
This topic is for anyone who had a family and received a degree at a college where they went to classes everyday? Can it be done?
At the moment I'm getting my initial Associates through an accredited online school. I've been reading up and really would like to move forward after that to an engineering degree. Problem is I have a family to support! Most classes are during the day. If you did the same thing, did you have a 2nd or 3rd shift job and go to school during the day? Did you drag the degree out a couple of years and take less classes? I'll have to have a full time job to pay bills and some of the school costs (No full financial aid here with two working adults I'm sure hehe)
I'm not getting any younger and I'm trying to set a school path that is totally going to increase our quality of life in both money and future job prospects. Going to school and working will be challenging and we are going to have to move for me to go to a college that has this type of program but my wife is backing me up so I need to figure this out.
Thanks for any replies and humorous comments.
From my time spent in married student housing at Montana State, I did see a number of families at varying levels. Single moms with baby's, our neighbor below us, a single dad with 3 boys under 13, and many couples, some with kids just about to graduate high school.
Maybe go to your prospective school's housing office and see if they have any info for you, or if they know of someone, who is in the type of situation you're thinking you will be in, to talk to. Most likely they have the equivalent of an RA for married student housing who will probably be more than willing to help you.
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A friend of mine was able to trade off going to school with his wife. Of course they lived in Oklahoma and were able to raise a family of 4 off 1 ~$40k a year salary.
So the first key is living somewhere cheap and dealing with whatever side effects (weather, isolation, lack of big city ammenities)
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My wife and I are both going to school and have two kids, 13 and 7 . Her work is fairly flexible, so she takes one class a semester at the University and makes up the missed work hours after 5 or on the weekend.
I am working on my Associates at community college taking two classes a semester at night. Once I am ready to move up to the University I am not sure what we are going to do. My job isn't as flexible
I am hoping that the U offers some business classes at night.
Put us down in the stretching it out category. Also we are scheduled out the wazoo, nearly every moment of every day is accounted for and spent long before that day starts. It isn't easy but it is doable.
Weren't you in the navy Karma? Can you get nothing from the Montgomery GI bill?
You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.
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This is how I did it (not recommended):
I was 23 years old making $20,000 as a store assistant manager and going to vocational school (web development) full time with a new house, a beautiful little girl, and an ungrateful whore of a wife. Basically, my life was an uphill struggle and really going nowhere fast. My wife was cheating (we got married way too young), money was really tight ($620 every 2wks after taxes - ooch!), and we were both miserable with the situation.
One day I woke up at my Nigerian girlfriends (hey, "what's good for the goose...") and decided to leave my ungrateful, unpatient and greedy wife. I left her and then finished school within 4 months all while sleeping on my cousin Pete's couch.
I got recommended for a job doing IT security by my then new next door neighbor Maurice who watched me engross myself into anything technical while staying at Pete's, especially hacking into my (at that time) soon to be ex-wifes email account.
Moe worked for a Fortune 500 company and got my foot in the door for an interview as a Security Helpdesk Analyst. I got the job, and although I spent nearly two years on Pete's couch, I never looked back only forward and kept pressing my career upward every chance I got.
Now, almost seven years later, I make close to six figures and am actually moving into Corporate Management; but shhh, don't tell that greedy ex wife of mine, for some strange reason she still thinks I owe her somthing...HA!
So I guess my advise is to ditch the family; unless supportive, they're only slowing the process down and chewing up needed resouces. Plus it should be done before you make any real money "alimony" can get expensive and as some of you may know, "there is nothing worse than a women scorned".
...If dat b*tch can't swim, she's bound to drizzown!
I hope that was tongue-in-cheek.
ClockworkHouse: He means the comic The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman and Superman get in a fistfight over Gotham. Not The Dark Knight Rises, where Batman and a loudly farting orchestra get in a fistfight over your attention.
Yes, of course a bit
Nevertheless just in case there's a person who needs a little nudge to leave an abusive or crumbling relationship/family that's slowing them down or even stopping them from obtaining their education and professional goals it's pretty sound advise, and shows what can be done in a relativley short amount of time without all of the drama and needless distractions.
...If dat b*tch can't swim, she's bound to drizzown!
I'm not dogging the decision on the cheating wife, but I tend to lump the kid in as family too. That I disagree with, but you don't explicitly say to skip out on the kids. It was just a little unclear on which part of the "family" needs ditching.
Steering the train back to the tracks:
Evening and weekend classes are generally available at community colleges (good for first 60 hours) and universities (the remainder of your undergrad degree). It will take longer and there might be plenty of evenings where you only see your kids (if you have any) as they sleep, but the possibility for your future and their's is much greater with the education. Student loans can help pay for tuition, have deferred payments as long as you are still attending (not sure if 9 hours or 12 per semester is required) and have a 10-30 year payoff (depends on if you stop at undergrad, graduate or professional degrees).
ClockworkHouse: He means the comic The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman and Superman get in a fistfight over Gotham. Not The Dark Knight Rises, where Batman and a loudly farting orchestra get in a fistfight over your attention.
Also, just because you don't think you qualify for financial aid doesn't make it true. Fill out the student aid form at www.fafsa.ed.gov. You may not get very much but any little bit helps. I filled it out fairly late and was still able to get a small grant that paid for part of my books.
Alternativly you could take out a bunch of student loans and with some careful budgeting go to school full time and pay the bills. You will, however, be hopelessly in debt if you follow this path.
@Hemidal..Six credit hours a semester is enough to get your student loans deferred.
You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.
Vamos a bailar en la Playa del Mal
Yes it can be done, yes you can do it, and if you don't do it you'll always wonder/regret it.
