Finding Time

[allieoop2714]

Hi all,

So today I realized I may be piling too much on myself, and I was looking for some advice about all of this. I'm a junior in my undergrad, but I will be graduating a semester early (next December). I'm also in the honors program at my university. I started shadowing at a small animal clinic over the summer, and I did a bit of volunteering at shelters here and there (had a problem finding places that had times that worked for me / was trying to find a job at the same time).

Anyway, I'm a few weeks into this year, and I'm finding myself wishing there were about 500 more hours in a week. Most of my days go until 3 or 4pm class-wise. On Mondays and Wednesdays I'm planning on shadowing after my classes at a small animal clinic. I'm also planning on volunteering at horse sanctuary on Saturdays, and I have a large animal vet that I will hopefully be shadowing too. I'm also doing research this semester on birds, and I have a course load of 19 credits. I'll be starting my thesis next spring, and hopefully I'll be taking the GRE next spring or early next summer.

So basically I'm just looking to talk to someone who has tried to fit in shadowing, research, getting a 4.0, and still finding time to relax and not explode I've never doubted that being a veterinarian is what I want, but right now I'm just wondering how I can get myself to balance all of the pre-vet things and school. Any advice would be appreciated because right now, majoring in communications is looking pretty good

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[psilovethomas]

How many shadowing hours do you have? Depending on your answer, you may not have to spend so much time doing that. 19 credits is a lot for one semester, especially for an undergrad. You don't have to get a 4.0. I used to be that way and would drive myself crazy trying to get a 4.0. I never once had a 4.0 semester, and still got into vet school. So unless it's a personal goal, I wouldn't worry about keeping your GPA that high for vet school. >3.6 is great.
Everyone is different and copes with the stress of school differently. I once took 17 credits, worked 15 hours/week, and drove an hour every Friday to spend the weekend with my significant other. I kept myself organized by prioritizing my classes. After I figured out what classes needed the most time and effort, I made a schedule of how to divide my free time for classes. I didn't do school work on the weekends, so my free time was during the week. Make sure you know when all your exams are and study as you go so you don't find yourself cramming for an exam for once class and trying to complete assignments for another class. It's a balancing act.

 

[wolfspeaker]

Yup, that's too much on your plate, IMO. It would be for me! I would cut it down to at least 1x small animal shadowing(is this for like 4 or so hours? you never said how long). Maybe do the volunteer horse thing every other saturday or once a month? You HAVE to schedule in study time before you fill in volunteer/shadow time. You can always make up shadowing/volunteering, but you cannot easily increase your bad grades. You could divide your year, first half shadow small animal, second half shadow large animal(1x per week). Or maybe focus on school/research now, and do most of your shadowing in the summer.

Are you still planning on trying to fit a part-time job in there?

 

[zanydogz]

I agree with what has been said so far. You don't want to spread yourself too thin and not have time to study. I don't know how many hours you have right now, but you may also want to think about this: For winter break, students generally get 3-4 weeks off. That is prime time to be shadowng at a vet clinic maybe back home where you have no studying or homework to deal with. You also have the summer in 2013 before you apply (assuming you'll be applying in 2013). You can easily get hours during the longer breaks.

 

[allieoop2714]

Well, I only have about 70 hours of shadowing so far. I'm pretty sure that my shadowing this semester for the SA clinic would only be about 4 hours, but I'm counting on my research to count for hours too. It's not so much getting a 4.0 as it is just getting good grades. I'm already considering only doing the shadowing for the clinic on Wednesdays, but I'm concerned that by the time the next cycle rolls around, I'm not going to have a competitive application. I've read a lot of posts on here with people saying that your GPA is the most important thing, and I at least have mine at a 3.8 right now. Perhaps dividing my year up for the SA/LA thing would be helpful.. I never really thought of that!

 

[Fly Racing]

Consolation by commiseration: I have 21 credit hours, 18-20 hours/week at work (tech), and two horses to keep fit (one is for sale and other must stay in work to keep sound and sane). Work, school, horses and home are in a square all 30-50 minutes from each other...sigh! Relaxation time??? No, but some sdn time now and again :laughing: the worst part is I'm currently spending about $650 a month in diesel and it's killing my savings!

 

[485501]

Well, I agree with what everyone is saying: don't spread yourself too thin. I think that's the best advice.

That said, my sophomore, junior, and senior years at college were so busy that it became a joke among everyone I knew. I was taking full course loads plus courses for no credit to get around credit limits, volunteering, in the admin of a student organization, in shows, in a performance troupe, doing research, planning a research project that I eventually did after I graduated, and my bf and I both have health issues that take up a lot of time. I DIDN'T relax. What I did was completely collapse for a month after graduation. I mean, I litterally did nothing but read, cook, and eat for a month. I'm not saying it's the greatest idea - it really isn't - but you can not relax during college and still not explode. It's just really difficult and massively unpleasant.

 

[T_Rose]

Well, I agree with what everyone is saying: don't spread yourself too thin. I think that's the best advice.

That said, my sophomore, junior, and senior years at college were so busy that it became a joke among everyone I knew. I was taking full course loads plus courses for no credit to get around credit limits, volunteering, in the admin of a student organization, in shows, in a performance troupe, doing research, planning a research project that I eventually did after I graduated, and my bf and I both have health issues that take up a lot of time. I DIDN'T relax. What I did was completely collapse for a month after graduation. I mean, I litterally did nothing but read, cook, and eat for a month. I'm not saying it's the greatest idea - it really isn't - but you can not relax during college and still not explode. It's just really difficult and massively unpleasant.

You just summed up almost exactly why I haven't been on SDN for the past few weeks. I agree with everyone else, don't spread yourself too thin. For me, I'm having trouble focusing on my personal statement and supplemental applications because I'm too busy to have time to work on them. I haven't been getting much sleep, and I feel as if I haven't had any time to study for my courses. Don't take on too much! You need time to relax!

 

[allieoop2714]

Thanks everyone! I decided that I'm going to be doing research two mornings a week (and by morning, I mean literally 430am-830am).. and then I'll just be doing shadowing/volunteering on the weekends/breaks. I appreciate all the input!

 

[LetItSnow]

FWIW, I totally disagree with everyone.

I'm basically a slacker. If I can work a full-time job, take a couple classes per semester, spend time with my family, and build experience shadowing 1.5 days/week ... then anyone can.

I bet there's time in the day that you can convert to something more useful. Maybe yer watching tv, maybe yer hanging with friends, maybe ... whatever. But I bet there's time you just don't want to give up that you really could give up.

Just my opinion.

 

[allieoop2714]

Actually, there really hasn't been any time for me to just sit and relax recently. I'd rather not destroy my GPA and myself just to get a few hours in a week when I could wait until my life settles down a bit. I'm not a slacker or a procrastinator at all. In fact, I'm probably one of the most dedicated and determined people