Your hardest semester courseload and GPA

[chillinillinkillin007]

what was your hardest semester courseload with EC's?

Don't pull any typical SDN comments. Just the truth

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[WedgeDawg]

Three regular classes (two science + foreign language), two lab classes, foreign language drills every morning before my first class, lead chemistry review sessions, fairly heavy research, and pledging a fraternity.

Result: 4.0

Apparently stress is a good motivator

 

[Hospitalized]

Apparently stress is a good motivator

It sure is.

My toughest quarter was 17 credits on a quarter with calc II, while helping my parents move out of their 30-year old house they built, and starting a new job. So much freaking stuff in that house. And all of that travel time. And the training process of a hospital job is ridiculous with JCAHO regulations.

 

[Fedekz]

In on subtle brag thread

 

[WedgeDawg]

In on not so subtle brag thread

Fixed

 

[Lamel]

-Accelerated Biochem
-Orgo Lab
-Upper Level Bio 1
-Upper Level Bio 2
-Writing

Took this with a lot of research and other activities, while interviewing for medical schools. It was really tough. Resulted in a ~3.6, mainly due to some generous curves.


Close runner up:

-Physics 2 + Lab
-Chem 2
-Upper Level Bio + Lab
-Stats
-Research, job, club w/leadership, volunteering

This one resulted in a 4.0 - probably the semester where I academically peaked (all downhill from there haha).

 

[Dr.Zoidberg]

My hardest semester

(Not a humble brag, just an account of really poor planning and estimation of time)

Courses (20 credits)
2 engineering courses (one w/ a lab)
1 science course (w/ lab)
1 english course (not my strongest subject)
Senior design (easily the hardest... )

Activities/Work
TA'ing 5-10 hours/week
Research 20 hours/week
Volunteer 2 hours once/week (non-clinical, honestly just a stress reliever)
President of an on-campus organization

Other
Having a girlfriend (usually a bad sign when she's on a list of "things to do")
Job applications/interviews for gap years
Family stuff...

I was literally scheduling showers, eating nothing but bagel bites, and sleeping 2-3 hours/night. I lost 25 lbs (which is bad for me), and my fraternity brothers called me "the most unhealthy human being on earth." I'd never do this again, and don't recommend it to anyone. Everything suffered except grades (because I knew they couldn't be fixed later, so I prioritized). I did bad research because experiments were poorly planned, nearly fell asleep TA'ing a few times, and had to temporarily step down as president of my organization for a few weeks (couldn't in good conscience keep that going). I took the bare minimum number of credits the next semester, switched to an easy tutoring job, and generally reconnected with friends I hadn't seen in months.

 

[EliottReid]

Seriously awful semester (very overwhelmed) but I was relieved when I saw my grades since I was waiting for a catastophe

Upper level bio class + lab
Physics I + lab
Ochem I + lab
Ecology + lab

TA ing + grading 10h/week
Job 10h/week
Volunteering 10h/week
Research 10h/week

GPA: 3.85

 

[RedPhys]

Hardest semester... 22 credits, six courses. 3.77 ... my GPA was in the hole so it was necessary, though.

My worst semester was below a 3.0

 

[asw98]

My hardest semester was 24 credits (junior fall). Nearly went mad by the end of the semester. I also had a lot of family issues and club commitments.

Physics I
Genetics
Microbiology
Biochemistry
Advanced Russian
An upper level English Course
3 credits of independent research
GPA: 4.13 (3 A+'s and 4 A's)

The only reason I took so many credits was because I had wanted to take a lot of upper level bio classes senior year, but I'm actually not taking any science classes in my last semester. Oops. Science classes have made me very jaded.

 

[mimelim]

I've forgotten the course numbers -.- oh well.

Orgo II + lab
Bio III + lab
Math 300 level (Diff Eq)
Physics 400 level (Mechanics)
Physics 400 level (E&M II)
Physics 500 level (Adv Physics of the Heart)
Japanese Civilization

Second semester Sophomore year, 23 credits.
GPA: 3.39 (I didn't bother weighing the classes, too lazy and redoing the calculation after like 10 years)

TAing intro Physics (~10 hours/week)
Research (15-20 hours/week)

Kinda have a low tolerance for people saying that they did poorly in Orgo because they took too hard of a semester.

