HELP! Advice on GA position

[speechpathologystudent099]

I'm in desperate need of advice! I was fortunate enough to be offered a GA position at my university, however, it is not with the SLP department. The position requires 20/hrs a week working with the  admissions office. I worked 2-3 jobs at a time during undergrad and was still able to maintain a 3.8 GPA and do well in all my courses. I have juggled work and school throughout undergrad but I know grad school is much harder. I basically have a few options and I'm hoping someone can offer some advice. The GA position is 2 years preferred so I could say I can only work the first year and get tuition covered for that year and then have to pay for the second year, I could say no all together and just focus on school, or I could try to make it work as best I can and possibly have to stay in school an extra semester. Any advice is appreciated because I have no idea what I should do. I know if I reach out to my department head they will tell me not to work but I feel like I could make it work for at least the first year. I'm stressing out so much because I need to decide quickly. Thank you in advance! I'm also staying at the same school I went to for undergrad so I am familiar with the professors and know a little bit about the grad program and course load already.

Edited July 1, 2020 by speechpathologystudent099

[nwslp]

Hi!!! I had a super similar offer when I started my program last August. It was with a different department and was about 15 hours a week of remote GA work which sounded totally doable. I ended up quitting after the first week of orientation though. It's hard to explain how much time the work for grad school takes, especially first semester. I just found that I was working on this unrelated GA position when I could be treatment planning for my clients (which took SO long the first few weeks when I had to be reading about treatment methods and best practices in my spare time). If you've seen clients and taken classes together before then it might be something you can handle! But if seeing clients is going to be a new experience for you and you can afford to turn down the position i'd consider it. 

Edited to add: I just re-read your post and it sounds like it covers tuition. That's a game changer! My position was going to be about 1500 taken off of tuition and a couple hundred a month stipend. It wasn't worth the time to me, so if you're getting a major tuition cut that might change everything. We also don't have any flexibility in extending our program. 

Edited July 1, 2020 by nwslp

[speechpathologystudent099]

10 hours ago, nwslp said:

Hi!!! I had a super similar offer when I started my program last August. It was with a different department and was about 15 hours a week of remote GA work which sounded totally doable. I ended up quitting after the first week of orientation though. It's hard to explain how much time the work for grad school takes, especially first semester. I just found that I was working on this unrelated GA position when I could be treatment planning for my clients (which took SO long the first few weeks when I had to be reading about treatment methods and best practices in my spare time). If you've seen clients and taken classes together before then it might be something you can handle! But if seeing clients is going to be a new experience for you and you can afford to turn down the position i'd consider it. 

Edited to add: I just re-read your post and it sounds like it covers tuition. That's a game changer! My position was going to be about 1500 taken off of tuition and a couple hundred a month stipend. It wasn't worth the time to me, so if you're getting a major tuition cut that might change everything. We also don't have any flexibility in extending our program. 

It does cover tuition and I would actually get paid on top as well so I was thinking of possibly saving the money I make the first year and using that to help pay for the second year. I would be constantly stressed and studying all the time but I think it might be worth it in the long run. For my program we also don't start seeing clients until the second semester so I would only have to juggle clinic, class, and work for one of the two semesters. Thank you for your reply it helped! 

[bibliophile222]

Considering that only one semester that first year would involve juggling clients, and that it covers tuition, then I say go for it for the first year. 20 hours a week is about the absolute maximum that anyone should work in a full-time grad program, but a couple people in my cohort did 20 hours or so a week and made it work. The second year it might not be possible to keep it unless its remote or only on weekends, since you might be doing placement during the day and class at night, but one year of paid tuition is still a great deal.

And who knows, maybe sometime in the first year some sort of remote position could become available for your second year.

[speechpathologystudent099]

13 hours ago, bibliophile222 said:

Considering that only one semester that first year would involve juggling clients, and that it covers tuition, then I say go for it for the first year. 20 hours a week is about the absolute maximum that anyone should work in a full-time grad program, but a couple people in my cohort did 20 hours or so a week and made it work. The second year it might not be possible to keep it unless its remote or only on weekends, since you might be doing placement during the day and class at night, but one year of paid tuition is still a great deal.

And who knows, maybe sometime in the first year some sort of remote position could become available for your second year.

Very true, thank you I think I'll go for it!

[Madi544]

Hi! Are you by chance going to UCF? I ask because we don't have clinicals the first semester and I saw a similar graduate assistantship recently come available. I just finished my first semester at UCF this summer (online due to COVID) if you have any questions