College feels so slow.

[Skalm]

I'm not doing college full time yet, but the wife and I are working entry level jobs full time while going through school and I just feel like every day and every week drags on and on. She does two classes per semester and I do three, and I want to do more and finish faster, but at the same time I want to stop doing these entry level jobs and get something "real."

I want her to drop to part time or quit so she can focus on school and start doing a job she likes sooner, but she's hesitant, and I can't quit because my jobs gives us cheap tuition. If I wanted to I could knock out an EMT program and do that instead of my graveyard custodian lead and make a little more money and maybe feel more fulfilled, but I just don't know.

I don't know if I'm asking anything or just complaining, but it feels so slow and dragging and boring and I have no idea where to go or if I should just keep plugging along.

[DaveR]

Speeding things up makes sense if you can do it without taking on a bunch of loans. It may make sense for her to ease up on work hours and put more time into school. Giving up a few dollars today in order to have a significantly higher paycheck after graduation is worth it. If you aren't digging a big debt hole to make it happen.

That said, you mention the wife is hesitant. She needs to be 100% on board with the less income more school plan, so it sounds like the two of you need to sit down and have a discussion to agree on goals.

[Dr. Pepper]

I vote to keep going, I think its harder to restart then to just finish it now. What are you studying?

[Skalm]

Speeding things up makes sense if you can do it without taking on a bunch of loans. It may make sense for her to ease up on work hours and put more time into school. Giving up a few dollars today in order to have a significantly higher paycheck after graduation is worth it. If you aren't digging a big debt hole to make it happen.

That said, you mention the wife is hesitant. She needs to be 100% on board with the less income more school plan, so it sounds like the two of you need to sit down and have a discussion to agree on goals.

I think she's hesitant because she has some social anxiety and doesn't like being around people she doesn't know, so far she's only done online classes and is reluctant to take on anything that might include public speaking or group work, so that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

We make enough to pay the bills and a little extra on just my pay, so I'm just waiting for her to become fed up enough with her job (which she already hates), to accept my offer of quitting so we can work on the school/anxiety issue.

I vote to keep going, I think its harder to restart then to just finish it now. What are you studying?

I've restarted twice and I agree, I don't ever want to lapse college again, because the motivation to start again is a bitch. I'm studying Chemistry, but I don't know what discipline to focus on. I really like the field, but I don't know what to apply it into.

[pbkmaine]

What about chemical engineering?

[Michael792]

I used to feel like college went by slowly as well. Then I joined the Army, and the last three and a half years have felt longer than the decade preceding my time in the military. I still got another year and a half, so at least it could be worse :) (I'm presenting a tentative smile hoping I make you feel better...if not, have a beer and think about punching me in the face.)

[Cole]

I would recommend the first step for you to take is to figure out exactly what you want from College and then attack it full force. If it turns out you truly can't figure out what you want from College then your should probably figure out what you do want besides for college.

[Skalm]

What about chemical engineering?

I'm having a hard enough time with Calc 1, I don't know if I could do 2 and maybe 3.

[Bearded Man]

I think she can change jobs to something better NOW, it doesn't have to be her final career, just a step up in qol. I'd say keep going to school as is while both of you work and live off one income, stashing the rest. In no time, you will have degrees, careers, and a nice stash of money. Trust me, it goes in the blink of an eye. Next thing you know you are at your graduation ceremony four years later. Or five or six...

Key is, move up in qol while going to school, live on one income, save the other. You will be ahead of 90% of people out there.

[turbo89]

I feel your pain.  I'm working full time while getting an Engineering Masters Degree. I'm on my 4th class, with 4 more + a thesis to go. 

Stay with it...  I started, then stopped, then restarted on a new masters degree (changed from pure Mechanical to Electro-mechanical, no credits carried over).  It was tough before, it was tougher to start again (I'm in a more demanding job, working more hours), but it will be worth it when I'm done (as it will be for you).

Best of luck, keep at it!  Chemistry Engineering is good field, with plenty of good paying jobs.

[bluecollarmusician]

There are definitely options to speed things up.  Consider test by exam.... Most schools allow this option.  Also, DANTES and Clep are reasonably easy ways to speed things up for schools that accept those credits. These should take care of any basic course requirements.  Then you can focus on the core courses for your major.  Even part time, if you work hard... Clep a couple of courses per semester plus what you are already doing you could speed things up considerably.

