Getting through OT School

I am planning on beginning an MOT program in the fall and nervous about it. Everyone is advising me not to work part-time and that I will fail out of classes if I try to work. I already have student loan debt from undergraduate and am not willing to take out a bunch of extra loan money to cover all my living expenses. I HAVE to work AND attend the program. Even if it's 20-25 hours a week-that is fine. I have bills and debts to keep paying for while finishing school. Did any OTs work during school or do any students now do it? I need some positive advice!

Hi OT2BE. I was in your situation; actually I still am. The program that I attend advises not working over 10 hours per week. Honestly, with everything I have going on with school, I have NO time to work. I've just had to increase my loans (something I didn't want to do) and pray for financial miracles every month. It is definitely hard to stop working and go attend graduate school, yet still have bills that do not go away just because you're in school. I wish I had some advice, but sadly I am two years into my program and haven't found the solution. I'm just praying I find a good public service job that I like so that after 10 years my loans are forgiven. Actually, I hope that program still exists with the way things are these days! Good luck.

OT2013...thanks for your reply! How were you able to take out extra $$ for living expenses...is it federal money? Did they award you more loans than the cost of attendence and refund you with the extra money? Thanks.

Working during school isn't impossible, but it is difficult. Most of the people in my classes do not work. The few who do usually work 4-10 hours only in flexible jobs (like tutoring). I don't really see how you will have time to work more than 10 hours and still keep up with all the schoolwork.

Schools do not give you loans in excess of their estimated cost of attendance. If you want more loans than that, you will need a private loan instead of a student loan. All student loans go to the school first, and they will not disburse money that exceeds their cost of attendance. And don't forget that the public servant loan forgiveness only applies to federal loans. I believe non federal loans will still have to be paid back. Also another sad money fact: there will be no more subsidized federal loans for graduate students starting in July. They removed that program to put money into undergrad pell grants.