Parents do you have any organizational advice?

Parents Forum
1

I have done pretty well with time management in the past, however, this semester I have more on my plate than my last 3 semesters.

This is the breakdown of a week for me

M: Class at 4:35
T: Class from 10-12, 1:15- 3:50 and 6:10-9
W: Class from 1:20-4:20 and 4:35-6:00
R: Class from 10-12 and 1:15-3:50

I will probably be working one job at these times:

M: 10-3
R: 4-6:30
F: 1-6:30 or 8-5

And another job around these times:

w: 10-2
f: 10-12

This job is just a tour guide position so the shift is just the tour time.

I may also be pledging a sorority which I am told is like taking another 4 credit class.

And finally:

20 hours weekly in the library
3-6 hours a week at physical therapy
1-2 hours a week doing observations

Basically I guess I just need some of your best organization tips!

Thank you all in advance

2

Make a weekly planner, monthly planner – on paper or electronic. Assign specific hours during the week to each class, and figure on spending 2-3 hours outside of class for each hour in class (lecture, lab, discussion section, etc.). On that planner put in the dates of every class meeting, exam, paper due, etc. And check, and annotate, the planner several times a day.

The main thing to realize is that going to college is itself something like a job, and you should be putting in a 40-hr week just for your school work. Sometimes you’ll be really jammed, with special out of class assignments, test prep, papers due. But if you use your hours during the day well – during that 40-hr week – you’ll manage it. You’ll also have to put in hours in evening and weekends, but that still leaves you a lot of free time as long as you’re conscientious about meeting and prepping for deadlines.

You’ve got an excellent start simply by laying out your schedule as you’ve done here.

3

I think you should either stop working so much or go to school part-time. You need to do quality work for school and I don’t see how that is possible with this schedule.

4

I agree that you are working too many hours. The sorority will add the equivalent of another job’s worth of hours on top of what you are already trying to do, and significant expense as well. I’d say cut back on the work hours AND don’t pledge.

5

Recognizing the challenges is a great starting point. A few random pointers from some old guy on the Internet:

1). Get up early if you can stand it. If you do, you can make 8-10 every weekday morning quiet study time while you are still fresh.

2). See how much of the entire week’s reading you can get done for your reading-heavy classes on Sunday or Monday. That Tuesday-Wednesday is a killer, and you’ll get tired as the week goes on

3). Block out your calendar for study/library blocks that fit and stick to it.

4). Make sure to block out "play"time for sorority functions and other fun things and sleep in late once each weekend.

Good luck!

6

Going to school part time is not an option.

If I counted correctly, I have 21 hours of work (IF I get all of my preferred hours), which is what I worked last semester as well . I also got the final word, I will need PT 3x a week for an hour

I am also considering doing my observations at my job (which i did this semester) and kill 2 birds with one stone.

I have yet to have to do 2/3 hours per credit but I will certainly be adjusting for those times, I may also not do Friday at the tour guide position.

I was trying to make a schedule and I was thinking I could do something like this:

Monday:

Work 10-3
HIS 367: 4:35-6:00
{PT: 7:00- 8:00}
Library 9-12

Tuesday:

TCH 301: 10-12
HIS 310: 1:50-3:15
{PT 4:00-5:00}
PSY 302: 6:10-9:00
Library: 10-1

Wednesday:

TOUR: 11 am
SOC 209: 1:20-4:20
HIS 367: 4:35-6:00
Library: 7-12

Thursday:
TCH 301: 10-12
HIS 310: 1:50- 3:15
Work: 3:45- 6:30
{PT: 7:30-8:30}
Library: 9-1

Friday

Work: 10-6:30
Library: 7-10

Saturday:

Library: 1-5

Sunday:
Library: 4-10

Most pledge activities happen at night, (it is not 100% that I WILL be pledging due to my injury.) I am a night owl, and I tend to be at the library way into the wee hours of the night ( during finals week it was 24 hours and I spent 8+ hours daily in the library and often left between 2 and 4 am.). Maybe I should ask how long pledge activities actually last; that would help me organize my time better.

Last semester I worked 25 hours, 16 credits, 3 clubs, sorority meetings, and countless doc appointments so I think I may be freaking out for no reason.

Thank you for all of the suggestions; I’ll be taking bits and pieces from each of your suggestions :slight_smile:

7

I suggest you don’t do much of the reading for sociology, psychology, and history.

