.

 

[DallasMedic]

I have worked fulltime all through school and kept a great GPA but I totally agree that it takes some major planning. I am very lucky to have a job that allows me enough downtime to get my studying and homework in while at work most nights. I save my PTO at work for finals and midterms.

 

[Drogba]

I hate to go against the theme of this thread but you are starting college. You have no idea what its like. You are going to a school that probably isn't the easiest. Many people struggle with the transition to college as is, without any extra responsibilities. My advice would be to see how college feels to you for a semester before loading up on the commitments unless you desperately need the money. You may very well struggle with your classes as is, many do. Feel Penn out first.

 

[Hyperstudyosis]

For me it's been manageable. I guess it depends on your class load. Even with a pretty heavy class load (21 hrs), I've been able to keep working 10 hrs a week, do research, volunteer at the hospital, and be involved at my school in a number of clubs. If you can see that your job is negatively affecting your performance in school, however, quit. Your grades are more important than a job.

 

[CuyahogaMD2B]

Okay so i got my job lined up for next year with my boss. Starting in september when i start Penn pre-med, I will be working 15 hrs/wk making $15/hr. Now, will this be manageable? Will i have time to study/volunteer/research/party? What do some of your schedules look like? Is this job a good idea?

I worked about 15 hr/week when I was a first semester junior. I dropped the job when I started to feel like the world was closing in on me. For most people, they do fine at work and start dropping courses because they get behind. I dropped work so that I could concentrate on my courses.

I really worked hard as a Chemistry major especially freshman year. I was determined to finish freshman year with a 4.0 and did. I also did not have much of a social life but socializing was more important than work. Being able to get enough sleep was also important too.

 

[ORTHO4ME]

I do that in the car (the singing, not the kate bush or the bonnie raitt)! Learn to multitask!

haha. so do i, but i forget that a car is actually a "public place" sometimes and get too "in" to my singing.needless to say, odd stares from those in adjacent vehicles are rather common.

 

[Esviel]

Wow, thanks for all the input guys. Another detail about my job: I'm basically going to be sitting in an office (i work at the school district) and i've been working here since 10th grade. Now, I find myself with plenty of free time on my hands to study/do hw/surf the web (since i am a quick and efficient worker who finishes everything my boss tells me to do in a very timely fasion). So, I don't think that I will have too much trouble studying on the job.

The thing that worries me is that it has nothing to do with medicine or science. I do not work in a lab, but an office. How will that look on medschool aplications? That is why I think that its crucial that I find some type of voluneering/research when i start, in addition to this job. I have to work, my family is not rich, so i won't be getting any free money other than my full scholarship (plus some other scholarships that I've won through the hard work I put in during my Highschool years).

 

[T12]

Admissions: So why did you take the job that wasn't clinically involved...you do know that we don't accept anyone whose ever worked outside of a hospital or has had any experiences not connected to medicine right?

You: Wow, I didn't think you'd actually say that...

Admissions: I know, its TOTALLY unreasonable right?

You: I'll say...

Admissions: But $15 an hour, huh, that's good stuff...

 

[T12]

OK but seriously...If you need the money, you should absolutely take it...I mean, come on, that sounds like a GREAT deal.

You should have plenty of time to straighten out all that peripheral stuff. Keep grades high, that's always priority one.

 

[CashMcCallister]

I'm working 40 hours a week, taking 14 units, and volunteering 4 hours per week. It sucks but it's definitely do-able. Med school will be much tougher than what you're doing now, might as well start getting used to it.

 

[Myuu]

haha. so do i, but i forget that a car is actually a "public place" sometimes and get too "in" to my singing.needless to say, odd stares from those in adjacent vehicles are rather common.

Hmm. I tend not to get to see faces during my 75mph commute, but I figure if I'm entertained and those people are also entertained, it's a win-win situtation.

 

[acrunchyfrog]

Definitely doable. Don't forget to budget the money you make or it will all be for naught.
At this moment in time I'm doing 40 hours a week at work, 14 semester credits, playing judo for fun/exercise, and responding to coroner calls in the evenings.

 

[Heyeon]

Wow, just the thread I needed. Its definitely possible but a lot depends on what you are used to. If you've never worked more than 15hrs/wk and decide to take 17 hrs classes w/ say 12 hrs per week then be prepared to face a lot of difficulties...all depends on what you are already used to.

 

[Cardiac]

Yes, it is very possible. You'll quickly learn that sleep isn't all that important.

 

[URHere]

Wow, thanks for all the input guys. Another detail about my job: I'm basically going to be sitting in an office (i work at the school district) and i've been working here since 10th grade. Now, I find myself with plenty of free time on my hands to study/do hw/surf the web (since i am a quick and efficient worker who finishes everything my boss tells me to do in a very timely fasion). So, I don't think that I will have too much trouble studying on the job.

The thing that worries me is that it has nothing to do with medicine or science. I do not work in a lab, but an office. How will that look on medschool aplications? That is why I think that its crucial that I find some type of voluneering/research when i start, in addition to this job. I have to work, my family is not rich, so i won't be getting any free money other than my full scholarship (plus some other scholarships that I've won through the hard work I put in during my Highschool years).

