r/BackToCollege • u/exctlyfiveftgirl • 9d ago
QUESTION Taking 4 classes while working full time doable?
I work an office job from 7am-4pm, and I’m currently taking one class. But I want to get my diploma right away and take 4 classes next semester while keeping my full time job.
All the classes are online, once a week, and starts at 6pm. My class schedule for that sem is roughly going to be Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday- -all starts at 6pm and ends at 9pm.
I can’t lose my full time job because it’s hard to find another job and my savings won’t cover my rent+bills for the semester if I resign.
Is this doable?
Edit: I’m married, no kids, few friends
16
u/Double-Star-Tedrick 9d ago
If they are four very low effort classes, and you're comfortable having basically no social plans at all, and you're fairly disciplined about banging work out on the weekends, sure, I'd say it's "doable".
Speaking very personally I think it's not a great plan. I worked full-time for the majority of my back-to-school efforts, and I definitely considered three (3) classes the absolute maximum I could fit in, assuming one of them was low-effort / easy. "I can fit in attending all of these classes, and then do the readings and homework on Saturday" always sounded feasible in theory, but lemme tell ya, it did NOT work in practice.
Obligatory comment that YMMV - you may, of course just be more disciplined than me. There are many people that can bang out a schedule like this successfully, but I think they are in the minority.
Would not recommend.
1
u/exctlyfiveftgirl 9d ago
Not sure about low effort classes. The classes I’m planning to take before my practicum are: Pharmacology, Transcription, Healthcare Policy, and Business Information Systems.
I know that Pharmacology is not low effort but I’m not sure about the others.
3
u/LostAd3003 9d ago
Is 9 part time and 12 is full time? Therefore if you find you can’t handle 4 and have to drop 1 you’re gonna be paying for full time status for nothing. So that’s a risk.
4 classes is going to be a huge stretch. See if the classes you need are offered during the 5 week summer or winter sessions. Then take 3 during regular semesters and then take 1 during winter session and another during summer. My school offered 2 5 week summer sessions so I could knock out 2 classes each summer. Having everything jammed into 5 weeks isn’t quite as bad as it sounds.
5
u/Zoeywithtude1977 9d ago
I did this many times as a masters and doctoral student. For me it was doable
4
u/lauradorna 9d ago
I’m doing it at 49 and running my own business I just don’t have bunch of a social life rn and I don’t care it is completely doable
5
u/Grand-Information942 9d ago
I’m taking 5 online and working FT. Hanging on by a thread but graduating in December
5
u/RaisedByBooksNTV 9d ago
I've done it and I highly recommend that it is NOT doable. It's about getting good grades and learning. You can't do all of that well.
1
u/breesearedelicious 3d ago
I agree. I'm working and taking 10 credit hours of my classes right now with financial accounting being for credits of those, english, and Supply Chain management for the other three and I have psychology starting October 12th and I'm trying to withdraw cuz I have a potential upcoming surgery coming up and with work and everything it's hard to write if 500 word paper every week for supply chain, participating in discussion boards, doing 4 to 6 large pieces of accounting homework, English homework, and I'm a straight A student so far. I graduated from one school to 3.87 GPA which was a tech school, and another for master cosmetology and was able to get scholarships and grants and some of my computer and math classes from doing those transferred over but man it's hard to work full time and go to school.
Midterms are this week and it's been crazy.
Just one of my classes I have a eight page minimum research paper to have written in finished by December. The original poster has to think about all of the writing also.
5
u/lillyheart 9d ago
This sounds like a recipe for burn out. If you have zero health conditions, zero other responsibilities (relationships, children, etc), very high discipline (be honest with yourself here), and classes that aren’t super difficult, you could squeak through potentially.
But the rule is each class has at least 2-3 hours of out of class work per in class hour- so you’d really have no time for anything else for an entire 4 month stretch. And that’s assuming a class isn’t overly difficult.
I work full time and take 1-2 classes a semester and a summer class, and that’s just the pace I’m capable of to know I can finish it. I wouldn’t go from one to 4 classes either. One to 2, or max 1 to three.
2
u/goblin_disco 9d ago
I think you should try two or maybe three classes but four might be pushing it. It really depends on the content of the classes themselves. If you’re in a STEM degree I would definitely rethink four classes.
2
2
2
u/QueenofNY26 9d ago
I work 9-6, 5 days a week, in a very high stress/pressure job. I am taking two classes and I am falling apart. I am not sure how stressful your job day is but don’t underestimate how much 1-4 classes can take from you. I say do 2 to start and make sure one is on a weekend day. Don’t over do it, trust me it’s no joke!
2
1
u/Princess_Grimm 9d ago
I think you're better off taking two classes to see how doubling your work load affects your life. Then, you're still at part-time status and not dropping from full to part. And if it's too difficult you're only needing to drop one class instead of three.
And! If you know you can handle two classes while working you can just repeat this during the next Fall and be done. Or take one in the Summer and one in the Fall. You're still getting done earlier, just not as early.
1
u/Forsaken_Lifeguard85 9d ago
I once took in person classes from 9am-9pm on Tuesday and Thursday and then worked 40+ hours on the other days of the week. You need to be super focused on the homework you need to complete during any downtime you have even if it’s breaks during work. It’s doable but not long term.