That will save you a lot of time.

8

@soccerguy315‌ so none of my classes? Fabulous suggestion thanks…

9

It looks like you have a pretty good grasp of what to do.

But what about eating? Make sure you have time to make it to the cafeteria or your apartment or wherever. Also, Friday with only a half hour between working and studying might be hard… what if you want to go out on Friday instead of Saturday? Allow for that flexibility.

Also, as one who is fond of making meticulous schedules myself, I have to say be wary not to get too tangled up in them. There are going to be days where you absolutely do not want to study and so will not study, and so you will then have to work twice as hard the next day. Also, there might be a time where you get sick and just need to sleep, so it all might not go according to your schedule. Don’t let that freak you out or make you feel like you failed. Just focus on getting the work done as quickly and effectively as possible.

Additionally, you’ll be able to find out which classes require less work. I know this isn’t the kind of advice I should be advocating, but one of those courses might have dreadfully easy expectations and you might be able to not do some readings. I’ve done it before; I’m sure we all have when under a crunch. Gauge it out and adjust as necessary. Why do all the reading if your profs tests are just off their lecture? At the very least, you’ll be able to identify which classes get top priority and which get lowest, which helps when you don’t have a lot of time to do things.

Good luck!

10

Physical therapy will also mean doing exercises at home. Therapy won’t work otherwise. That can be another hour/a day. Is your injury impacting schedule in other ways right now? Does it take longer to walk places, or longer to type, for instance?

I strongly believe you are overcommitted. I understand that there are financial considerations. But going to college this way is going to cost you somehow.

If you are going to be ruthless with yourself and live like this, at least don’t pledge.

Working low pay jobs in order to support a college course that might lead to higher paying jobs can be counter-productive. Focus on long term financial self-sufficiency if you can. Can you cut expenses at all in order to reduce work? Can you take on loans for your last two years? I would usually not recommend loans but going to college with a plan to skip readings to save time for work seems backwards.

Basically, sorry, it is hard to respond to your question about scheduling without commenting on the basic premise.

11

@compmom don’t apologize!

The injury that I have is a torn tendon. Currently I’m in a cast but will be in a walking boot once its off. I spent the last 2 months this of the semester in the boot and it hasn’t impacted me, when its nice I walk otherwise I was driving to class.

I already have a good amount of loans. The working is more for books and just stuff that I need while I’m away. Like food, gas, car repairs, and anything that I may want as well as my doctors appointments and physical therapy.

The idea of not working is hard for me to wrap my mind around, I’ve been actively working at a daycare since the moment I hit 16. I could leave the tour guide position, or not take on hours during the week as I do think it is a valuable experience to put on my resume due to leadership (over the summer I am applying to be a welcome week leader for the freshman).

I don’t know if that’s how my post came off but I would never sacrifice my grades for my job. This past semester I cut back my 4 day week to 2-3 max. Like this semester, last semester I had a day where my first class wasn’t until 430, so naturally I worked at the time before then, but within the first 3 weeks I cut back due to realizing that I needed the extra time. I have a good scholarship and I wouldn’t put that on the line.

I also know for this specific organization, you cannot cross unless you have above a 3.0 and although that’s below my personal standards, having that motivation will push me to keep my grades up; this org also has the highest GPA on campus at a 3.5. My biggest fear about not pledging this semester if that if its not now it won’t ever happen to me and this orgs philanthropy and the networking possibilities will really open up a lot of doors to opportunities that I would be unable to do on my own. For example, this past year the chapter had a conference in Washington DC about education where there were “pioneers” so to say of the field.

They also run multiple programs which help minority, at risk girls access the resources needed to continue onto higher education. Which is literally right on par with one of my personal lifelong goals.

My GPA over my semesters is just below a 3.7 which I am very happy with; and I have done 27 hours a week in the past. I do think I might be overreacting, over thinking and over extending myself a bit. I’ll look where it would make sense for me personally, to cut back.

12

You sound like an amazing young person. You have managed a lot all at once. However, I am glad that you do cut your hours. Pledging does sound like it could bring rewards but then maybe you need to somehow switch out the hours for that with hours spent working. Day care work is very low paid. Can you work in the summers at something with better pay, to help avoid so much work during the year? Please understand I greatly respect what you have done already it is just all a little concerning to a parent reading about it.

