Grad school and bipolar

I'm not in grad school, but I was wondering what it's like to be in grad school while having bipolar. Can you be part time in grad school and get your degree later? That or do you just manage your symptoms while taking a full course load?

I'm changing my major for a different career path in the medical field and I noticed that for physical therapy at one college near me students have to take 6 classes almost each semester. They don't seem to be very hard, but that's quite a few classes.

I am changing my career path because my original career path does not have many jobs available near me and the closest ones are 200 miles away. I would really like to continue to live in my current area and not travel so far. Right now I am just aiming at an associates and I have experience in this field.

I am currently applying for grad school and worried as well about how the work load will be. I did manage to get through a 4 year university already. I double majored, minored, and played a intercollegiate sport. One semester I did overload myself and took 8 classes during my sport's season. I found it took a lot of planning to find time to do everything. I also made sure I was super aware of how I was doing mood wise and would rearrange my plans if necessary. Some periods I would blow off papers completely and others I would bust out a bunch of assignments in a row. My last week of my senior year my friends actually doubted I would get all of my work done but I finished with 2 days to spare. Some grad programs allow you to spread out classes, a couple of my friends are currently doing this. You just need to research what colleges have what you want and see how they allow you to schedule classes.

I'm halfway through a 3-year grad program. Very heavy. In fact, we were told not to get jobs, get pregnant, or plan a wedding while going through it. Unfortunately, I have hit a few bumps along the road with the BD. I'm starting to see a pattern. November/December are often difficult for me. Fortunately, my professors and program are amazing and I've been able to make it through. Even in undergrad, I found that people were very helpful and understanding as long as I communicated with them. Oh, and my program is in healthcare and science heavy and at a prestigious school. My advice is apply and talk to the department. All schools have a disability office that can help you with accommodations as well.

I am halfway through an accelerated 2 year program. It has been tough, I am not going to lie. I take two 9 week classes at a time. I am in a cohort, so having all the same classmates for all of my classes is very comforting. I know this is not the norm though. The work load is VERY high. I have to really prioritize my time. I was even able to change my position at work to a group that has very flexible hours, this too is not very plausible in most cases though.

I am very sure I am going to drop the program around midterm time EVERY semester. I get through it though. I just keep telling myself, "5 more classes, 5 more classes. Then You'll have that piece of paper, 5 more classes."

It can be done, but I have scarified a lot of things I enjoy to compete it.

I worked a full time corporate job and went to 4 hour night classes to get my MBA. I don't have kids and was not traveling with my job at the time. I got through it with a 3.8 GPA. The grad degree really made me stand out in a dismal job market. I was constantly called/emailed by head hunters. The only regret is my bipolar got a lot worse to where I couldn't hold down a job. So now I have a massive student loan on a ssdi income. The only part I remember being off kilter though was dealing with professors and my peer group of students.

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I thought student loans were forgiven if you later qualify for disability?

I am almost done with my bachelor's. It has been a challenge, partially my fault because I was too proud to register with disability services. But I got through it.

I'm taking a few months off now (I graduate in about a week) to work before hopefully starting med or grad school. I'm hoping to make a lot of progress during this break from academia-get a really good therapist, read a lot, start a habit of exercising and meditating, so that when I start med or grad school I will be strong enough to handle it.

That's what I'm doing, and I haven't even started it yet so I can't tell you how well it works. But I wish you luck!

Yes and no. At first my pdoc filled out a form attesting to my unemployment due to bipolar. A few years later they came back and the IRS taxed the loan which cost about $7k. Now our tax attorney is going back and forth with them on reinstatement. Because I file taxes with my husband they are trying to prove we make enough $ to reinstate the loan. Also, my friend inherited money from her mom was kicked off ssi and her student loans were reinstated. She had to fight it and in the the end it her payments were lowered and she had to pay thousands to get rid of an unconsolidated loan.

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What a load of ****

Thanks for the replies and congrats to everyone on your success with college