Balancing Work & College

Hello everyone,

I have been in the process of starting to talk to the University of South Carolina: Upstate about taking taking classes either next Spring or Fall. The problem is that I work full time as a Desktop Support technician from 8-5. This leaves me with only my evenings open for classes at this point. The department head of the Computer Science department told me some of the classes are taught at night, but by no means all. I know that I want to finish a degree through USC Upstate. Is there anyone out there who has had the same problem? How would you deal with this? Any suggestions?

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veritas_libertas

Anyone got advice ?

Bl8ckr0uter

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Anyone got advice ?

Is it possible to take any online classes?

veritas_libertas

knwminus wrote: »

Is it possible to take any online classes?

I'm not sure yet. Thanks for the reminder to check that. I kinda got the wind kicked out of me when he told me that that may no longer be offering classes at a satellite school here in Greenville. The satellite was suppose to offer all the courses for the degree in the evening.

/usr

You essentially have no choice. Unless you happen to be the only person who takes the course, they are most likely not going to change the time to suit you.

You're only real option is to work out a deal with your employer for those day classes you have to take. Hopefully they'll see it as a benefit to them and see that you're ambitious, then allow you to come to work early, work late, work extra hours another day, or just simply let you take off long enough to go to class.

Your first, and only real option, is to talk to them. Other than that, you pretty much have to find another job, or find a college that has classes which fit into your already existing work schedule.

Bl8ckr0uter

veritas_libertas wrote: »

I'm not sure yet. Thanks for the reminder to check that. I kinda got the wind kicked out of me when he told me that that may no longer be offering classes at a satellite school here in Greenville. The satellite was suppose to offer all the courses for the degree in the evening.

That is bull. Well Like /usr said you gotta talk to them and to your employer. If they do offer online classes then maybe that will help you get closer to your degree. How large is the school? Do they have any other satellites near you?

Worse comes to worse would you be willing to go to another school?

vCole

Wow, a college that doesn't teach the same classes at night?

Either:

a.) Talk to your employer
b.) Find a different college that accommodates your schedule.

Bokeh

Actually, Ive seen that a lot. Where classes are offered say 2-5pm on M/W and unless you work nights, you are screwed. A lot of the instructors work in the real world as well.

See if they accept classes from another school, so you can get the ones you need at school B transferred to A without any issues.

Slowhand

I'm struggling with the same question, (and have for the past eight years,) and I've yet to really figure out the balance. Right now I have a very cool employer that's going to work with me to have a flexible schedule for classes that aren't offered at night or early mornings. Still, I'm sure I'll have to make the plunge at some point and quit working for a year or two, get on financial aid, and push my way through the last bit of college so I can dedicate enough time to it to succeed.

Met44

Depending on the instructors and the college, you may be able to review the material on your own time and try testing out of some of the courses. If it's just a couple courses and you would feel comfortable learning and understanding the material on your own, explain your situation and ask your professors/division head/etc about it. I know a person or two who have done that to finish up a class they needed and couldn't find time to take.

tpatt100

FadeToBright wrote: »

Wow, a college that doesn't teach the same classes at night?

Either:

a.) Talk to your employer
b.) Find a different college that accommodates your schedule.

That is pretty common in the few states I have lived in. The bigger Universities only cater to traditional students who only work part time. I had to find a smaller college that catered to working adults to get a degree, U of M and MSU around me only offer day classes and a handful of night ones. Its pretty much impossible to get a degree only taking night classes. I think the smaller colleges have to make programs for working adults to get more enrollments.

veritas_libertas

tpatt100 wrote: »

That is pretty common in the few states I have lived in. The bigger Universities only cater to traditional students who only work part time. I had to find a smaller college that catered to working adults to get a degree, U of M and MSU around me only offer day classes and a handful of night ones. Its pretty much impossible to get a degree only taking night classes. I think the smaller colleges have to make programs for working adults to get more enrollments.

Do you do InfoSec in the Ann Arbor area tpatt100? I was just taking a peek at some of the online degrees offered by Eastern Michigan University.

