Dude, get a grading job. Best job ever. I'll explain
I am currently working as a grader for 2 different departments so that I can get twice the pay. Generally I grade exams and homework. I work for the astronomy department and the physics department. Here's the details for each
Physics dept.
- $2000 stipend per semester (they dole it out every 2 weeks) no matter how many hours I work
- Homework assignments take maybe an hour or two every week, sometimes only once every two weeks
- Exams can take awhile, usually 5-6 hours. The professor I work for buys us pizza and drinks though, and the students who just don't try are good for a laugh (Earth has a greater radial orbit than Jupiter??? The rock falls into the sky when dropped off a cliff???)
- Another professor that I worked for last semester did no homework and the tests were multiple choice, taking at most an hour to grade and record
Astronomy Dept.
- $6.50 per hour, considerably less pay than Physics but the hours can build up fast. You record your own hours, so it's the honors system
- Scantron tests are easy but sitll take time, since the department wants a bunch of statistics. Still, this requires almost no brainpower
- Participation homeworks = don't care about response, give them 1 point if they turned in anything. This is the bulk of all assignments.
The best thing about grading is that you can do it almost anywhere while doing almost anything. I did the Best Buy 2-night wait for the PS3 and got all of my grading done while sitting around. Usually I flip on the television and grade that way. Furthermore, grading a subject that you're familiar with is a good way to keep your mind sharp, especially in my major (physics). I would highly recommend it.
I'm one semester from graduating with my BS and have been grading for a year and a half and absolutely love it. That's probably a good thing since I'll be doing a lot of it during grad school. Also, I live in Tucson, where cost of living is VERY VERY LOW. $2000 is 6 months of rent and utilities if you have one room mate in a 2-bedroom apartment to split the costs. The astronomy job adds a little extra income and bought me a TV
You could always do student loans until you find a steady job, you don't have to pay anything until you graduate and the rates are very low.
I also worked as an IT for $8/hour, that job sucked balls. I love computers, but no one should ever want to do tech support for a living. If you've never done tech support before and think you're interested in it, try it out for a few months and realize how much you hate fixing computers for stupid people.
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