I'm not gonna give you any negatives for this, because I'm going through sort of the same thing, and I know your heads probably full of doubts and what-ifs already. It sounds like you've got a great wife, and you guys can work it out.
Good luck, karmajay.
Thanks, I didn't get loans as an undergrad and I was going to grad school full time when I did get student loans. So, I never worried about meeting the minimum hours for deferment.
ClockworkHouse: He means the comic The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman and Superman get in a fistfight over Gotham. Not The Dark Knight Rises, where Batman and a loudly farting orchestra get in a fistfight over your attention.
I go to school full-time at SCA:Digital Circus for computer animation, while bartending and waiting tables Thurs-Sundays every week. My wife goes to school full-time at MMC for massage therapy and works part-time as well on third shift Fri-Sundays. All the while we have 2 boys, one 5 the other just turned 11 mos and we have very little free time, but it can be done, you just have to be willing to pay your dues in order to have a better life later on.
I just hope my head don't asplode under the pressure.
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Com'on now, just the cheatin' wife. My daughter is and always will be my heart :-D. I would never encourage anyone to ditch their kids. I am an assh*le, but daym, even I'm not that cold...Sorry any confusion... "Chronic loves the kids"
...If dat b*tch can't swim, she's bound to drizzown!
That's pretty much how we did it. But it can fall apart pretty quickly. We tried the both of us going thing first, but that only lasted a semesters. After that, I went first, but I only ended up with my associate's due to an unplanned complicated pregnancy which took out two semesters. I just doubled a tech certificate on those last two semesters and came out with a job and haven't looked back.
But that was absolutely nuckin' futz. I do not recommend a double load with four kids under four.
Maybe this issue is best debated amongst the people who need to get off my lawn. - JoeBedurndurn
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I thought so, but ya know... some people are a little more hardcore than others.
ClockworkHouse: He means the comic The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman and Superman get in a fistfight over Gotham. Not The Dark Knight Rises, where Batman and a loudly farting orchestra get in a fistfight over your attention.
Thanks for the info so far.
At the moment I am getting Student Aid (800 deferred out of like 3000) and Since I take 3 classes I'm full time GI BILL but that wont last for a full degree. As far as schools I'm looking at a degree in Nuclear Engineering which is not offered at every school. In fact looks like University of Florida is the only one in Florida that offers it and out of school tuition is wack.
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1. Travel to the UoF campus, find the department building, and nicely ask the administrative staff for the course requirements for the degree you want. They should give you a handout. The first two years of that degree will likely be non-core classes (General Ed) or non-specialized (math and physics.)
2. Compare that list to what you have already taken for your Associates. Don't assume that 100% of the classes will transfer over. Again, the department staff might be of help here.
3. If you still have a large list of generic classes, go to some other (cheaper) four year school for that stuff.
4. Once you have all the pre-reqs out of the say, then transfer to the school you want (UoF or other) to take the good stuff.
I kept my grades up from my first school, and I didn't have any trouble getting into the school I wanted to graduate from. I got a lot of non-Engineering stuff out of the way while living with my parents and commuting to the local state univ. extension. I eventually transferred up to the main campus, but only for two years. I worked my a$$ off during the summers to cover most of the tuition. I got a cheap apartment well outside of town and took the bus to campus in the morning, took classes, studied for a bit, then went to work, then took the late bus home. Sleep, wake, rinse, repeat. Tiring, yes, but doable.
I personally didn't have a family to watch over, but I paid my way thru school and managed to get out without too much debt. The impact of the student loans has steadily shrunk as my salary increased, now I barely notice the monthly payment.
My father got his degree while my brother and I were pretty young, and he did it by working nights at a bread factory. Four people in a two bedroom basement apartment, somehow we made it.
Out-of-state tuition is nuts, you'll end up owing an arm and a leg that way ( I'm still paying for going out of state the first time).
If it's an option, move first, spend a year getting settled, and then go to school. You'll have to check what they require for you to be classified as a in-state, but I think it's a year of residency + pay taxes.
I know spending a year there first doesn't sound like a good idea or fun, but you can use the time finding and getting settled in a job that will give you enough flexibility for school.
Seconded, my wife and I both qualified for Pell Grants this year and that extra money means that we should be able to pay for school without any additional loans.
She just got her Associates and should be getting into the nursing program for her LPN (she's on a waiting list and the RN program currently has a wait of at least 2 years). Of course her work hours will be cut drastically and we'll end up reducing our income while increasing our expenses.
Be sure to pick a school close to you, my wife's school of choice is 70 miles away. Three trips per week will cost us about $240 a month. That's going to be the real killer.
I still haven't figured out what we'll do when I get to the point where I have to start taking day classes.
This is my biggest worry as well. I already live in Florida so moving to Gainesville wouldn't be that big a deal plus I'll get in state tuition. It is a quality school even if I am a FSU fan!
Pro is five years old. Karmajay has won it thrice, including back-to-back as of today. Does that qualify as a dynasty? -- Grumpicus
GWJFFL-Pro Championships
2012, 2015, 2016
I didn't.. I officially flunk out in 3 days.
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Sorry to hear that.
Pro is five years old. Karmajay has won it thrice, including back-to-back as of today. Does that qualify as a dynasty? -- Grumpicus
GWJFFL-Pro Championships
2012, 2015, 2016
I can't say I did this... meaning I haven't tried to get edumacated while supporting a family. I imagine it is tough.
But, in your deliberations, consider the opportunity cost of working, both in your current job and your (planned) future job. Naturally you should be conservative in your estimates of future earning power, but the longer you drag out the education process, the longer it will take for you to land a higher paying job. At the same time, you can avoid student loans by staying at work as much as possible.
Consider all options. Go full time in school (with your wife working and maybe some loans), versus staying at work full time and going to school part time. Do the math.