I think that most motivated people could cut costs and time in half if they utilize these options....

[spokey doke]

Perhaps applying some (slightly unorthodox) MMM psych kung-fu would help...distinguishing wants from needs and appreciating what you have.

A lot of us have spent years working crap jobs, but having a path from that to something better is a wonderful thing.  Many people don't have that.  Sure it would be great if you could just skip the crap part.  A lot of things would be nice.  Focus on where you are headed, take some pride in doing well along the way, and enjoy the rewards.

[mareofnight]

I second bluecollarmustachian's idea. I wish I'd asked about CLEP sooner - I took the micro economics test in my last semester when I realized I'd missed a requirement for a minor. I'd already taken a mixed micro/macro course and followed a few small business podcasts, so studying was really easy, but I probably could have gotten a good grade in less time than a college course just by reading a good textbook and practicing the math. I forget what the testing fees amount to, but it's under $200. CLEP is probably pretty good for testing out of Gen eds, especially if they're not related to your major.

[2ndTimer]

Not addressing your stated problem but:  As a person who went all the way to a PhD in Chemistry, I can tell you that the people who chose to avoid Math wound up struggling and often dropping out along the way.  Math is the language of every kind of Chemistry from X-Ray Crystallography building a good monoclonal antibody.  If you can't do it, you will wind up taking care of the rats. 

[daymare]

Not addressing your stated problem but:  As a person who went all the way to a PhD in Chemistry, I can tell you that the people who chose to avoid Math wound up struggling and often dropping out along the way.  Math is the language of every kind of Chemistry from X-Ray Crystallography building a good monoclonal antibody.  If you can't do it, you will wind up taking care of the rats. 

Yeah, I have to be honest about chemical engineering as well (which is what my husband studied) - being able to do math is very important.  If you work hard and put in time, you will get better (in any subject, including math).  Perhaps you're struggling because you don't have a good background, so you just have to work to improve your skills.  I'm not saying it's not doable.  But I'm saying that you need to be able to do math (because you will have to do it).  So if that's something you really don't want to do, consider other majors that require less math ability, ie econ or business. (I feel like I can say that because I double majored in math & econ ... yes, you need to do *some* math in econ, but it's way less than in engineering or stem.)  Or, other fields.  Talk to the career counselors at school, your academic adviser, possibly even professors.  Spend a lot of thought on what you enjoy in your classes (or what kind of work you have enjoyed historically).  I am not a fuzzy 'follow your dreams' person, I'm actually a realist, and speak from experience that nobody wins when you push yourself to do something that's difficult and not enjoyable (even if you ultimately succeed), when there are other options that are valued by the market and are more enjoyable/come more easily to you.

[Skalm]

Not addressing your stated problem but:  As a person who went all the way to a PhD in Chemistry, I can tell you that the people who chose to avoid Math wound up struggling and often dropping out along the way.  Math is the language of every kind of Chemistry from X-Ray Crystallography building a good monoclonal antibody.  If you can't do it, you will wind up taking care of the rats.

I would really love to get better at math, I live in ALEKS and KhanAcademy and watch lectures on math all the time. After Calc 1 I'll probably independently learn Calc 2 and 3, but I don't want to push myself past my ability when I think I can handle Calc 1 but will probably struggle with 2 and 3. I really like math when it hits real world problems (a few days ago a friend and I were theorycrafting some DnD with probability and statistics and that was actually fun), but I hate slogging through the ALEKS program.

After the Bachelor's, I would like to work towards a Masters, which I expect will take more math, but I'll do that when I'm swimming in math instead of doggy paddling.

I second bluecollarmustachian's idea. I wish I'd asked about CLEP sooner - I took the micro economics test in my last semester when I realized I'd missed a requirement for a minor. I'd already taken a mixed micro/macro course and followed a few small business podcasts, so studying was really easy, but I probably could have gotten a good grade in less time than a college course just by reading a good textbook and practicing the math. I forget what the testing fees amount to, but it's under $200. CLEP is probably pretty good for testing out of Gen eds, especially if they're not related to your major.

