What are your experiences with working full time and going to college?

I worked full time and went to college with a full CS course load, and because I had no real support system I was lonely, tired, and miserable the whole time. I rode a bike everywhere, commuted to school from home because I couldn't afford to live on campus, lived on rice and beans, and was told to man up and deal with it whenever I reached out for help. I burned out and dropped out halfway through.

It was hell, and I was bitter about it for years.

I worked full time (as a developer, but at a big company where work was pretty slow and not stressful) and attended grad school. Twice I took two courses while being full time, both times were pretty miserable. I would go to work and then either be too tired to get any schoolwork done when I got home, which would cause me stress, or I would get some schoolwork done and then be tired for work in the morning. My social life was (voluntarily) pretty nil at this point, and even then I had a hard time getting the projects done. One course per semester while working full time seemed to be pretty manageable. But that was grad school where a lot of the work was project based, for undergrad school where it might be a little lighter I think it would depend on your aptitude.

I would also not underestimate the chance that your down time work hours won't be as productive as you think they'll be. I was never able to make any significant progress at work (except for one time where I took an online midterm at work lol).

Edit: I also would say to factor in how much time you need for other things. For example I wasn't in a relationship so I didn't need any time to maintain that, I also had the privilege of being able to afford to eat out for every meal, so I didn't have to spend time cooking or going to the grocery store (except for the everyday necessities, which when you're a single person living alone can last a long time). My commute time was also pretty low to both work and school, there's just a lot of variables that can impact your situation. There's no shame in starting slow, especially if you need some time to learn how to be a student again (don't underestimate how much being a student is a skill that will fade over time)

I've done this combination at two times in my life. One time, it worked. One time, it didn't.

When I left high school, my parents and I (mostly my parents) decided that it would be better for me to get a job alongside university, rather than just study at uni full-time. So I did that. I got a full-time day job in an entry-level job in my (their) chosen career, and studied part-time at university. I went to work 5 days a week, attended uni 2 nights a week, then did assignments & other homework on the weekends.

This arrangement led to me failing a lot of subjects; I even got called to the Academic Review Board once, to explain why they shouldn't expel me. I simply didn't have the self-discipline at 18-22 years of age to do that sort of thing. It didn't help that, the further along I got in my degree, the more I realised I didn't want to do that sort of work.

Studying part-time, I was supposed to complete my degree in 6 years. After 6 years, I was exactly 50% through the course requirements.

Then I got retrenched!

I decided to take advantage of this opportunity, and knuckle down and finish this bloody degree once and for all. Studying full-time, it would take me only another 18 months. I dropped out 6 weeks later. It really wasn't what I wanted to do with my life!

So that experience didn't work.

A decade or so later, in my mid-30s, I decided to get myself a tertiary qualification. There were a few reasons for this, but the main one was that the company I worked for had just released a new HR policy which said employees could be promoted beyond a certain point only if they had a tertiary qualification - and, to help people, the company was willing to pay for people to get a tertiary qualification if they didn't already have one.

So I looked around and found a post-graduate diploma that would take only 2 years to complete part-time, and which the university would allow me to do on the basis that my 15+ years of work experience was equivalent to an under-graduate degree.

The most important thing I did was arrange with my boss to take 1 day of annual leave every week during each semester. Rather than have uni homework impinge on my existing free time, I created an extra day of free time every week, to be dedicated solely to homework. And I deliberately chose Wednesdays for that free day, so it didn't feel like part of my weekend. This was a day in the middle of my working week, to focus on doing a different type of work.

It worked well enough that I completed that post-grad diploma. Mind you, I was starting to get burned out during the fourth semester (two semesters per year). I barely made it to the finish line. I'm not sure how I would have gone if it had gone on for a third year.

12 hours was a pretty good fit for me during my undergrad. I managed to start my graduate degree in the same month that my first child was born and I would NOT recommend that, although we all survived and are doing OK. I think if you're able to do a lot of your studying at work that you may be able to pull of 3-4 courses per semester. Maybe try to leave the more difficult classes to the 3 course semesters?? I also highly recommend taking 1 or 2 courses during the summer.

It might be overwhelming at times, but just the fact that you are planning to not be overwhelmed means that you probably won't be. In theory.

Doing it right now but instead of a maximum course load of 5, I'm taking 3 courses which is still considered full-time. The trick is to not take the summer semester off so you can cruise on 3 courses a semester.

I'm managing to balance it pretty well with an active social circle, work, and school, at the cost of sleep sometimes.

It's possible to do with a full (12+) credit load. Any more than three 4 or 5 credit classes and you're in pain.

I would start with a part-time courseload, then work your way up.

