Many people find themselves struggling in college and those people are not to blame. College is probably the best time of a person’s life, but for a person to succeed in college, they MUST be responsible and organized. When people get to college, they get a real sense of who they are as a person. As “newcomers” become more independent and realize that they are not under constant control, it’s important for them to be able to control themselves. People’s schedules immediately start to fill up with classes, sports, and extracurriculars. There will most likely NEVER be a weekend without any parties, and you will find yourself spending a lot of time hanging out with friends. As all of these things pile up, work that is supposed to be done outside of class gets pushed off. As this pattern continues, the work piles up faster than you think and you eventually find yourself procrastinating to the max, skipping class because you didn’t write a major paper, or failing a test you didn’t study for. Before you know it the end of the semester come and you will not be satisfied with your GPA. In order to avoid this mess and possibly have to end up retaking classes, it’s good to have a strategy plan and these tips can help you organize yourself more efficiently:
1) Sleep is awesome, don’t get me wrong; however, it’s not going to help if you wake up everyday at 12+ PM. REGISTER EARLY CLASSES. Now I’m not suggesting 8:30’s (although I would rather get classes out of the way ASAP) but 10 AM’s are really not that bad. Having early classes make you get up early, that way you don’t waste half of the day sleeping.
2) Keep your class schedule in your room where you can see it everyday. Plan what books you need to bring with you before you leave in the morning so that you don’t find yourself coming back to your room 5+ times a day.
3) It’s nice to study in the library, but it’s not the ONLY place to study. I actually find at times that it is easier to study/concentrate in one of the academic buildings. The library is fun, but some people may tend to get distracted more easily there.
4) If you do sports, work, etc., divide the week up. Work around your schedules to make 1-3 days where you spend AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE doing work for your classes. Days where you work, study a little bit, but not as much. Keep playing around with making your own schedules, and STICK TO FIRST ONE THAT WORKS, otherwise you’ll just spend the whole semester trying to figure it out.
5) Going out with friends is fun, but don’t over do it. There will weeks where there are parties 4+ days of the week. Don’t go to all of them. It’s a waste of time. And try to avoid going out during the week if you have work to do, unless you are SURE you will be able to get it done. Try to keep the week dedicated to school work only, and then go crazy during the weekends.
6) GET ALONG WITH YOUR PROFESSORS. Let’s be honest; some professors don’t deserve to be standing in the front of the room. If you cannot switch out of the class, you will be stuck with that professor for the whole semester. SUCK IT UP. Believe it or not, every professor is a normal person outside of the classroom. They all have lives like we do. Go to class, show them or pretend that you care. If they see you are trying they will help you. SUCK UP if you have to. Say good morning/good afternoon every day, go to their office hours and talk to them, email them, ANYTHING. Let them know you are alive and make them believe you have interest even if you don’t. If you do all of this, you will pass the class 99% of the time.
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