How would you balance Extra Curricular Activities with Academics in College?

Question

How would you balance things when people are relying on you in your university organization and yet your academic subjects demands extra time from you?

Answer 1

Keep a well ordered schedule. Always remember that your academics come first: you are paying for them, they will eventually pay for you. Give yourself at least 1-2 hours of time for homework/studying a day per class hour. You can always delegate some organizational responsibilities to others when you need to.

I was on the board for 3 different clubs, worked as a student intern, and was taking full class loads and managed to do fine, so with hard work I'm sure you can too!

Answer 2

In general, each 3 hour class should take an additional 3-6 hours of study/prep time.  Divide your week into 7 8-hr columns.  Actually create a table with 7 columns and 8 rows.  From there, block out each class and the additional 3-6 hours of prep/studying.  Then, you can see what available time you have for extra-curricular.  This might mean clubs, working out, co-ed sports, etc.  If you have a full time job, you might need to block out part of your 56 hours for that depending on your work schedule.

Answer 3

Okay, so you go to your lectures and seminars. I would dedicate at least the same amount of time again to independent work - reading, research, essays, etc.

The rest of the time, do whatever you want.

If people are relying on you too much, tell them! The most important thing for you to do at university is to concentrate on your education. By all means take part in other activities, but not to the detriment of your course.

Answer 4

I would just be very up front from the beginning. Your main purpose at the university is for your degree and everything else is just extra. Its easy to let the pressure of people relying on you come in the way of your studies. I would suggest that you have people helping you, so that nothing is on you solely.  Unfortunetly if things start to become too stressful you might have to step back.