Hi everyone!
I have many leadership roles outside of school that reflect my interest and likely major, CS. Because of the nature of my extracurriculars, I’ve learned to network with adults and company reps, and, more importantly, ‘give my sales pitch’ as a student, among other skills, but really, I love the impact I make in the community which is why I do it in the first place.
The drawback is that it really takes away from the time I spend studying. It’s not a question of time management. I’ve organized my schedule so I can have time to study, but I’m struggling to maintain my grades and I’m really worried. I feel like I’m taking away a lot of what I worked for. In addition to this, I spend a lot of my time taking care of my little sister.
So, I’m wondering, as a new school year with a much larger course load approaches, a few things:
- Should I make some sacrifices, and if so, how can I decide what to compromise?
- What do colleges value more: grades or extracurriculars?
- What has been your experience with extracurriculars in terms of getting into college and can you offer any advice to people that are highly engaged outside of school?
I’m sure there are others in similar situations, so on behalf of them, I’d love to hear anyone’s opinion! Thanks so much!
If anyone is wondering, this is a typical day:
6:00 - Reply to work-related emails, get ready for school
7:30 - 3:00- School (during lunch I usually study)
3:00 - 3:30- Do homework at school library
3:30 - 7:00- Work (30 min. commute)
7:00 - 8:00- Go home for homework (30 minutes by the time I get home)
8:00 - 9:00- Google Classroom with students (kids that I teach CS and math to)
9:00 - 10:30- Work on research projects
10:30 - 11:30- Do stuff for other extracurriculars (includes making calls, writing letters for sponsorship, organizing events)
11:30 - 2- Studying “for real”