If you have any questions please ask. I did it, though I did it at 12 credits a term most of the time.

When I found out my girlfriend was pregnant, I quit my job managing a restaurant and got a job as an electrician because it offered benefits. At the same time, i was accepted into a university in a BSBE program.

I was working 40-50 hours a week and doing 3 courses a semester. The commute to school was 1-1.5 hours depending on traffic so I tried to only do classes 2 days a week (That didn’t always happen). I worked any side job or overtime opportunity that I could. I studied as much as I could between classes or would just sit in the library doing homework. When I was home I tried to spend as much time as I could with my wife and kids (had a second by the time I graduated). It put a huge strain on my marriage, huge stress on me and exhausted me physically and emotionally. I would do it again to avoid crawling through attics or working in a kitchen.

By the time I graduated, I swore I would never go back to school again. 7 years later and I was enrolled in an online MBA program. The MBA was a piece of cake compared to undergrad. I spent most nights after my wife and kids went to bed getting drunk and shitposting in Blackboard discussion pages and also on reddit. I wrote much better essays when drunk and on a time crunch than if I tried to do it early. I learned very little in my MBA other than business is mastering the bullshit arts.

I'm doing that right now, and have been for the last year and a half. 10 credit hours per semester is really my limit. Past that and it's more than I can handle. But I'm also doing the step-dad thing too, so family time has to be balanced in with work and school. Also I've got a new baby coming next week, so I've cut back to 7 hours for this fall.

It's a challenge, to be sure. You'll have to be sure to carve out designated time for studying/coursework, because you'll get tempted to put things off till tomorrow because "work is so slow right now, I'll handle it while I'm on the clock" and the inevitably work will blow the fuck up right when you need that time. Prioritize, plan, and stick to it as best you can.

You gotta keep plugging too. It's gonna seem slow compared to the kids you're in school with (and they'll seem so fucking young) but they can cram 18 hours in because they don't have to work and you'll see them getting ahead while you're held back because you have other demands on your time. It's discouraging as fuck (I'm dealing with that feeling bad this semester) but you gotta keep pushing ahead.

Side note, international editions of textbooks are great and cheap. Big money saver if you don't want to rent.

I'm assuming that it's undergraduate? I'm currently working full time and am a full time MS student. That's only 6 hours though. It's hard to answer your question though because it's dependent on the individual. What stress you can manage, how many other things are going on in your life, your ability to prioritize.

The answer is really a "it depends [on you]."

Something I'd encourage you to think about is opportunity cost. If you were to take a full load you'd graduate in X versus if you take half load you graduate in Y. What are you giving up in both scenarios and what are you gaining? Income, stress, opportunities (scholarship, social, etc.)?

I had a full time job as a security guard while I was in school (this was 20+ years ago, so no online classes) and I worked nights and then took morning classes. It worked, but it didn't work well.

One quarter, the class I needed was full but they had a "night" class open. I foolishly decided to try it: get up at 5pm, class from 6-9pm, work from 12pm-8am, class from 8:30am-10:30am. Home, bed for 5-6 hours and get up and do it again.

Don't ever try this.

What does this have to do with your schedule? Not much, except to say that you'll need to find a work/class/sleep schedule you can live with and stick to it.

I am a current full time student, who also has a full time job. Last semester I took 17 credit hours while working 40+ hours per week. I worked every weekend, my "days off" from work were Tuesdays/Thursdays to accommodate my classes running late. I would wake up at 7:30-8a for my first class around 9 or 10 depending on the day. Classes usually went to 2, and I worked from 3pm-11pm. Seven days a week, I was at work, in class, or both.

For the first two months of this I lived 50 miles away from the town I studied/worked in, so I was getting up hours earlier to drive and getting home hours later for the same reason.

I went that whole semester without a day off. I consistently defied people who told me it wasn't possible to go through my course of study while working full time. My GPA for the semester was 3.75, and would have been higher had an internet outage not prevented me from submitting an exam. I work in the field that I'm studying, and the practical experience I had before my current job and including it was vital to lending perspective to my academic work.

I should mention that the work I did was acute inpatient psych - running groups, doing crisis intervention, and sometimes being involved in patient restraints that lead to physical aggression.

It was very, very, hard work. I am also a first-generation student who receives little support from family.

I have actually just taken a new job going back to case management instead of acute inpatient psych. I will be getting paid more, I'll have a split shift so that my day in-total goes from 7:30a to 6p, I'll work a half day on Saturdays and have Sundays off, and I'll have only 16 credit hours. Frankly, I think this semester will be a breeze. I'll also have time for extracurricular stuff should I want to involve myself with it.