Work during PHD? Is it possible?

[AsKingfishersCatchFire.]

Hi,

 

For all of you currently in English MA and/or PHD programs, is it possible for someone to do the coursework, teach classes (while going to school), and work a job on the side? Is their enough time or when programs say "full-time" they mean full-time? Just looking for perspectives on if working a job during Grad school while taking classes and teaching as a TA would be feasible? Any help would be great!

 

 

[toasterazzi]

I'm in the process of getting my MA right now, and our grad students typically take 3 classes and teach 2 classes per semester. Some people do work throughout the semester and manage it fairly well. Though I would say that they only work on a part time basis (a few days a week at most) for their other jobs. I work in the campus bookstore during the school breaks, and I just took on a short term gig as scholarship essay reviewer for my university. I've seen people buckle under the stress of just the teaching and taking classes though so I'd say the capability to have an additional job on top of that probably varies from person to person.

[antigone56]

When I did my M.A., I taught two classes (as full instructor, not just assisting a professor) for the school, and two more on top of that for the local community college.  I also tutored three hours a week.  I wouldn't recommend working so much; I got less out of my M.A. than I could have because I was working so much.  I know what I described doesn't sound like a lot, but it takes preparation time, reading (what your class is reading, which mostly cannot be the same things you're reading for your own education because you're not on the same level as your students), creating assignments, grading papers, entering grades, posting things to the class's web shell, meeting with students who need help, and answering their emails, to deliver a course even just minimally well.  I felt like I spent more time being a teacher than a student.  

 

I have different plans for if/when I do a Ph.D.  Work, yes, but in a different way.  I also hope to wind up in a city and living situation where there's less commuting back and forth, which was a big chunk of my time, too.

 

Honestly, I feel like I could be a star -- or closer to a star than what I ever have been -- if I could just be a student.

Edited October 21, 2013 by antigone56

[bdon19]

I feel like work during grad school takes on two different meanings.  Hardly anyone I know takes on outside jobs other than the odd babysitting gig if they can help it.  However, nearly every graduate student in my department takes on some sort of additional work--tutoring, tech support, grading, etc.--within the department to earn some spare cash, which somehow doesn't seem like extra in the same sense.

[Francophile1]

I am working way less than the people above - only teach 1 course and there is absolutely no time for another job! Maybe only during summer. Lesson planning takes a long time especially the first few years!

[danieleWrites]

I have a job and I hate it. Not the job so much, though I could write a dissertation on alienation here. I hate the 20 to 25 hours per week that the job takes away from me. Instead of sleeping, furthering my academic and career goals, spending time with my family, or spending time on myself, I'm a wage slave. My scholarship clearly suffered during my MA because the time that I need is taken up by work. Unfortunately, I can't not have the outside job. Fortunately, my department defines full time as 2 courses taken and 2 courses taught so I have time to do things like sleep and hang with the family.

Edited October 23, 2013 by danieleWrites

[jrockford27]

I had a standing offer from my old job to work remotely, part-time, after getting to grad school.  I quickly found that, at least for me, it would just be impossible.  With the reading load I get every week, I feel like I barely have time to go out for a drink once a week, much less work an entire job.  If you're a real well organized dynamo you might be able to pull it off.  I didn't want any leisure time, I bet I could arrange to maybe work a day a week.

 

The biggest problem I'd see, is that if your work slips a bit, you're always going to wonder, "well if I wasn't working, could i have devoted more time and done better..."