Depends on the school's curriculum. I remember spending 60 to 80 hours a week (inc weekends) on studio and elective courses while in undergrad but I held steady part-time jobs until graduation. It all depends on how fast you learn and how you manage your time; however, the idea that you can complete arch school doing the minimum is rather sad. Your future employment opportunities reflect highly on the quality of your portfolio and your ability to communicate through construction details.

But, unless the school you join is some fly-by-night discount degree place, your idea of 3 days to do courses and studio work is fantasy. Treat studio as the equivalent of a 1 & 1/2 full time job.

I see. So it will take up a lot of my time? Way more than I thought! It's literally like going to med school or something. Ok so I'm knocking my day job down to three days so the other four will be purely studio and courses. 

I've done entrance interviews for undergrad applications and you would not believe the number of students who come in and claim that they want to keep their 30hr per week jobs, join 2 or 3 sport teams, travel back home every weekend, etc, etc, etc. I don't think we gave any such applicant a passing interview grade resulting in an entrance offer.

Again, depends on the quality of the school & what the program expects from their students. I am sure they must have some form of open house of "best of X class" for you to compare.

If you manage your time efficiently, you should be able to work 20-30 hours a week during most of the semester and scale back to 10-15 hours during finals or charettes.  I did a few 18-credit semesters working this way and I managed to do fine.  While I attended a regular old state school and not a prestigious Ivy League program, I can also say that I have been gainfully and consistently employed since graduation which is more than I can say for some of my Ivy League counterparts.

The secret is to choose your school wisely (i.e. chose the school where you will have to pay the least so you are not saddled with debt), make sure your employer understands that at times you may need to scale back your hours, and remember that design studio is just a class like any other class.

I'm working in non related field. It's just to pay some bills. I'm too old not to have a job and go to school full time and I need the extra cash. 

I like the fact that I'm in LA and there are a lot of arch firms, museums, studios etc dedicated to arch and I will try to land a part time gig with them. 

i just want to work 24 hours to keep paying for school. 

Off the wall question and I hope I don't look like an idiot but sincere family is already in the construction biz and getting a job there wouldn't be too difficult, I was wondering if an urban planning degree with a specialization in urban design would be at all relevant to do construction management?  

I figured if arch school was too much and really I'm getting in this to do project management and I want something a little more creative than a construction science degree, I could perhaps study what I really want; urban design. I'm still taking the basic drafting, arch drawing, auto cad, revitt courses, basically a certificate in arch. 

your thoughts. I know I'm all over the place but what do u guys think?

If you really want to do urban planning instead of architecture, then do that. I would also avoid taking any classes that only cover technical subjects like drafting, because they won't tell you anything about architecture itself. You should start with a design class and see if you like it before you invest more time and energy going further.

Absolutely. I will also take a few design courses. Which ones should I take at the basic CC level? 

I have to agree with the OP on the work hours thing. I'm having some major difficulties in time management I have to reschedule for the second time for student orientation for the 24th of this month I have to take a flex start course i think will start on the 27 of February or i might be able to to start on the 10 of feb. Has anyone taken a flex start course?