Student X spends most of their time during the first few weeks of September goofing off and partying every weekend. By November they have their first chemistry test, a 10-page English paper due, no cash, have used half their GWorld debit dollars getting late night nachos at 7-11 and to top it off, cannot stand their roommate. Come the night before their test they have hundreds of pages to read and are stressed out of their mind.
Stressing out because of bad management skills is one of the worst things that can happen to a college freshman during their first semester, GW counseling experts said. To prevent the snowball effect of bad management decisions, students should take control over their time, money, and living situations.
In high school, everything was scheduled for you: when you ate lunch, took classes and exercised. Upon entering college, for the first time students are in charge of their own schedule and how they spend their time, said Susan Reynolds of the University Counseling Center.
"Incoming students wind up not spending their time wisely and that gets them into trouble," Reynolds said.
Often college students have large breaks between classes and that block of time gets wasted, Reynolds said.
"Sometimes classes are scheduled on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays and then students have Tuesday and Thursdays off. Students then start thinking their have more time then they actually do and don't use the time they have wisely," Reynolds said.
To keep time under control, students should invest in a planner, and actually use it, Reynolds said. Students should write everything down in their planner. They should schedule time for classes, studying, having fun and even sleeping. This may seem overzealous, but it allows students to determine how much time each activity will take and breaks down an overwhelming schedule into reasonable chunks. Reynolds suggested students figure out when they are most alert and schedule studying sessions for those times of the day.
Stressing out because of bad management skills is one of the worst things that can happen to a college freshman during their first semester, GW counseling experts said. To prevent the snowball effect of bad management decisions, students should take control over their time, money, and living situations.
In high school, everything was scheduled for you: when you ate lunch, took classes and exercised. Upon entering college, for the first time students are in charge of their own schedule and how they spend their time, said Susan Reynolds of the University Counseling Center.
"Incoming students wind up not spending their time wisely and that gets them into trouble," Reynolds said.
Often college students have large breaks between classes and that block of time gets wasted, Reynolds said.
"Sometimes classes are scheduled on Monday, Wednesday, Fridays and then students have Tuesday and Thursdays off. Students then start thinking their have more time then they actually do and don't use the time they have wisely," Reynolds said.
To keep time under control, students should invest in a planner, and actually use it, Reynolds said. Students should write everything down in their planner. They should schedule time for classes, studying, having fun and even sleeping. This may seem overzealous, but it allows students to determine how much time each activity will take and breaks down an overwhelming schedule into reasonable chunks. Reynolds suggested students figure out when they are most alert and schedule studying sessions for those times of the day.
