Time management advice for college?

I’m going to be a freshman this year and I can’t figure out how I’m going to manage my time. I want to have a fun college experience and make friends, but obviously I also need to find the time to work and study. I’ll be doing 18 credit hours. I also have a spot on my schools dance team, and I didn’t realize how big of a time commitment it was going to be. I’m scared I might not be able to get a job if I do it, because there are also tons of practices and games that I’ll have to be attending for that. I’m not sure if I should quit though, because I love doing it. I was also offered two different off campus jobs, and I have an interview for an on campus job, and all of them are related to my major so I don’t know how I’ll choose between them or if I’ll even have time for any of them. I have to work to afford tuition though. I also would like to join clubs or a sorority, but don’t know if I’ll have time for that either. I have no idea what to do. I guess basically my problem is that there’s so much that I want to do this year and no way that I can do all of it. How am I supposed to decide what to do? What’s the most important? How do people actually manage their time in college?

Given how busy you will be with dance, hopefully your job will only be for 10 hours a week or less.
One suggestion for managing your time is to not go back to your dorm or home between each class. Make a habit of going somewhere to study or do homework.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/253203.How_to_Become_a_Straight_A_Student

Great book on time management. Drop something if this is your first semester. Maybe get just take 12-15 credits your first semester. Ease into it or you will burn out quickly. Don’t do too many extra things first semester. Many students GPA drop a whole grade first semester. Are you OK with that?

Thanks! I’m okay with my GPA dropping a little my first semester. Most of my classes are back to back so I don’t think I’ll be going back to my dorm in between them. But none of the jobs I’ve found are less than 10 hours a week.

College is about many things both in and out of the classroom. Learning comes from the entire experience, including how to manage time. First semester is pretty key on transitioning from HS, making friends, getting acclimated and learning how to be successful.

Normally, I’m a huge structure person. Get a planner, plot out your time, treat it like a job, etc. That’s important, however one of the things you need to make time for is randomly socializing with people (sometimes it will happen during the day, sometimes at night). So you don’t want to be so structured immediately that you don’t make time to “hang out” and get to know a bunch of people. I think that’s really important first semester as it will set the tone for awhile.

Once acclimated, with friends and activities, structure will help. The more you do, the more structure required. Staying on campus in between classes and knocking out an hour of reading here and there definitely saves you time. If you’re in to exercise, I highly recommend scheduling that as it will get easy to never get to the gym or go for that run. On the other hand, it’s a great bonding activity. Maybe find a group to do regularly scheduled workouts.

You’ll do great. Have a blast!