15 hours next semester + full-time work.... am I crazy?

[jread]

I found out tonight that I can graduate a semester earlier if I buckle down and take 15 hours next semester. I also work full-time at 40+ hours per week.

Is this crazy? I register tomorrow so I'd better make a decision soon.

[Serotonin]

To be honest, no, I don't think you should. The only reasons I can think of at the moment for you to do this are:
- Uni is hell and you can't wait to see the last of it.
- Graduating earlier opens up time to do something important to you that would be impossible if you left your remaining hours till later.

Plus, you'll still only have to pay student fares for longer.

[PromiscuousMind]

Yes.

But life’s more interesting if you go a little bit crazy sometimes, isn’t it?

It sounds like it may be stressful, but doable depending on the type of classes and the nature of your work, I guess.

I’m assuming hours=units? I think my max load was ~21 units and it was okay, but I wasn’t working full time during that and I’ve always been on the quarter system so it wasn’t as long a run. You just have to decide if you want to have one moderately hellish semester and then be free, or if you prefer to take it easier but have to worry about classes longer. Personally – I have historically forward-loaded my classes and then coasted out of each school in the normal amount of time but with a really easy course-load at the end.

[PenguinHunter]

I know people who have done it. Definately depends on your courses and how badly you want to finish. You would probably save some money. I assume that most universities have the hidden charges that I have at mine, which you pay in addition to the basica course costs, so you'd save that.

[eyebyte_atWork]

I would caution against it - I did 15 to 18 hours regularly and the quality of my school work suffered - by that I mean I wish I had the time to dig deeper into the subject matter more. This is harder to to with more time constraints - besides - knowing what I know now - there is nothing that would make me want to leave school now.

[Nighthawk]

I'd caution against it too. You might run the chance of buring out at both school and job ... and that will be some difficult motivation to regain.

[jread]

Thanks for the replies so far. I should also add that 4 of the 5 courses are "accelerated", meaning that they are 7-weeks apiece, or half-semester courses. Two of them will take place the first half of the semester and two will take place the second half of the semester. Now, this is nice to only deal with each class for 7 weeks, but that is an INTENSE 7 weeks. The 5th class will be all semester long. So, it looks like this:

Jan-March: 2 courses
March-May: 2 courses
Jan-May: 1 course

I end up with 15 hours but will only be dealing with 9 hours at a time. It's still going to be brutal but nothing like if I were to be in all 5 courses at the same time.

Given this info, would you still do it?

[panda]

I wouldn't, but I'm inconceivably lazy.

I would be very concerned about burning out, as others have said.

[Leftfield]

Given that if you finish you graduate I assume these are upper-level courses so I would advise against it. I have 16 c. hrs. this quarter and thought I could work about 10 hours on the side but it isn't worth it. You may want to consider not working the full 40 hours and cut it back to 16, 20, or 24... depends on your course schedule

[Rajah]

No!

I really regret graduating a semester early. Don't push yourself. I know it feels like you want to get out now --- but, really, there's no rush at all. Relax!

[jread]

Given that if you finish you graduate I assume these are upper-level courses so I would advise against it. I have 16 c. hrs. this quarter and thought I could work about 10 hours on the side but it isn't worth it. You may want to consider not working the full 40 hours and cut it back to 16, 20, or 24... depends on your course schedule

Cutting my hours at work isn't an option. Mortgage, car payment, etc. all require that I stay fulltime :(

I'm starting to think that maybe I'd be biting off more than I can chew. I'm going to listen to you guys and cut back to 9-12 hours. Maybe just 9 :D I've consistently done 9-hours per semester and it's been pretty manageable so far.

[swamitommi]

Yup, you're nuts. Stay in school, take some electives you'll enjoy.

[jread]

Well, it looks like it was decided for me anyway :(

I registered for 15 hours and the tuition came out to be: $8295

The maximum financial aid I am eligible for this semester is: $5892

So, I dropped it down to 9-hours and the bill comes out right at $5000, which will be completely covered. I guess that's what I get for going to a private school. Ah well, it seems that it was meant to be this way. I can still take a class at the community college and come out at 12 hours total this semester. That will be more manageable I'm sure.

[eyebyte_atWork]

Well, it looks like it was decided for me anyway :(

I registered for 15 hours and the tuition came out to be: $8295

The maximum financial aid I am eligible for this semester is: $5892

So, I dropped it down to 9-hours and the bill comes out right at $5000, which will be completely covered. I guess that's what I get for going to a private school. Ah well, it seems that it was meant to be this way. I can still take a class at the community college and come out at 12 hours total this semester. That will be more manageable I'm sure.


Glad to be of help

[Sue Denim]

Good. I worked during college, and the less I slept, the worse my memory was. I didn't do well in the regurgitation classes when I slept only a few hours a day. I took 5 years for my bachelor's degree and feel no shame.

[10_percent_ninja]

12 hours grad credit +25 working was pushing me pretty near the limit. I had a girlfriend who did 9 hours grad credit + 40 working, and it just about killed her. She didn't have time to do any of the reading, which is really a shame, because that was (for me) probably the most stimulating part of grad school.

Undergrad, I think I topped off at about 15 hours work, and 17 credits. But I had a series of brutal commutes (1 hr to school, 1 hr to work, 1 hr to school, 1 hour to home) that (despite being able to read) really ate into my day.

[Neville]

mmmmmm, necromancy.

[Curtis24]

Why would you want to graduate early?

[mchampagne]

I found out tonight that I can graduate a semester earlier if I buckle down and take 15 hours next semester. I also work full-time at 40+ hours per week.

Is this crazy? I register tomorrow so I'd better make a decision soon.

What are you smoking?

Besides the fact that this is hard, it would be utterly meaningless. No employer, graduate school, or any institution will view you more favorably because you graduated a semester early. However, they WILL view you unfavorably if your GPA goes down, and not care that it was because you worked full time.

[carbon cold]

'Ey, new kids, the OP's 'tomorrow' was five years ago. Try to pay attention.