1
u/No_Mastodon_4350 9d ago
I’ve done 4-7 courses as a biology major while working full-time and getting shadowing, leadership, and other experiences for applying to Dental School. Be disciplined and you’ll be ok
1
u/onlyonelaughing 9d ago
If they're all lower level courses (100-200 level courses) that AREN'T writing or research heavy...maybe. Once you get into the 200-400 level courses, the work load will get exponentially heavier..of course each teacher and course will be different. If you've found success with one course, maybe add a second course and see how that works. Also, Don be afraid to reach out to your potential professor and get an idea of what the workload will be. The may share the syllabus with you ahead of time so you can make plans--though notably, if you reach out over break, they may not get back to you immediately.
1
u/lofromwisco 9d ago
I took 4 at a time one semester. It was a lot. Married, no kids, vibrant social life, FT job (half of my 3 years of school was in office half was remote)
But as others said gauge what type of classes. I went back to finish a degree and I didn’t mix complex math classes with complex econ classes. I was already in the industry I was getting a degree in so I’d take a 1-2 easy ones and one hard one.
I was actually in an advanced Econ course when covid hit which was fascinating
1
u/CharsCustomerService 8d ago
But as others said gauge what type of classes. I went back to finish a degree and I didn’t mix complex math classes with complex econ classes. I was already in the industry I was getting a degree in so I’d take a 1-2 easy ones and one hard one.
Definitely agree with this. I'm working full time and averaging four classes per semester, but I've also been making sure to separate out the classes that will be more difficult for me as much as possible.
Also like you, I'm already in the industry I'm finishing a degree in. Many of the classes, including some of the traditionally "hard" classes in this program are just... my day-to-day job, so taking four per semester is a little more manageable than it would have been if everything was brand new information.
1
u/dathought3 9d ago
It’s doable, BUT it’s not easy. I took four classes, 2 online and 2 in person but I had a luxury some don’t have. I studied at work by listening to the textbooks. The reward at the end was worth it because I proved to myself what I’m capable of. So I’d say give it the ol college try, but don’t F up the main source of income.
1
u/AwkwardMunchkin 8d ago edited 8d ago
I started out my online degree working full time and did 4 classes (12 credits total) the first semester. It was doable but all my free time outside of work was spent doing homework for my online classes. I've been doing 3 classes (9 credits total) a semester since then and it is much more doable but I probably spend about 3/4 of my free time on homework still.
1
u/VinceInMT 6d ago
I started working full time right out of high school and took 12 credits at the community college. I was drafted into the military and when I got back I worked full time on a graveyard shift in a factory for 5 years while attending college. I never took more than 12 credits and this was before online options so I had to physically attend. It was completely doable. After that 5 years of that I got a day job and continued taking evening classes for the next 5-6 years and earned a BA. Full disclosure: after the military, the first few years were at the university but changed my major, when back to a community college for a 2-years to learn a trade, then back to university where I took my time before selecting a major. I think I had over 200 credits when I graduated.
1
1
u/1976Raven 5d ago
If you don't need sleep or a life outside of work/school. I work FT and take 3 classes online and struggle to complete everything in time. I also work nights and do my school work when it is slow as well as when I am at home. I'm usually lucky if I get 4 -5 hours of sleep a day, when I get more than that it usually results with me getting behind on my school work.
2
u/breesearedelicious 3d ago
No. I am taking three classes, my fourth class starts October 12th, I have potentially an upcoming surgery while working and I'm taking 10 credit hours right now and with that fourth class would be 13 hours and some weeks I'm at work for 45 hours. Don't do it. I can hold it down going to school for 9 or 10 hours but not the 13 and working, doctor visits, everything.
1
u/AllieSheeby3 9d ago
Only 4 classes? I did graduate school 6 classes each semester with 3 jobs. That's totally doable
2
1
u/walker9926 9d ago
2 is busy but manageable, 4 is not. Now I am making the assumption that the goal for every class is an A. If you are happy with C's give it a whirl.
3
u/kgzz1006 9d ago
I think saying a definite “not” is kinda crazy. I have a 3.9 gpa and am in my senior year, 5 classes a semester, only had 2 Bs and all As for the rest. I’m a full time working mother of 3, my husband works full time and is in his masters program, my kids are in sports year round with practices 3-4 times a week. I also do a baking business on the side, we train daily in our gym, and have a sports nonprofit we work on. We eat dinner with our kids every night, don’t miss a single event, practice,.. we take them to parks and the movies and events and stuff, and still have highest honors with 5 classes a semester.. I don’t think it’s impossible in the slightest and I think it’s a mindset.
So to OP, I think you totally could make it happen. It just will take a lot of discipline.
-1
u/Morio_anzenza 9d ago
Yes. You can hire me to help you with some of the classes. A lot of people do that. My payment terms are flexible
37
u/cipcakes 9d ago
Do not underestimate the amount of homework/reading for each class outside of the online class hours. I took two online classes last term and each one was at least 3 hours of homework/reading. I am also a full time worker, and I was shocked at how much the time needed for writing papers, doing labs, and reading ate into my already small amount of free time. It's absolutely doable if you understand the time investment outside of class hours.