<p>I am currently an undergraduate freshman at my college, and I'm taking general courses right now. They're not bad at all, but there are no room for mistakes. In other words, a small mistake equals a huge impact on your scores/grades. I'll be volunteering at a Community Hospital, participiating at a pre-pharmacy club, and probably more other things in the future.</p>
<p>But my main point is video games (computer games usually) in college..</p>
<p>I grew throughout my childhood playing video and computer games, and I still yearn to play video games even now! I have long waited for Guild Wars 2, and looking at all these reviews about this game since the release date is making me seriously consider about playing games in college...</p>
<p>Would it hurt to play games in college? I do have some free times, but I also want to use those free times to do something more... beneficial and extracurricular to make my application for graduate school look better. Seriously, what can I do?</p>
<p>Do any of you guys: (1) do well at school (GPA 3.5-4.0), (2) participate in many clubs, (3) volunteer or work, and (4) play video games?</p>
<p>Sorry for the long message. Thanks guys. I look forward to your replies!</p>
<p>I play guild wars 2, hasn’t affected my work or ECs that i wanna do at all. I’m a freshman also, but a more challenging schedule than average. There is no fees or endgame really so the incentive isn’t there to just rush through. You can play an hour now and then easily. I probably won’t at all next week due to papers/midterms, but this past week I had more time. Now, if i tried to fill that time last week with an extra 5-10 hours in some club? That would be fine, but i’d be overworked next week if the same is expected. Leisure time gives more flexibility.</p>
<p>If all you ever do is work and fixate on grad school, you’ll lose it quickly. And no, grad schools won’t know or care if you play gw2. Just depends on what for you is a stress relief, partying, video games etc. Maybe you noticed, some of the most successful in college are alcoholics thurs-sun. No one is doing “beneficial” things round the clock. On top of that, you have the summer for things like internship that look just as well on apps/resume as any few hours of ECs you can eek out during the school week.</p>
<p>Playing video games in college is usually okay if done in moderation - just like anything else, it’s all about being able to control yourself. Although, I don’t play as much as I did in high school because I’ve spent a lot more time hanging out with people, going out, and studying. I do pretty well in school, I’m in a couple of clubs, I don’t do any volunteer work right now, and I do play video games casually (a couple times a week - totaling to about 5 hours a week).</p>
<p>I’d say yes it does hurt you, but it is entirely dependent on the person. </p>
<p>I can’t play video games in moderation unless I find them boring. That being said, I do not find WoW to be boring at all and every time I get on it I find it wildly addicting. I wasted a weekend of my life when I could’ve been studying or doing homework rather than playing the new expansion. I had to work my butt off this past week to catch up.</p>
<p>Video games and college are basically synonymous. That said, I don’t think tons of people meet all four of your criteria if they play lots of video games. I wouldn’t have the time for games if I was in a lot of clubs AND working.</p>
<p>I would recommend against it. I haven’t played since start of school year, and I’ve been super busy. 9 credit hours, 3 jobs, some extracurricular activities, as well as job/grad school applications. Although it is given that I tend to waste away most of my weekend regardless, playing video games would just be yet another distraction to keep me from getting work done. Same reason I deleted facebook.</p>
<p>I do all those things. I work three jobs, have a 3.8+ GPA, volunteer, and yes, I game (probably way more than I should). You just have to prioritize school and work first and you can make it work. I also use games as a reward so it motivates me to get crap done.</p>
<p>besides, if you’re paying for xbox live, you might as well get your money’s worth. But when I do that, I waste a lot of time. If I don’t play as often, like maybe once a week, I get my a55 kicked on halo be cause my thumbs become ■■■■■■■■, and the game suddenly gets boring. There’s really no way you can win here, is there?</p>