13

it was somewhat sarcastic suggestion. You seem like you are in fine shape, honestly. That said, sometimes you can’t do all the reading. I recently was in a position at work where I was responsible for 500+ pages of new material per day on a wide variety of countries around the world. Not physically possible to read it all.

It looks like you have ~8 hours of school/work per day. That leaves you the evenings to do studying + other stuff. Should be plenty of time if you use your time outside of school/work productively. For instance, there isn’t time to throw in 3 hours of video games every day, but there should be time to do everything you want to do. But you will be busy.

14

One minor point here…On Thursday you have class until 3:50 and then work at 4. Is ten minutes enough to get ready for work and get there on time?

There’s really no “secret” to creating a schedule aside from trial and error. Personally, I like to set up an Excel spreadsheet. The top row has the days of the week and the first column has times marked off in one hour increments. Google Calendars works very well for this too (plus you can schedule to quarter hours and such more easily).

First, get your classes down on the schedule. Your classes are the foundation of your schedule. Short of dropping a class and adding a different one, the schedule can’t change.

Next, get your work schedule down. If there are time conflicts with your classes, discuss things with your boss. Most of the time, employers will be willing to work around the schedule of a college student.

Finally, get the ‘extra’ stuff in there, i.e. personal things like the physical therapy and such. With some careful planning, you’ll be able to fit everything into a schedule and still leave some extra personal time.

15

@comfortablycurt‌

In the first schedule I posted I made a mistake on my thursday class! I actually get out at 3:15. Truthfully I could probably do 3:30- Work is 2 minutes away!

And yes! I LOVE google lol, it’s my lifeline :slight_smile:

@soccerguy315 I caught the sarcasm lol, tbh I thought you were just being rude! But I know about the readings… every semester I waste money buying books and we use very few pages…

16

Ahh, I see. I missed the clarification. Thanks.

Google Calendars is wonderful. I have it synced to the calendar on my phone too, so I have my schedule handy at all times. I’ve even taken the extra step and scheduled in study time and things like that. It’s a great tool for staying organized.

17

Hi OP,

Given the language you used in your post (“cross”, plus the fact that you are pursuing a specific organization rather than speaking more generally about Rush), I’m guessing - perhaps incorrectly - that you wish to pursue an NPHC sorority.

Pledging an NPHC sorority takes a lot of time. Like, seriously…a LOT of time. I have lots of friends in NPHC sororities, and the general consensus is that grades sometimes drop precipitously in the semester in which one crosses. They have a high overall GPA not because the sorority helps you keep it, but because they select for girls who already have high GPAs. 3.0 is a floor minimum, and a lot of chapters have higher internal minimums (whether that’s a required minimum or the unofficial minimum). I knew lots of girls who I hung out with who seemed to disappear off the face of the earth when they pledged. In fact, this was so well-known at my college that if you were friends with a young woman and suddenly you saw a lot less of her around a specific period of time, you knew that she was probably pledging. LOL.

If you really do want to join an NPHC sorority, certainly do NOT ask how long pledge activities last (that’s considered secret information; you are unlikely to get the answer that you ant unless you are really close to a current member anyway, and if you ask the wrong person that could lose you points when your application is considered). I will also say that sororities are a great way to network - but there are other great ways to network, too. I do not think that you will be absolutely missing out on opportunities that you would be unable to obtain in other ways. (E.g., there are lots of other ways to get to D.C. for legislative conferences; many social and professional organizations hold them. There are also many, many programs through which you can help minority and/or at risk girls go to college. I have done a LOT of this volunteer work, and I am not in a sorority.)

My original comment was going to be that ~20 hours a week plus 5 classes seems hectic but doable, assuming that you are sufficiently focused and don’t go out much. But with the complication of pledging…if you are really serious about it, I think you need to cut back your hours at work.

Unless your goal is an MBA, I don’t think that the tour guide position will be that meaningful. If you enjoy it you should hold onto it and perhaps cut hours back some other way.

18

@julliet it’s actually a nalfo org, I would never ask about how long it takes, I simply stated that I wish I knew. I know it is very time consuming as the process BEFORE you are even granted an application is crazy time consuming.

The tour is mostly an easy window for the summer position since that would be my first real leadership opportunity.

Unfortunately where my school is, it’s like super white, upper class well off communities so it’s difficult for me to have these opportunities unless It was through an organization.

Also my major (education, in case that wasn’t clear) doesn’t have professional organizations; whereas business for example does.