is it better to stay busy?

[skim milk]

I'm approaching a very important semester in my college year (3rd semester)

I have no drops left.. so if I decide to take the classes, i have to stick through it til the end.

I'm taking 16 credits which includes two 3 hours labs during the week.

My days look like this

Monday I go to school, go to classes until 3 pm and go to work right after until 10pm

tuesday, im at school the entire day from 11 am until late at night.

wednesday is the same as monday

thursday i go to classes and stay on campus most of the day. I get home around nighttime... so this is one of the days I have free nights to STUDY

friday, it's similar to thursday.

sarturday and sunday, i work all day until 10 pm


what do you guys think? is it better to stay busy and always doing something? or would my grades suffer immensely?
my freshman year i had lots of free time but i wasted it so i ended up getting low grades

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Your grades will suffer. You'll make an attempt to study in what little free time you have but something always pops up. It's not worth messing up your grades for it. And is your work even related to the field you're studying, or is it some random crap job to pay the bills?

 

[minendo]

I find that I do better in school when I keep busy, but this varies per person. I am not one that studies much if at all so I work a lot.

 

[RU482]

how much discipline do you have in regard to school work?

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello
Your grades will suffer. You'll make an attempt to study in what little free time you have but something always pops up. It's not worth messing up your grades for it. And is your work even related to the field you're studying, or is it some random crap job to pay the bills?

it's a random crap job to pay the bills

damn im getting worried... classes start this monday
hopefully i can keep up

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Originally posted by: fritolays

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello
Your grades will suffer. You'll make an attempt to study in what little free time you have but something always pops up. It's not worth messing up your grades for it. And is your work even related to the field you're studying, or is it some random crap job to pay the bills?

it's a random crap job to pay the bills

damn im getting worried... classes start this monday
hopefully i can keep up

Bro I suggest you seriously take it easy then. I worked about 30 hours a week all through college (one summer I worked 60+ hours at 2 jobs while attending summer school) - none of it had any direct relation to my Business Admin degree. (Although I guess some of the sales/supervising stuff could count for something but in my job search lately it hasn't helped at all) Take it from someone who just graduated and entered the harsh reality of the real world.

Working yourself to the bone and running yourself ragged in school isn't worth it. You could try to cut back on work a bit or maybe take fewer credits, but don't push yourself to the max if you're not good at handling stress. If you couldn't make your grades with a lot of free time it'll be that much harder to make your grades with none at all.

If you do intend of keeping with a hectic busy all the time schedule find a job related to your degree to help prepare you for your future. That experience during college will help you immensely once you graduate. I was told that by many many people while in college but I was content with my crap retail job. I can tell you, if I had the chance to go back and change it, I would in a heartbeat without thinking twice about it.

Of course like minendo said, it's highly dependent on the person. That's just my two cents but just ask yourself can you handle it all.

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello

Originally posted by: fritolays

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello
Your grades will suffer. You'll make an attempt to study in what little free time you have but something always pops up. It's not worth messing up your grades for it. And is your work even related to the field you're studying, or is it some random crap job to pay the bills?

it's a random crap job to pay the bills

damn im getting worried... classes start this monday
hopefully i can keep up

Bro I suggest you seriously take it easy then. I worked about 30 hours a week all through college (one summer I worked 60+ hours at 2 jobs while attending summer school) - none of it had any direct relation to my Business Admin degree. (Although I guess some of the sales/supervising stuff could count for something but in my job search lately it hasn't helped at all) Take it from someone who just graduated and entered the harsh reality of the real world.

Working yourself to the bone and running yourself ragged in school isn't worth it. You could try to cut back on work a bit or maybe take fewer credits, but don't push yourself to the max if you're not good at handling stress. If you couldn't make your grades with a lot of free time it'll be that much harder to make your grades with none at all.

If you do intend of keeping with a hectic busy all the time schedule find a job related to your degree to help prepare you for your future. That experience during college will help you immensely once you graduate. I was told that by many many people while in college but I was content with my crap retail job. I can tell you, if I had the chance to go back and change it, I would in a heartbeat without thinking twice about it.

Of course like minendo said, it's highly dependent on the person. That's just my two cents but just ask yourself can you handle it all.

thanks for a great reply.... but the problem is I CAN't take lesser credits or have days off unless I quit. I didn't do so well during my freshman year...so the advisor told me that i must take the following courses to "get back on track".

i have to take chemistry II and the lab, I have to take biology and the lab, I have to take a 3000+ level course so that's already 11 credits right there. The other 3 credit course also helps meet one of my gen-ed requirement. And the last 2 credit course is a easy course I signed up for so it;ll help me raise my GPA which brings the total to 16 credits. Basically, I'm making up for my poor academic performance during my frosh year.... I need to raise my GPA. SERIOUSLY

During my freshman year, I had TOO much free time... i got so lazy i skipped classes from time to time. and ended up dropping two courses during the second semester. I was only taking 12 credits or so. Even when I had all that free time I didn't study instead i was wasting time doing nothing.... I'm afraid the same thing might happen if i don't work. I WANT to find a job that relates to my major but it's so hard to find any kind of jobs here in a college town. I've never had a busy schedule constantly doing something so I don't how my academic performance will be.

