Is it possible? Grad School and Part time Job

[Stiganator]

I just finished an interview with a biomed company thinking my job search had finally ended. Then the Director Of Graduate Studies emails me and says he has a spot for me and would admit me for this spring!

What should I do?

Do you think I would be able to work part time so I could come out with 3 years of experience and a PhD? I know here its frowned upon, but has anyone done it or heard of it? Frankly I'm kind of worried at the 18-20K stipend for grad school will not be enough to pay for rent+undergrad loans+food+gas+child support. Maybe they will make exceptions...

 

[homercles337]

Try to get them to let you take summer internships. I did one during the summer of 2000 and i got no research done at all. Its frowned upon for a reason. Dont you have funding via a stipend? If not, you need to ask your advisor why? No grants? You dont want that. Also, it will take you about 12 years to finish if normative time for your program is 5 years.

 

[Stiganator]

What? I'm confused by what you just said.

 

[kedlav]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
I just finished an interview with a biomed company thinking my job search had finally ended. Then the Director Of Graduate Studies emails me and says he has a spot for me and would admit me for this spring!

What should I do?

Do you think I would be able to work part time so I could come out with 3 years of experience and a PhD? I know here its frowned upon, but has anyone done it or heard of it? Frankly I'm kind of worried at the 18-20K stipend for grad school will not be enough to pay for rent+undergrad loans+food+gas+child support. Maybe they will make exceptions...

I work full time and am doing 6-9 hours/semester of grad school. Don't get me wrong, its a pain in the arse, but damn me if it isn't nice to have money. As far as undergrad loans, most often they are deferred until you drop below half time in grad school. Speak with your advisor and the company you'd like to work for. Try to work something out.

 

[torpid]

I know people who have part time jobs and go to grad school. What's the big deal? I didn't know there was a stigma attached.

 

[PrinceofWands]

There's no answer to that, it's totally dependent on you (and your job and graduate field). After reviewing a number of grad programs at various schools I didn't see any issue with working part or even full time during most of it - though most have at least one semester where you're going to be swamped.

Edit: My bad, I just read your post more closely and saw you were talking PhD, not Masters. Just ignore the looney here in the corner.

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: Stiganator
What? I'm confused by what you just said.

I thought that might confuse you. Apologies.

If you *must* work, try to limit it to summers. You should be able to make enough during a summer to support your rent/food needs during the semester.

Why doesnt your advisor have funding for you? If s/he doesnt have grants you dont want her/him as an advisor.

If you *must* work it will take you for ever to finish. I had friends in grad school that only had a kid (no job) and they took ~10 years to finish. I did it in normative time (5 years) with no kids and only one summer off for the internship.

 

[Stiganator]

The normal time for a PhD is 3-4 years as I understand it, unless you're an uber researcher and they don't want to let the slave labor go.

 

[Tiamat]

It may be illegal for you to hold a second job in addition to your stipended position. This was the case for me here at Northeastern University, and I am sure this is the case elsewhere as well.

Also you can put your loans into determent status while you are in grad school. In addition you can take FAFSA and grab the additional federal loans (up to 20k$ per year) and apply those to your undergrad private loans (assuming you have those with high interest rates) and/or credit card debt.

 

[uclaLabrat]

I doubt you'd be able to do a full PhD in a science and work part time. Your boss would be extremely jealous of your time. A guy in my lab tutors quite a bit on the side, he can sneak away from the lab for an hour at a time, at $40/hr. He can make a few extra hundred a month (Our base pay is something like $26K).

Of course, if you work for a slave driver and pull 80-100 hour weeks, kiss that goodbye.

 

[bignateyk]

Part time job on top of a stipend position (TA/RA)?

Most schools wont even allow you to do that. If you didnt have the stipend, then yes, i'd say its possible (at least until you get deep into your research...)

 

[rezinn]

Depends what area you are in and how good of a lab you get into. You probably won't know for sure until your third quarter or even later. I had a part time job during grad school (biochemistry) but quit when things got rough. It sounds like you have reason enough to be motivated and maintain a job so you can handle your expenses, so you should give it a try. It could majorly benefit you if you are working in a related area.

 

[GoingUp]

I did grad school and a full time job. Worked 6-7 days a week at work and went to grad school 4 nights a week. My life was hell for 15 months, but I got my degree

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: torpid
I know people who have part time jobs and go to grad school. What's the big deal? I didn't know there was a stigma attached.

:thumbsup:

 

[mfs378]

One student in my graduate student office makes $110k a year for 30hrs/week as CTO of a startup!

 

[Stiganator]

Say what?

 

[Capt Caveman]

If you're willing to sacrifice a social life, sure you can do it. I worked full-time, went to grad school at night and worked a part-time job(for fun at REI) the nights I didn't go to school.

 

[thomsbrain]

Depends on what you are studying. Many people complete grad school in the normal time while working 40 hours a week. It just takes a lot of sacrifice and hard work to do that. I know another guy who works all day, every day working on his degree and will barely finish in time (BioChem). So YMMV.

 

[minendo]

Sure it is possible. I'm currently working full time and enrolled in and taken courses at grad school.

 

[uclaLabrat]

But a PhD in a science like bio, biochem or chem is different...Your PI is going to want you in the lab, not doing other stuff. If you have spare time, they want it.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

It depends WHERE you are studying. I know plenty of people taking classes while working pretty much full time (my coworkers). There are people who go through MBA programs while working too. However, if you're attending a top tier university you would be quitting. For example my friend quit work to go to UCLA biz school. Similarly if I was to be accepted at a top UC for a masters program, I don't see how you can do research if you need to work.

 

[Dedpuhl]

I worked full time and went to Grad School (Civil Engineering) without a hitch. I ended up quitting b/c it I was lazy.

 

[Stiganator]

I suppose either way I'll figure out a way to make it work.

@homer, I didn't think advisors could just dispense grant money as they saw fit. I was under the impression that most grad school work like


Free Tuition+ 20K stipend

Can you advisor give you more money? Or are we on the same page?

 

[Stiganator]

People who have done it, was it Masters or PhD and in what?

 

[Special K]

It could also depend on the difficulty of the program. Some of the classes I took for EE grad were pratically full time jobs in and of themselves due to the huge project components.