Working while in school

[dptprospect54]

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I've heard mixed things about being able to work while in school. Have any current students found they are able to do so? Does anyone plan/have to work through school?

 

[astarblaze]

I've heard mixed things about being able to work while in school. Have any current students found they are able to do so? Does anyone plan/have to work through school?

So- caveat: I'm not in PT school yet. But, I've talked to a bunch of different students, and the consensus of whether working is a good idea seems to be that it depends on your situation. It depends on the program you're in, and on how you are as a student, and on what part of the program you're in.

All the programs I've visited have students who worked part time, but usually either work-study, or very flexible, very part-time jobs where they have a lot of control over their hours and scheduling (eg- are able to cut back around finals/exam time, work around class schedules, etc). Some students do great with this sort of arrangement; others tell me they would never want to work while in the program. Usually certain times in the program are more stressful/work-intensive than other times (for some programs, this is first year, others, second year, others third year...) So that might affect when you are able to hold down a part time job.

I might try to do work-study or tutor part time during school. The advice I've been given is to wait at least a semester to get accustomed to the program and workload before trying to take on a part time job of any sort. I think this is wise advice.

 

[pegasuscvc]

I'm going to set aside the workload for a second and look at another side of it. I worked 10 hours a week as a graduate assistant while in PT school. Since I was working for the department, it wasn't much of an issue. I could fit in a couple of hours here and a couple there basically whenever I wanted. However, my wife was also working retail in the evenings when I was home to watch the little one. The reason why I bring that up is this: While you're in PT school, they basically own you. What that means is that there will be times when class runs late, or times when you get something sprung on you at the last minute, and there is no skipping or making excuses. You have to just suck it up and do it. The question then becomes, what do you tell your boss if you get an email saying you have to be at school the next morning when you're supposed to be at work?? This happened to us several times while I was in school. I found out last minute that I had a school related obligation, or I had to stay late for school, and since my wife didn't have a babysitter or another car, that meant she was either late for work or had to call in entirely. In the case of the student themselves having the job, there will be times when you simply can't make your shift because of school-related obligations, and you won't find out until the day of or day before. That doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't work. My wife wasn't fired for this, but she was written up for attendance because she kept having to call in or be very tardy because of my school stuff. If you do decide to work, make sure you have a job that's flexible, as in REALLY flexible.

 

[nd_dpt]

Working your first semester is just not possible. You're going to be too overwhelmed with adjusting to the workload and studying. Adding a job on top of all of your school work is too much. After that, if you feel like you can handle a job that is really no more than a couple hours a week, you can. We have a few people that work less than 10 hours for intramurals every week. You have to ask yourself, though, if the money from so few hours is worth it. Overall, don't do it your first semester and then assess your situation after that.