 

[Angrymarshmello]

Originally posted by: fritolays

thanks for a great reply.... but the problem is I CAN't take lesser credits or have days off unless I quit. I didn't do so well during my freshman year...so the advisor told me that i must take the following courses to "get back on track".

i have to take chemistry II and the lab, I have to take biology and the lab, I have to take a 3000+ level course so that's already 11 credits right there. The other 3 credit course also helps meet one of my gen-ed requirement. And the last 2 credit course is a easy course I signed up for so it;ll help me raise my GPA which brings the total to 16 credits. Basically, I'm making up for my poor academic performance during my frosh year.... I need to raise my GPA. SERIOUSLY

During my freshman year, I had TOO much free time... i got so lazy i skipped classes from time to time. and ended up dropping two courses during the second semester. I was only taking 12 credits or so. Even when I had all that free time I didn't study instead i was wasting time doing nothing.... I'm afraid the same thing might happen if i don't work. I WANT to find a job that relates to my major but it's so hard to find any kind of jobs here in a college town. I've never had a busy schedule constantly doing something so I don't how my academic performance will be.

No problem. Can I ask you though - what is your job currently paying for? School, extra cirricular spending, car, insurance, etc? Are your parents helping to pay for any of this? If the job isn't vital to your livelihood/survival, it might be wise to find even another "crap" job that will fit into your schedule. Does your campus have a career center that can help place you? You might want to try that or ask around with some of your class mates to see if they have any openings at their company. Most companies nowadays are pretty open to being flexible with school schedules and hours. I can understand not being able to find a job in a college town - that's one of the reasons why I decided to go to a smaller local school, b/c of the number of large companies in the surrounding area.

Since you can't drop, you might want to look into finding a job now since you have free time. The worst that can happen is you work and go to school as planned. If it doesn't work out try looking for something else, or quit work altogether. (Dependent on what it's paying for, of course)

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: Angrymarshmello

Originally posted by: fritolays

thanks for a great reply.... but the problem is I CAN't take lesser credits or have days off unless I quit. I didn't do so well during my freshman year...so the advisor told me that i must take the following courses to "get back on track".

i have to take chemistry II and the lab, I have to take biology and the lab, I have to take a 3000+ level course so that's already 11 credits right there. The other 3 credit course also helps meet one of my gen-ed requirement. And the last 2 credit course is a easy course I signed up for so it;ll help me raise my GPA which brings the total to 16 credits. Basically, I'm making up for my poor academic performance during my frosh year.... I need to raise my GPA. SERIOUSLY

During my freshman year, I had TOO much free time... i got so lazy i skipped classes from time to time. and ended up dropping two courses during the second semester. I was only taking 12 credits or so. Even when I had all that free time I didn't study instead i was wasting time doing nothing.... I'm afraid the same thing might happen if i don't work. I WANT to find a job that relates to my major but it's so hard to find any kind of jobs here in a college town. I've never had a busy schedule constantly doing something so I don't how my academic performance will be.

No problem. Can I ask you though - what is your job currently paying for? School, extra cirricular spending, car, insurance, etc? Are your parents helping to pay for any of this? If the job isn't vital to your livelihood/survival, it might be wise to find even another "crap" job that will fit into your schedule. Does your campus have a career center that can help place you? You might want to try that or ask around with some of your class mates to see if they have any openings at their company. Most companies nowadays are pretty open to being flexible with school schedules and hours. I can understand not being able to find a job in a college town - that's one of the reasons why I decided to go to a smaller local school, b/c of the number of large companies in the surrounding area.

Since you can't drop, you might want to look into finding a job now since you have free time. The worst that can happen is you work and go to school as planned. If it doesn't work out try looking for something else, or quit work altogether. (Dependent on what it's paying for, of course)

well when i first started working (about a month ago), the manager told me he will work around my schedule. He DID work around my schedule but he basically wants me to work every single minute I'm not in class. He told me I will be no use unless I work at least 4 days a week 7 hours shifts. So at first , i thought ok, staying busy will be good since I will learn how to manage my time and realize how valuable time is. But now I'm doubting if I can keep up with the schedule. I am literally gonna be either in class, working or studying. Nothing else.

The paychecks pay for the following things, food for my sister and I (we live in the same apt), our cell phone bills (since we don't have a house phone), credit card bill, and sometimes utilities. The rest... like car payments and apartment rent is paid for by our parents. As soon as the semester starts, when i find some free time, I'm going to try to find a different job.... I want a job that relates to my major... a job working as a lab assistant or something, i don't care. I would feel bad quitting at the other place though, since they took their time to train me and all..... and it's only been a month since I started working there. I definitely want to work though while attending school .... since i need the money plus if i dont work, ill be wasting time anyway not studying.

 

[TDY2KN01]

Hey fritolays. I just read of your thread about college. I see you are biology major. 3rd year Bio here ;-|


If you had a tough time in another major (something easy compare to bio not something hard like biochem) and switched to biology, I suggested you start lite. Try not to overwork yourself. I took three science classes last qtr. (2 lower & 1 upper div) with 10 hours a week job (a job where I can use the time to do my homework and study) and still, I find myself very stress out sometime. It may seems you are doing fine because you get by the labs and classes, but when big research paper due right before a three science midterm, then you have 2 lab report to finish and 2 for the following week, it can be overwhelming. Remember to baalance yourself and school is first.

Good luck 🙂