Talic

At my community college most of the IT type of classes are during the evening because the students are in the same boat as you are. Most of the general ed classes are in the morning for the full time students. Both elective and general ed have online classes though. From my experiences online classes just make you read the book and may have videos along with quizzes, so I prefer to stay away from them.

veritas_libertas

Talic wrote: »

At my community college most of the IT type of classes are during the evening because the students are in the same boat as you are. Most of the general ed classes are in the morning for the full time students. Both elective and general ed have online classes though. From my experiences online classes just make you read the book and may have videos along with quizzes, so I prefer to stay away from them.

I understand your thoughts. I don't really like online classes either.

I have a family that has to be taken care of and switching back to part-time work is out of the question. I never knew that trying to knock off two more years was going to be such a pain!

Thanks to everyone that has given me different ideas. I will keep pursuing this.

tpatt100

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Do you do InfoSec in the Ann Arbor area tpatt100? I was just taking a peek at some of the online degrees offered by Eastern Michigan University.

I was doing security work in the Detroit area.

7lowe

I had a similar situation. I was working full time and was able to complete my associate's degree online at the same time. But, when I decided to go for my bachelor's I knew I was going to have to quit my job to finish it.

I figured that I'd be able to find a better job making more money after I graduated and that would make it worthwhile. I graduated last month and so far no job, so you should keep that possibility in mind as well.

veritas_libertas

7lowe wrote: »

I had a similar situation. I was working full time and was able to complete my associate's degree online at the same time. But, when I decided to go for my bachelor's I knew I was going to have to quit my job to finish it.

I figured that I'd be able to find a better job making more money after I graduated and that would make it worthwhile. I graduated last month and so far no job, so you should keep that possibility in mind as well.

7

Not having a job because of dropping one?

There is no way I can chance that with a sick wife that doctors can't find an answer for right now, and onward with more testing. Sometimes I think we prioritize things so wrongly.

pipemajor

I did my degree opposite of you. I was working as a mainframe operator on 1st shift but asked to be transferred to 2nd shift (which they obliged).

That allowed me to take the full complement of day courses needed to graduate on time.

I also enrolled in an ROTC program (USAF) and was committed to graduating by a specific date. If I failed to graduate on time, I'd still have my military obligation but would serve enlisted rather than commissioned.

If your degree is your priority, then you need to work around your work hours.

veritas_libertas

pipemajor wrote: »

I did my degree opposite of you. I was working as a mainframe operator on 1st shift but asked to be transferred to 2nd shift (which they obliged).

That allowed me to take the full complement of day courses needed to graduate on time.

I also enrolled in an ROTC program (USAF) and was committed to graduating by a specific date. If I failed to graduate on time, I'd still have my military obligation but would serve enlisted rather than commissioned.

If your degree is your priority, then you need to work around your work hours.

Umm, did you read the beginning of my post? That is what I am trying to do.

7lowe

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Not having a job because of dropping one?

There is no way I can chance that with a sick wife that doctors can't find an answer for right now, and onward with more testing. Sometimes I think we prioritize things so wrongly.

I wasn't aware of your wife. That puts you in a completely different situation. Also, you are already at least working in the field you want to. I was driving a fork lift in a factory. By quitting I was able to get at least at little experience on a help desk temp job.

I was just trying to say that whatever you are wanting to do you have to plan it out ahead and it might require some temporary sacrifices to get where you want to go.

Of course, the situation with your wife limits your options. If my wife or daughter were sick and we needed the insurance coverage I wouldn't have been able to quit. We're just lucky enough that I was able to.

7

nel

i had a similar problem when i moved to edinburgh - the university did not teach classes at night. So i had to do either of the following:

1. Ask work to be flexible and work additional hours to make up for the hours i was out at university
2. When 1 was not possible, ask the uni to provide me with material which i could use to study the course as self study.

option 2 was not ideal at all because they tell you so much stuff at the lecture which they dont put on paper. Also, like others have said, you could move schools.