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[quote=Anonymous]Well, my oldest is also just starting college this fall, and we have the same thoughts as you--concentrate on school at first but after that consider a job.

I will tell you that I did work while going to college (mid 90's) and it was HARD and it definitely affected my grades negatively.  What started as a part time job bagging groceries at the local grocery store turned into a promotion to a different department with more (and more erratic) hours.  At that point, my parents were not completely supporting me financially (they paid for tuition and half of my rent, but I needed to pay for books, food, the other half of the rent, and all personal expenses like toothpaste, clothing, etc.) so I needed the money.  I was working between 40-48 hours per week and some of these were graveyard shifts.  Because of lack of sleep, stress, etc I was constantly tired, sick, and my grades were mostly Bs and Cs with an occasional A.

After about 2 years of that I realized it couldn't continue and I quit the grocery job and got a part time job on campus.  I worked as a cashier at the school food court and although the money was terrible (minimum wage for about 20 hours per week) it was a GREAT experience for a college student.   My grades improved INCREDIBLY (all A's except one B) and I just felt like I was more a part of the "college experience" than I did when I was working at the grocery store, where most of my co-workers were not college students.
Of course, the downside was the lower pay, which meant I ended up putting a lot of expenses on credit card.

So, given my experience, we plan to encourage our son to get a part time (no more than 20 hours, preferably closer to 15) job ON CAMPUS starting 2nd semester of freshman year.  [/quote]

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