<p>My kid in college has not worked during the school year and we discourage it since we don’t feel our full pay cost is being optimized if the number of hours needed to study are being reduced in a very competitive environment. Summers are being used in research for which the kid gets paid so highly underpaid fulltime job for 10 weeks each year.</p>
<p>My kids didn’t work before college. During college they had the choice to take classes in the summer or get a job. Their choice varied from year to year, depending in part on how hard it was to get the classes they needed in the proper sequence and still fit in the electives they wanted. One’s summer job helped with a long term career decision (away from that field) while another’s summer research gig led to helpful career references. </p>
<p>During the school year, we preferred that our kids focus on studying (I wanted to make sure they kept their scholarships) and still have time for recreation. We didn’t forbid them to work, but they were given an allowance and had no need to work.</p>
<p>When dh was in college, his parents paid tuition (at a private university) but he had to earn everything else. He typically worked 20 - 30 hrs./wk. while taking 18 sem. hrs. It got pretty tough at times. Then he graduated and routinely worked 60+ hrs./wk.; that was much tougher.</p>
<p>Working during the summer here where we live is pretty much expected of high school students. While the opportunities aren’t as abundant as they were were before 2008 , it would be pretty hard to NOT get a summer job in our area. Our daughters all worked for our family business from early ages ( 11, 12 until college and during summers home while in college ) Our youngest also volunteers , pretty heavily compared to her friends . She has committed for the last year to countless hours working with siblings who are deaf ( and she wants to become an ASL interpreter ) This has proven to be a valuable endeavor for her. I am very proud and actually really surprised at how well she works with children , and the solid bond she has formed with the girls as well as the parents is something that I am very proud of. Also, she has volunteered in a food bank that is run out of a local Catholic church that we do not belong to. I am hoping that her active participation that wasn’t a mandatory part of of being involved in a team sport will help her with her upcoming college applications.</p>
<p>Her closest friends are the three top students of her class. Only one of them has held a job. One of them does nothing but study year round…I am thinking that she won’t be viewed as well rounded in the application process ( mostly because I have read many a thread here on CC of students not getting into their dram schools with perfect SATs and being captain/ president of pretty much everything in their high schools</p>
<p>In HS, DS had a knack for figuring out how his classmates understood (or didn’t understand) math, and was sought after for tutoring. I much preferred that he spend his time helping friends and nice kids, rather than spoiled rich kids whose parents offered compensation. </p>
<p>We don’t need the money, and I’d feel bad taking an ice cream scooping job from a kid who really needed it. DS has learned the value of a dollar in our many discussions. He has gotten himself a difficult internship in the past, taken a commuter train, subway, and walked to the internship all of last summer (only 5 days off), and I am perfectly happy that this summer is mostly about hanging around, going to the gym, playing some beer league hockey, and doing the occasional math proof when the mood strikes. He is planning a rigorous year at college next year. </p>
<p>My son auditioned for a music program the summer after junior year of HS and didn’t get in. I started looking for other options but he said he’d rather work and make some money. He found a job within walking distance of our house and continued working through the school year and this summer as well. He looked for a job or even volunteer opportunities in his major but could not find anything locally. Hopefully having some money in the bank will free him up to take internships later. He is not planning to work on campus at first due to a heavy schedule, but his experience working at a restaurant should be helpful in getting a campus job in food service (with free food!).</p>
<p>I never worked on during the school year, but worked summers after graduating HS and that was my spending money. I worked some breaks too, doing catering prep during the holidays.</p>
<p>I worked nonstop from the time I was 15 until I was 42. I was happy my kids didn’t “have” to work during high school. Between their very vigorous high school curriculum and multiple sports, they really didn’t have time for jobs. </p>
<p>Both have worked during college part time of their own will to make extra spending money. I worked during college as much as I could because I wouldn’t have been able to attend a residential college if I didn’t.</p>
<p>I worked summers starting when I was 16. A college summer job led to working about 10 hours during the week. Even though shelving library books was not exactly a job you’d think would lead to everything, it led to a great part time job while I was waiting for a real architecture job. My older son made so much during the summer he never worked during the year. Younger son didn’t work till senior year - it was a campus job that developed from summer work, he was being groomed for a promotion, so it wasn’t as though he was stealing work from someone else.</p>
<p>I encouraged my daughter not to work in HS and to keep up her grades and enjoy herself. It paid off …she received $135,000 in scholarship monies…more than she could have ever made working a minimum wage job. </p>