Working Full Time and Studying Full-time

[gatorsoc85]

Has anyone here worked full-time (not a GAship) and taken a full-time courseload in a PhD program? I am going to start a Sociology PhD program in the fall and am wondering the feasibility.

[Chasely]

It may not be allowed in your program. If I am working, I'm only allowed to take a certain amount of credits. I would check to see if your department has that.

You of course could not tell anyone, but they may be very unhappy if they find out.

[emmm]

Sounds like a bad idea -- there just are not that many hours in a day. I would be worried about being able to handle everything. It's hard enough to do one of those part-time while doing the other full-time.

[Sparky]

It may not be allowed in your program. If I am working, I'm only allowed to take a certain amount of credits. I would check to see if your department has that.

You of course could not tell anyone, but they may be very unhappy if they find out.

Do you have funding? (If you don't--don't go.)

Many funding packages specifically prohibit students from holding outside jobs as well. If you get caught, you could lose said funding (including tuition remission).

As far as feasibility goes--I am not in soc, so maybe it is different, but the first semester of any graduate program is hard. (I had a master's before I started PhD work. It was still the hardest semester of my entire education). If there are no legal barriers, you might at least want to wait a semester and see if you think you have time for both.

You could also contact current students in the program and find out if working full-time is a thing that any of them do.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Sparky

[Bimmerman]

I worked full time and went to school full time...in undergrad. Also did formula SAE (in itself 20-40hr/wk commitment). 3hrs/night of sleep was average, 5 was a particularly good night.

Definitely could not do that in grad school, even though I still get 3-4hrs/night of sleep (rewired my brain, can't help it). The classes are harder but require you to put much more time and energy into them.

And that's without research.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Bimmerman

[wreckofthehope]

I worked full time and did my MA full time (a full course load of 3 classes per term)... I certainly would not recommend it; it was just about manageable for an MA, BUT my MA only lasted one year (any longer would have utterly destroyed me) and, although I needed good grades, an MA is not as make-or-break as a PhD program nor is the level or work and commitment expected of students anywhere near as high. I am in a PhD program now, and I would not even consider the possibility of working full-time while doing this (my academic work requires more hours a week than my full-time employment once did).

[rising_star]

The best advice I have been given is to try to treat grad school like a full-time job. That is, put in 8 hours of work (actual work, not scanning Facebook and surfing the web) per day at least 5 days a week and you should be at least moderately successful. That said, this varies and you'll find yourself putting in some 80 hour weeks and some 25 hour weeks. Personally, I can't imagine having to work 40 additional hours at a job where I couldn't do some of my grad school work (like reading, editing, writing, etc.) during every single week of the semester, let alone at the busy times at the end of the semester.