Life altering financial decision

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I'm really hoping that someone will be able to help me make a decision about this.

I have a really difficult time both working AND going to school. It takes a lot out of me. I can only handle a few courses at a time and even then I feel like I'm drowning.

So far I've been able to avoid getting into more than a thousand dollars worth of school debt at a time, and I pay it down as it crops up. However, I'm getting to the point (within the next two weeks) where continuing my current job AND going to school is not feasible.

I turn 24 in July so I will finally be able to get financial aid (SCORE!) which will cover the cost of my classes, but I don't think I'll be getting anything else as far as aid. So I'm thinking about turning to student loans and quitting work.

I've figured that it will cost me about $10,000 a year for the next 1.5 years. After that I'll be getting into my actual major and since I'm going for a degree in science I'm hoping that there will be more financial aid to take advantage of. However, I worry that something will go wrong and I'll no longer be able to complete school and will be stuck with a bunch of debt. I really don't want this to happen, but I struggle with depression and anxiety. I also desire to have a child at some point and due to age and fertility I would probably end up wanting to try for a child before I'm done with school.

I wanted to eventually go for a Masters in biochemistry, and I am hoping that even if I quit I will be able to intern or work as a lab technician once I get my Bachelor's. I'm hoping by that time my life will be more "together". My life has just been falling apart over the last 5 years. It's taken me 6 years to get a little over 2 full-time years worth of school done and I attribute that to having to work. I stopped working for about a year and it was the best year of my life, academically.

My fiance does not like the idea of me taking out a loan. I desperately want to but if it's not financially feasible and he's not on board I don't know what to do. Has anyone else had this kind of financial difficulty? What did you do about it? Do you think you did the right thing?

Have you talked to your work and asked if you can move to part time?


I've not got any idea what is available in your area, but in my state at least, you can get a variety of STEM related grants just for being in one of those fields.

This is a hard one. Student loans suck. Crappy jobs for the rest of your life also suck.

I took out a lot of student loans for my second degree (unfortunately another bachelors), but I also ended up with a good job that allows me to support my son and pay my loans back. And I did great in school.

For my first degree, I went to a private university with a great endowment, and I received tons of grants based on financial need and on grades. Sometimes the most expensive schools have the most money to give, and if you are unemployed, you might receive a lot more financial aid from a different school.

For graduate school, I think a doctorate can be better than a master's, because they usually offer fellowships, so you get tuition, stipend, and valuable research and teaching experience.

I'm trying to figure some of this out now, also. Become a nurse practitioner and pay out of pocket? Or skip nursing (its not really an ideal profession for an aspie), and get my PhD in microbiology, researching emerging viruses, and get paid to do it? The latter choice sounds way more fun, but I'm already 42, family nurse practitioner is such a practical choice, blah, blah, blah.

That sounds like such a blast. I would love to research genetics and/or genomics. I really want to be able to get to that point academically.

I haven't heard about STEM funds for someone who hasn't even started work on their major requirements, and I'm not allowed to transfer to the state school until I get my prerequisites met at the local community college. I'll look into that just in case though. I'm doing the whole "grasping at straws" thing so anything I can get, I will try for.

if it were me (and it was me years ago), i'd get the loans. going to school and not having time to study is wasting part of the school. if you are permanently disabled, many student loans will be forgiven.

Is work study an option for you? Or getting a job on campus? That can be a nice way to make some spending money so as to avoid using your loans.

The other option might be to look for a job that only requires a 4 year degree, and then get them to pay for your masters?

I'm leaning towards loans more and more. It's been 6 years, and not taking out loans has not gotten me very far.

I agree. Not having the time and mindset for studying is so wasteful. I squeaked by with A's in my two classes for Spring quarter but the stress was a nightmare, and now that it's over my body and mind are both trying to recover and it's even more of a nightmare.

My current job starts at 7AM, sometimes 6AM, and goes on indefinitely, sometimes 2 hours, sometimes 12 hours. Due to the seasonal nature of the work, summer is the least busy time, but that means that work will usually only go from about 7AM to about 1-2PM, and my chemistry and math classes go from 7AM to 4PM (just for two classes...), Monday through Thursday, so that block of time is already filled. Those were the only times available for the classes, otherwise I would have tried to get into afternoon/night classes.

EDIT: I'm not sure what is available for work study and because I'm in-between academic quarters the financial aid office is closed for a week. I have a lot of questions to ask them and I don't have a clear idea of what my student aid award is even going to be as far as potential loans go, so I'm trying not to worry since there's nothing I can really do for a week.