Two choices to make
 

Hey guys,

So I'm facing a bit of dilemna right now. As of now, I am given to options for the summer.

a) go to summer session for school
b) work for a seasonal job with a pretty high pay


Here's the complications.

The course I'm doing is really intensive, its a 3 week course with a ton of midterms and tests, and is something I know I will need to put alot of time into. Initially, I wanted to work alongside going to school, but there is a time conflict between the two.

The shifts for the job is from 12-8 and is 5 days a week till the end of august.

The course is in the afternoon 5 days a week.

Both are unnecessary at the moment, as taking a course in the summer would allow me to get ahead with my credits, and the money I get from working would be extra spending money.

The bad thing is, I've already accepted the job (very stupid move on my part) and was previously registered onto the course beforehand.

if you have a heavy course load for the rest of the year, take the job and enjoy your summer.
if you didn't have a heavy course load last semester then take the course to make up for it.

^i didn't exactly take a heavy course load, but because I had transferable credits from highschool I still meet the requirements to progress to the next year.

In your opinion then, should I still take the course?

If I decide to take the job, and they like my performance, I could eventually get a position where I can work whenever I'd have holidays, and take time off when I go to school.

Sounds like you made your decision.

Personally it depends how much they pay and howm stable the job is.
If the pay is good and its something you like to do then go for it

go to school. get it done as fast as you can.

if you have already registered, you will lose money (deposit?) iirc.

i wish i finished school faster...

Take the job. More connections the better. With how bad the economy might soon become having extra money and some connections is good. This job might not be what you want to do in the future but from the sound of things it could come in handy when you need it.

is the job even school/career related?

nope its not, its in a department store, and im not sure if I can get valuable networking from it. The manager seems pretty nice though, would be a good potential reference for the future...

then i recommend going to school. just get it done.

^ i actually kind of really want to work now though... Argh fuck this shit, I had to deal with this last year too, the thing is that, I never tell the HR department that I would be having school part time as well, because I was always so eager to get the job...

The thing is, I also kind of promised them that I'd take the job and the orientation is sometime this week :okay:

I'm such a dumbass

It's just the one course you were planning on taking this summer right? If its just one course then maybe you should work instead. Compressed summer classes aren't exactly fun especially if it's a course that needs a lot of effort.

Plus you also seem to really want to work.

it's bio 121, not sure if you've taken it before, but its a course that usually has really low averages during the term... But then again, I only need to pass..

The thing is, if i take it during summer, i'd have a friend to do it with me

If its bio 121, take it while you work. Its not going to be easy, but if your not aiming for A+ on it, its totally do-able.

Bio 121 is a lot of conceptual understanding, and requires minimal memorizations. You will learn things like natural selection, how genetics are crossed, etc.. but it won't be a lot of memorizations like Bio 112 (i.e. memorizing different bacteria). It was one of the courses that taught me, time & effort spent on memorizations doesn't equal marks. Your comment about low averages directly reflects this; tons of high-school students come into first year with weak critical thinking skills and they just get pwned in this course because their biggest strength is memorization. When I was in this course 3 years back, a lot of sophomore Arts students, taking this as an elective, were pwning the first year science students lol. I myself spent about 10 hours for entire course and walked away with a B. In retrospect, I think I could have gotten much better if I wasn't so into drinking and partying.

I took Bio 121 as well, GGnore's description of it is perfect. I dedicated a fraction of the amount of time to it that I committed to 112, but ultimately did pretty well because I had the right approach to the course.

Two questions on the Bio 121 final exam that mind blew me.

1. Explain in a few sentences what Natural Selection is to an audience of elementary school students.

2. If humans have evolved from chimps, why do the chimps still exist to this day?

hmm, did you guys do it during the school term or during summer? which one would you recommend?

yeah it seems like a lot of critical/analytical thinking is involved..

I wouldn't be able to do both at the same time, as the job im taking is seasonal and its full time..

I still say focus on school and enjoy your summer.

I think you will have more "off" time with school than you would with work.

Side-note: just b/c you only "have to pass", it should not be an option not to do your best ;)

I don't ever think you will regret working some random (although well-paying) job one summer, but you may regret not finishing school faster and having a leaner fall semester.

^ at this point, i actually want more "working" time than off time because I've been doing absolutely nothing for the past month of may...

would it be retarded to ask for a 1-2 week vacation leave for a seasonal job?

just curious how much is the pay haha at least 17-18/h right?
if its like 10-12/h then just go to school man haha

In my opinion, no.

It's iffy how the employer will respond since you're just starting, but I suspect they'll be accommodating, especially if you want the time off to take this course.

On the subject of summer courses, I love them. An entire semester compressed into a few weeks increases the difficulty, but I love sparing the excess time normally spent in class and earning credits quickly.

And I wish I slowed down.

You will always be working no matter what...

yep, best part of summer. Plus very long summer days, warm weather.

Makes me wish I could go somewhere warmer for school.

I dig that...but the longer I was in, the more debt I amounted.

Plus, I was working at my career dream job(back then) before I graduated so I wanted to get the fuck outta school to do it full-time.

I'm always supportive of the "take your time in school" side.

I'm currently going into my 5th year at University, and don't intend on graduating until maybe my 6th year. First 2 semesters at school, I sped through it (16+ credits each semester, and summers off to work for tuition $$). It really depends what you're studying at school, but I know a lot of friends in business who are about to graduate without any work experience, and they are finding it very tough to land a full time job post grad.

As for me, I'm glad I took it slow. I was able to land 2 good jobs (1 through co-op) and at both interviews, I talked extensively about my seasonal/retail/part-time positions and believe it helped me land the position. The references are also important!

any update?