I really wouldn't worry at all about this job not being in the medical field. Med schools see so many "pre-med robots" during the admissions process that it's actually a good thing to be different.

My advice to you would be to be happy that you can keep the job where you feel comfortable, but ease into it slowly. As others have said, you are transitioning into college. Some find it harder than high school, some find it easier, and you have no idea yet which of those groups you will fall into. Take it slowly, and increase your number of work hours until you feel comfortable.

Also, you are going to be a freshman so take some time to find other activities you like - clubs, intramural sports teams, etc. Yes, you will need volunteer and lab experience eventually, but you do not need to jump into that right away. I think as a freshman your time would be better spent finding things you enjoy that will make you stand out as a person, give you a group to belong to, and give you a chance to take on a leadership role in the future. Overall, don't ask yourself at every turn what med schools will think of you, just enjoy your life and make sure you get the requirements in there somewhere.

 

[45408]

The thing that worries me is that it has nothing to do with medicine or science. I do not work in a lab, but an office. How will that look on medschool aplications?

Normal. Lots of people have jobs. I did landscaping every summer I was in college.

 

[lex]

Okay so i got my job lined up for next year with my boss. Starting in september when i start Penn pre-med, I will be working 15 hrs/wk making $15/hr. Now, will this be manageable? Will i have time to study/volunteer/research/party? What do some of your schedules look like? Is this job a good idea?

Absolutely you can. I work 40 hours/week (I'm a working professional) while taking 12-20 credits per semester and volunteering every weekend. I managed to pull a 3.8 GPA with all As in my science courses. You time management skill is key but it would help if you are a quick learner, too. Bill Clinton (yes, our former president) had two jobs when he went to law school and he still managed to be at the top of his class. Everybody said, and I concur, that he is just inherently a genious. IQ helps, in this case.

I would recommend, however, that you start with a small amount of units for your first semester. This is to find out your learning style and you can take on more units if you can manage well your first semester.

 

[Natasha029]

1st college semester I took 12 hours and worked full-time because I have little to no savings left over after Katrina and it was hard as brick to replenish my savings for college-living-funds.

2nd semester I loaded 19 hours and TRIED to work 25 hours a week.. I dropped an elective b/c it was a really annoying internet version and the teacher wound up being horrible.. now at 16 hours.. quit my job of 4 years because the health benefits situation.. took 2 months off.. started at Starbucks yesterday because they offer full benefits to part time employees, minimum of 20 hrs a week. Grand.

I know for a fact that once I get into the deep biology and chem classes, I will be slaving to work 20 hours a week, but I have no choice. If I did, hello bunches of student loans.

Yikes.. hopefully I can get to the point to where I can stop working for a while. I know school is #1, but my health insurance is fighting for the top spot.

I still managed to pull off a 3.8

It depends on your ability I guess.. just don't put work before school too much..

 

[scrubswannabe]

i work at my school library and although i make just 7 dollars an hour, i get to study there when its not so busy and so I dont think its that hard to both work and do pre-med

 

[paranoid_eyes]

id recommend against getting a banal job unless you NEED it to pay for school or to qualify for work study. Getting meaningful volunteer/clinical experience is MUCH more of an asset to you than working.
but hey, if you need it to pay for school, then you gotta do what you gotta do...

 

[riceman04]

I love how these threads somehow always turn into e-size contests. As I said plenty of times before, zip up boys and go home .

P.S. Penn doesn't know how to party (Ohhhhhhhhhh).

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh snap...did he really just go there?...wait wait wait...I saiiiiiiidddd....DID HE REALLY JUST GO THERE?????

All of Killadelphia responds: NO HE DIDN'T!!!! HE'S NOT THAT CRAZY!!!!



ahaydt...I (or rogerwilco...THANKS FOR VOLUNTEERING IN ADVANCE...LOL) will personally escort you to a few of the very debaucherous Spring Fling parties that will be going on this week!!!!

Oh and then two weeks later there will be debaucherous Penn Relay parties ALL on Penn's campus

 

[gan11]

I work too, about 10-15 hours a week, on top of a 10 hr/week job in a research lab, volunteering for a few hours a week, and an 18 hour credit load (and fun). Yup, I'm able to do it, but I think it's because I'm SO busy, I don't have time to goof off and say, "Oh, I'll just study next week", because I don't know if I'll have ample time next week.

that being said, schedules make all the difference; even to-do lists are helpful, because they let you know what to keep and what to cut out. For example, night before your Ochem midterm, don't decide to clean your room and do 8 loads of laundry, save that for the next day!

 

[Tin Man]

Who DOESN'T work during undergrad? Really? There are that many people whose parents can/will support them after they enter college? Really?

Huh.

If I were adcom, I would certainly raise an eyebrow to someone who really had to quit a simple part-time job because they had too much to learn.

I mean... doctors are supposed to be absorbing at LEAST the amount of information that pre-meds are DURING THEIR CAREER. You know, the 60+ hours a week career.

It doesn't make sense that you would be able to handle a 60+ hour a week job with the studying and not the 15-20 hour a week job with studying.