How to Balance Good Grades and a Social Life

The college experience is more than just going to classes and studying, it is about finding friends and creating memories that will last a lifetime. The first thing you learn in college is time management, but professors never teach us how to balance good grades while also living the “college life.”

Here are some tips to maintain good grades while also creating a college experience you won’t forget:

1. Set goals: short- or long-term goals will make you feel good once they are accomplished. For example, writing a paper before the weekend, or even making the Dean’s List.
2. Create a “to-do-list” at the beginning of each week: this will help you stay on top of assignments and tests.
3. Learn to manage your time: invest in a planner to write important things down in.
4. Don’t procrastinate: this leads to your to-do-list to grow making it harder for you to catch up.
5. Get a good night’s sleep: improved sleep leads to decreased stress levels and you will be able to think more clearly and make fewer mistakes.
6. Know your limits: Most college parties take place on Saturday night which leads you to the “Sunday scaries” the next morning. This is when you’ve had too much to drink the night before and it sets in that you have a lot of work to do for the upcoming week.
7. Coordinate your free time with your friends: as you develop a group of friends, see if you can schedule time together, whether this time is used for studying or just hanging out in your dorm room.
8. Learn to say “no”: student typically feel that they can’t say no to a friend or to the idea of going to a party. However, it is okay to say no. You don’t have to go to every party, there will be plenty of them, and your friends won’t hate you if you choose to spend the night in the library instead of with them.
9. Take you time: spending time alone allows you to refuel. This will help you in both your academic and social life.
10. Create a good class schedule: if you know you don’t wake up until 10am do not take 8am classes, instead take evening classes. Take classes with friends, this will make studying and doing work a lot easier plus its added time together.