Who wouldn’t be thrilled if one gets accepted at Stanford, Brown, and Duke University as a college freshman? The London School of Economics and Universidad de Barcelona are also options. You got scholarships, and your parents are ready to pay for international student health insurance, in case anything happens to you while you’re that far away.
You haven’t made a decision yet about where to go. But you’re excited about studying and meeting other people. You’re also a bit uneasy because you want to study seriously, but you don’t want to miss all the fun and the other exciting activities while being at the university. Is there a way to balance being studious while having extracurricular activities?
Who Graduates?
Nearly 20 million freshmen enrolled in both public and private universities in America in 2019. By the time graduation comes, four, five, or six years later, 23.9% – 62.7% end up not graduating. The rate varies, though, depending on the sector and the program. Private nonprofit universities’ graduation rate is the highest on a four-year program with 76.1%, while a private for-profit school graduation rate is at 37.3% on a four-year program.
This is a good statistic to keep in mind and keep you motivated. You want to stay on the side of 76.1%.
The Balancing Act
Before you try to decipher the balancing act, you must decide clearly in your mind and heart what the outcome of your stay at the university should be. If you want to ace it all the way, that will determine whether there’s balancing to be done or none at all. Getting a “passing mark” while enjoying everything else would also be an option. There are perhaps a couple more permutations in between.
- Learning is first. Gaining knowledge and learning from your studies is the main reason you’re it the university. It’s your primary responsibility to yourself and your parents or the sponsor of your scholarship to do well in school.
- Time management. Work out everything around the schedules of your class and not the other way around. Always know when your deadlines are and prioritize them. Your study time should be part of the schedule. Once this is done, determine what extracurricular activities you can fit in. You’ll be tempted to do many things that attract you. Be prepared to drop some of them if they will interfere with your studies.
- Study with friends. Find a group of friends you can study with. This might help in hastening your learning process because you all can interact, ask questions, and gain a better understanding of the lessons, which would be difficult if you’re studying alone. This might create a cumulative free time for you to allocate on your extracurricular activities.
- Maximize campus resources. Universities will have advisors or counselors that guide students about university life. If you feel like you’re experiencing too much stress and are having difficulty coping, talk to these advisors and share what you are feeling. Be honest so they can also give proper guidance.
Your university life is what you make it. With the proper focus and time management, you will succeed in your academics and enjoy your extracurricular activities.
