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Course: College admissions > Unit 1

Lesson 3: Access to college
Life skills
College admissions
Getting started
Access to college
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Student story: Overcoming time management obstacles to college

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This student talks about managing their time during the college application process. They struggled with balancing school, sports, and college applications. To overcome this, they dedicated 30 minutes daily to work on applications. They stayed focused and finished their applications on time.

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  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user Lupin Holmes
    Posted 9 years ago. Direct link to Lupin Holmes's post “Are there any tips on how...”
    Are there any tips on how to manage time if you're already in college?
    (6 votes)
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    • leaf red style avatar for user grahambgriffin
      Posted 9 years ago. Direct link to grahambgriffin's post “First of all, don't miss ...”
      Good Answer
      First of all, don't miss a single class. It might be very hard but that's literally what you're paying for. If you're gonna party/work/do your extracirricular, make sure it won't interfere with your classes (obviously). Nothing will suck more than going to bed at 4 am then going to an 8 am. Try to review your course content pretty often (daily is best), it's take a lot of time but mid-term/finals cramming does too.
      (16 votes)
  • female robot amelia style avatar for user Kylie Shelton
    Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to Kylie Shelton's post “What about time managemen...”
    What about time management for future college students that aren't in high school anymore? And have bills and work to worry about?
    (4 votes)
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    • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user favrielle1
      Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to favrielle1's post “Time management is especi...”
      Time management is especially important if you are working full time and responsible for your own support. The key is priorities... sit down and actually write out EVERYTHING you want to do (work, study, class, entertainment time, etc.) and the things that are essential (sleep, eating/cooking, etc.), along with how important they are to you (a 1-5 scale, for instance). Estimate how much time you spend or realistically need to spend on each one. If it adds up to more time than you have available, start eliminating the lower-priority items, or reduce the time you allot to them so that you have enough time for the more important things (work, class/study, etc.) It's possible you may have to let some things go, permanently or just temporarily while in school... as a friend of mine is fond of telling me, "you can have everything, you just can't have it all at the same time!"
      (8 votes)
  • leaf green style avatar for user Neficus
    Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to Neficus's post “Is the process of applyin...”
    Is the process of applying to various colleges an extremely stressful process?
    (4 votes)
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    • spunky sam blue style avatar for user CZ
      Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to CZ's post “Yes and no. It is tough t...”
      Yes and no. It is tough to write, accumulate, and send off all the application, but once they are sent off...it is in someone else's hands. So you can forget about it and wait for that letter to arrive.
      (7 votes)
  • leafers tree style avatar for user mlweese
    Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to mlweese's post “Are there any tips on how...”
    Are there any tips on how to manage time if you're already in college?
    (4 votes)
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  • mr pink red style avatar for user Islam
    Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Islam's post “is it only for foreign p...”
    is it only for foreign people?
    (2 votes)
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  • male robot johnny style avatar for user luiscolwell
    Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to luiscolwell's post “So what is the best way t...”
    So what is the best way to time manage your time in college if your 17 with your high school diploma?
    (3 votes)
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  • leaf blue style avatar for user Tyler
    Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Tyler's post “I need help trying to fig...”
    I need help trying to figure out how to manage my time because i get side tracked and busy and need help. i need help plz!
    (2 votes)
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    • female robot ada style avatar for user Katey Gordon
      Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Katey Gordon's post “Hi Tyler, Time Management...”
      Hi Tyler,
      Time Management is a great tool I learn in my Entrepreneur studies that being said you can have your time perfectly planned and then life decides to change those plans. The biggest thing is learning to prioritize the important tasks that need to be done this includes studies, family and self-care. On the scale due to health issues​ I still have troubles mastering time management but I get slowly better at this skill here is what I prioritize
      1. Self care -if you burnout you're not good to anyone else part of self care is learning for me my brain needs to exercise as well if I want to mature and grow
      2. Family- spending time with them is the most important thing of all for me

      I also due the tasks that require the most time first once it's checked off the list then the little tasks aren't so hard.
      Focus can be a difficult skill to have like you I have gotten side tracked as well but you can set small goals that lead up to the large task. For example break down your goals knowing you can commit to it take my goal I want to master mathematics but there are numerous videos on Khan Academy so instead I watched 5- 10 minutes of videos or complete on topic before I knew it I am leveling up. For me I also visualize​or day dream me completing the task and I had allot of goals reached and still managed to have many others.

      College Board offers the best tips to manage your time as a student you may find some tips that can help you.
      https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/inside-the-classroom/8-ways-to-take-control-of-your-time

      I hope this may help you should you have further questions I will be happy to help you.
      (4 votes)
  • primosaur ultimate style avatar for user JeremiahJTReed
    Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to JeremiahJTReed's post “I'm sorry, but this examp...”
    I'm sorry, but this example feels really petty...
    Most students (or people in general) who are concerned about time management aren't saying "oh I don't have time for applications, I want to watch a basketball game after I study!". They're more likely saying "I don't have time for applications, I have to go to work until 10PM and then try to cram an hour of studying in before I catch 6 hours of sleep before school."
    (3 votes)
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  • ohnoes default style avatar for user B
    Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to B's post “What if you have an issue...”
    What if you have an issue where there's just not enough TIME? I'm not a big social media person, so I don't have to worry much about little distractions. My problem is that I don't have enough time for the necessities: homework, eating, sleep, and showering. I often find myself getting less than 6 hours of sleep, I don't have time to shower during the week, and every time I take a break to eat, I feel guilty because that's one less thing I won't get done. I want to experience life and not just do homework all the time, and dedicating time to my hobby seems like an unachievable dream. Does anyone have any tips on how to handle this?
    (3 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user Jasmine Brooks
    Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Jasmine Brooks's post “whats the hardest part be...”
    whats the hardest part being in college and why ?
    (2 votes)
    Default Khan Academy avatar avatar for user

Video transcript

- So a big obstacle for me during my college application process was managing my time. You know, with school, it's very hard to manage it with sports, but add college applications to that pile, and it's going to be very difficult. So for me, what I focused on was taking at least 30 minutes out of my day to focus on my college applications. For instance, I had a big application due in October, and it was a big time for me for school and sports. It was playoffs for football, and it was mid-terms for school. So I had to focus at least 30 minutes on my college applications, and I began to nibble away at finishing them, and two days before, I was done. And I know for me, I was really distracted every single night with my iPad and my phone and stuff like that, because, you know, a Twitter update comes up, or something about my team, the Lakers, comes up, and I gotta go look at that. And it was difficult, but I was dedicated enough, and I was determined, and I eventually got the applications done in time, and I was a happy camper.