I think it might be too late for that, I already have the majority of my cores for an associates and then it's just the chemistry track.

[bluecollarmusician]

Not addressing your stated problem but:  As a person who went all the way to a PhD in Chemistry, I can tell you that the people who chose to avoid Math wound up struggling and often dropping out along the way.  Math is the language of every kind of Chemistry from X-Ray Crystallography building a good monoclonal antibody.  If you can't do it, you will wind up taking care of the rats. 

Yeah, I have to be honest about chemical engineering as well (which is what my husband studied) - being able to do math is very important.  If you work hard and put in time, you will get better (in any subject, including math).  Perhaps you're struggling because you don't have a good background, so you just have to work to improve your skills.  I'm not saying it's not doable.  But I'm saying that you need to be able to do math (because you will have to do it).  So if that's something you really don't want to do, consider other majors that require less math ability, ie econ or business. (I feel like I can say that because I double majored in math & econ ... yes, you need to do *some* math in econ, but it's way less than in engineering or stem.)  Or, other fields.  Talk to the career counselors at school, your academic adviser, possibly even professors.  Spend a lot of thought on what you enjoy in your classes (or what kind of work you have enjoyed historically).  I am not a fuzzy 'follow your dreams' person, I'm actually a realist, and speak from experience that nobody wins when you push yourself to do something that's difficult and not enjoyable (even if you ultimately succeed), when there are other options that are valued by the market and are more enjoyable/come more easily to you.

I appreciate everything you said- and basically agree, but I am curious how doing something difficult that is not enjoyable would be following your dreams? :)   I guess part of my defining "the dream" is doing something I love, as opposed to forcing myself to do something I thought I might love.  I am a realist, and also a follow your dreams kind of person.

[katesilvergirl]

I work in higher education research and mostly spend my days doing program demands for different educational fields. So let me say - ALLIED HEALTH IS SO HOT RIGHT NOW (anything that's not a doctor, dentist, or pharmacist). If you are interested in the medical field at all, that is definitely the way to go (and might include less math than engineering). Getting an EMT or phlebotomy license now would give you a great entry level job to the field, which would potentially be more rewarding than your current job and would set you up with with ample experience if you were interested in going on to get a master's (that kind of experience is required for master's work in medicine).

If you are interested in master's level work, then physical therapy, occupational therapy, public health, and physician's assistants are in VERY HIGH demand. All of which would be happy to take a chemistry undergrad major with a year of EMT/phlebotomy/nurses assistant/PT assistant work. They make extremely good money for not that much extra education.

[Skalm]

I work in higher education research and mostly spend my days doing program demands for different educational fields. So let me say - ALLIED HEALTH IS SO HOT RIGHT NOW (anything that's not a doctor, dentist, or pharmacist). If you are interested in the medical field at all, that is definitely the way to go (and might include less math than engineering). Getting an EMT or phlebotomy license now would give you a great entry level job to the field, which would potentially be more rewarding than your current job and would set you up with with ample experience if you were interested in going on to get a master's (that kind of experience is required for master's work in medicine).

If you are interested in master's level work, then physical therapy, occupational therapy, public health, and physician's assistants are in VERY HIGH demand. All of which would be happy to take a chemistry undergrad major with a year of EMT/phlebotomy/nurses assistant/PT assistant work. They make extremely good money for not that much extra education.

This sounds really appealing. I could probably be done with my associate's by the time I get either the EMT or phlebotomy license, and then finish the bachelor's while working a higher-paying job in the medical field, and then go to PA school. I could be doing EMT in probably a year from now.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I work in higher education research and mostly spend my days doing program demands for different educational fields. So let me say - ALLIED HEALTH IS SO HOT RIGHT NOW (anything that's not a doctor, dentist, or pharmacist). If you are interested in the medical field at all, that is definitely the way to go (and might include less math than engineering). Getting an EMT or phlebotomy license now would give you a great entry level job to the field, which would potentially be more rewarding than your current job and would set you up with with ample experience if you were interested in going on to get a master's (that kind of experience is required for master's work in medicine).

If you are interested in master's level work, then physical therapy, occupational therapy, public health, and physician's assistants are in VERY HIGH demand. All of which would be happy to take a chemistry undergrad major with a year of EMT/phlebotomy/nurses assistant/PT assistant work. They make extremely good money for not that much extra education.

