Working during PT school?

[cgdpt]

Hello all,
I will be attending PT school in the Northeast this fall. Money is really starting to become an issue to me, and I would like to not have to take out loans for living expenses. Can anyone tell me if they were able to work part-time during school to pay bills? Or does pretty much everyone take massive loans out? Thanks in advance.

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[Buckeye4life]

It is very possible to work during PT school, however, not to the extent to cover all of your living expenses. Several of my classmates worked fridays and during the weekends, since we only had classes M-Th. I knew of one girl who worked 20 hours/week. I worked a little during school to just have a little spending money. I would possibly look into hospital scholarship programs if you don't want to take out tons of loans. One of my friends from PT school had a hospital pay a good share if not all of her expenses for 3 years of service after she graduated.

 

[PT2MD]

I taught part time at a local university throughout my schooling. It gave me the most $$ per hour of time spent. I had several classmates who worked part time and didn't seem to hurt their academics. I think it's a question of endurance. If you feel you can do both well, then do it. If you think one may suffer because of the other, bite the bullet and focus on your studies.

 

[cgdpt]

I taught part time at a local university throughout my schooling. It gave me the most $$ per hour of time spent. I had several classmates who worked part time and didn't seem to hurt their academics. I think it's a question of endurance. If you feel you can do both well, then do it. If you think one may suffer because of the other, bite the bullet and focus on your studies.

Yeah, I am pretty sure I can handle it, but I've heard from a few different people not to do it. I would rather not but financially I have to.

 

[PTtoMD]

I was able to work part time throughout PT school. I worked as a graduate assistant and also taught fitness classes at a gym. A lot of my classmates worked part time. I think 10 hrs a week would be ideal. That may seem low but you'll need some increased flexibility when things get tough (eg. exam time, heavy semesters, projects, research).

Just wanted to mention that i took out a few small Perkins loans on top of maxing out my Stafford's. I paid the small loans back early and later found out that according to the loan distributor's, 'physical therapy' fell under an unflattering category of 'medical technicians' or something. Although i strongly disagree with the title, 'medical technicians' could have their loans forgiven with something like 5 years of hospital based work. A few of my co-workers got their loans forgiven and i know of one girl who had already paid it back and fought with her school to be reimbursed. She actually won! I fought with my schools as well but had no luck. Definately something to look into. If you qualify, you can get something like $500 a semester. For me, this all occured 8 years ago so things may have changed.

Also, apply for every scholarship you can find. I received a few and found that so many people just didn't bother because of the paperwork. I used a site-fastweb.com.
Good Luck!

 

[cgdpt]

Wow, thanks for the input everyone. I will look into a few of the suggestions on here. Thanks!

 

[mellow_yellow]

Hello all,
I will be attending PT school in the Northeast this fall. Money is really starting to become an issue to me, and I would like to not have to take out loans for living expenses. Can anyone tell me if they were able to work part-time during school to pay bills? Or does pretty much everyone take massive loans out? Thanks in advance.

My sister worked two part-time jobs throughout PT school. She used to work a full time job and a part-time job before she entered the program. She then switched to two part-time jobs. On top of that, she had a young child while in school.

I think its very possible to work a part-time job and still have some free time while in PT school. A part-time job may make the difference between a lifetime of paying loans and a couple of years of loan payments. I don't know how much she owes now (a couple of years after graduating) but she could have probably paid off her loans within six months or a year of graduation if she still lived like a student after getting her first job.