This sounds really appealing. I could probably be done with my associate's by the time I get either the EMT or phlebotomy license, and then finish the bachelor's while working a higher-paying job in the medical field, and then go to PA school. I could be doing EMT in probably a year from now.

I think that would be really smart if you are drawn to the medical field.  Might also be some good networking opportunities if you're working as an EMT or phlebotomist while going to PA school. (Fun fact: At the hospital where my kids were born, the phlebotomists wore black pants and red tops. Like vampires. If that doesn't make you want to go into that field, I dunno what would!)

[Dr. Pepper]

I vote to keep going, I think its harder to restart then to just finish it now. What are you studying?

I've restarted twice and I agree, I don't ever want to lapse college again, because the motivation to start again is a bitch. I'm studying Chemistry, but I don't know what discipline to focus on. I really like the field, but I don't know what to apply it into.

I think getting that chemistry degree will open some doors, but it's not going to immediately equal a higher paying job. In fact I majored in biology, which involved a fair amount of chemistry and physics at my college and was a pretty difficult major because of that, also involved calc 1 and calc 2. Actually I worked very hard to get decent grades. However after getting the degree the jobs that were open were paying less then what I was already doing before I went to college, which was respiratory therapy. I had a friend go and get a job for 11/hr with the same degree, this was in 2007. Later I met another person from my school a year ahead of me, also Bio major, working at the ticket booth in Disney world, hoping to transfer to the Animal Kingdom. I just mention that to say just because the degree is hard to get doesn't mean society deems it to have high economic value. That was not readily apparent to me when I started college, I'm guessing that is true for much of my cohort.

I think technical jobs are way underrated for some reason, but they pay very well. I'm most familiar with the medical stuff, X-ray tech, CT- tech, Respiratory Therapist, Audiologist, Physical Therapy Assistant, Surgical Technician. If your inclined towards medical, these frequently don't require 4 year degrees. (Respiratory does now I think, it's been a while since I was in the field).

Other technical jobs away from healthcare can pay well too, welders, plumbers, carpenter.

I really think 4 year college is financially beneficial to a very small proportion of the people who enter,  but that is my experience with my friends take it for what its worth.  If you feel like your struggling to stay afloat and your grades reflect that I would strongly think about the technical jobs. You really have to be honest with yourself and what you want, or you may spend a lot of money for something with questionable value.

[Reynold]

I think getting that chemistry degree will open some doors, but it's not going to immediately equal a higher paying job. In fact I majored in biology, which involved a fair amount of chemistry and physics at my college and was a pretty difficult major because of that, also involved calc 1 and calc 2. Actually I worked very hard to get decent grades. However after getting the degree the jobs that were open were paying less then what I was already doing before I went to college, which was respiratory therapy.

I know a couple of people who got Bachelors degrees in Biology, and with just that you tend to end up as an hourly lab tech.  The problem is there are a lot of hopeful pre-meds getting biology degrees who don't get into medical school, or who wash out, so there is a big supply of them.  Chemistry isn't quite as bad, but has similar issues.  If you like dealing with people and travel, though, those can be a decent entree into technical sales. 

My degree was in Chemical Engineering, going on to a Masters and Ph.D. in Material Science, and in 20 years of R&D I never used Calculus after undergraduate classes in it.  It depends a lot on what you end up working in, though, I was on the more experimental, rather than theoretical, side of things.  Electrical Engineers would use calculus a lot more, for example.  I do agree with other posters that Engineering is much better than "Science", i.e. Physics, Chemistry, Biology, for getting a good job in the field with just an undergraduate degree. 

[katesilvergirl]

This sounds really appealing. I could probably be done with my associate's by the time I get either the EMT or phlebotomy license, and then finish the bachelor's while working a higher-paying job in the medical field, and then go to PA school. I could be doing EMT in probably a year from now.

Yes! That would be a great plan. There are a lot of options for people with solid medical experience who are willing to put in the time and work hard.

There are also a lot of great pathways into healthcare administration, if you find yourself drawn to the project management side of things. I have a friend who started out with a biology bachelor's, got a job taking blood at a plasma donation center, and then later got her master's of healthcare administration online and now manages the plasma donation center.