 

[AspiringERMD]

One semester I started with 18 credits but received one W as I dropped to 15 due to the stress... I would go to school Monday through Friday, and Friday afternoon I would get in the car after Linear Algebra and drive 5.5 hours (often through snow) two states away to rehearse and/or compete for the rest of the evening through early Sunday afternoon or later if we had a Sunday competition, then drive back 5.5 hours in time to get to bed on Sunday night.

If it had been the ensemble I joined the year after that, it would have been 100% worth it, but for that particular ensemble, I wouldn't do it again.

Result: 4.0 (with one W)

 

[jbuc1081]

I had had one semester that was awful.

Spring 2013:
1. Bio Chem 1
2. Bio Chem 2
3. Cell Bio
4. Cell Bio research over p53 (these were two separate classes)
5. Animal Behavior
6. Bio psychology
7. Studying for the MCAT.

Result: 4.0 and and a bad MCAT score. I did get food poisoning the night before the MCAT, but something had to give that semester. I took it again, did better, and now I'm accepted into a school.

 

[chillinillinkillin007]

I've forgotten the course numbers -.- oh well.

Orgo II + lab
Bio III + lab
Math 300 level (Diff Eq)
Physics 400 level (Mechanics)
Physics 400 level (E&M II)
Physics 500 level (Adv Physics of the Heart)
Japanese Civilization

Second semester Sophomore year, 23 credits.
GPA: 3.39 (I didn't bother weighing the classes, too lazy and redoing the calculation after like 10 years)

TAing intro Physics (~10 hours/week)
Research (15-20 hours/week)

Kinda have a low tolerance for people saying that they did poorly in Orgo because they took too hard of a semester.

your a prime example why courseload matters man. 3.4 gpa and what a 39 mcat? and all interviews? talk about balling

 

[Time Table]

Terrible planning by me, but:

1) Physics 2 w/lab
2) Orgo 2 w/lab
3) Bio 2 w/lab
4) Intro to Econ
5) 9 hours of research

22 credits, 3.65. I got in way over my head with this semester. Definitely don't want to do it again considering the lack of going back home to see my parents. Lesson learned: Don't take three labs in a semester, kids.

 

[Miss_Premed]

Fall semester of this year was actually my most difficult!

1. Microbiology
2. Biochemistry
3. Orgo 1
2. Physics 2 with lab
4. Honors biochem seminar
5. Honors current events seminar

ECs
1. Volunteering at a hospital ER
2. Volunteering at a soup kitchen
3. Academic honesty board

Life
1. Being a mother + spouse = no free time

As others have said stress is a motivator for me it was my best semester academically at a 4.0

 

[Donthangme]

I'm still not used to people calling organic chemistry "orgo" which sounds like a planet or a worm.
analytical chemistry=anol/anal?(though this kinda does make sense)
physical chemistry=physo/pico?
general chemistry=geno?
inorganic chemistry=ingo?
Why can't people just say a-chem, o-chem, p-chem, g-chem, and i-chem which makes so much more sense?

Hardest semster:
Ochem 2 and lab
Anatomy and Physiology 1 and lab
Microbiology 1 and lab
Neuroscience
Intermediate French
Research 8+ hours/week

Yeah that semester was so stressful, really don't want to do that again, did end up with a 3.8 approximately a very very generous curve in Anatomy (70 average to A minus)

 

[Theafoni]

I had to work 48 hrs/wk (weekends included) my first semester of freshman year, I managed to get a 4.0, although the classes I took were just Gen Bio, Gen chem, intro to sociology, and philosophy. I think the job was good for me, it really made me learn to plan and prioritize early on.

 

[Chemistry>Physics]

Fall semester of this year was actually my most difficult!

1. Microbiology
2. Biochemistry
3. Orgo 1
2. Physics 2 with lab
4. Honors biochem seminar
5. Honors current events seminar

ECs
1. Volunteering at a hospital ER
2. Volunteering at a soup kitchen
3. Academic honesty board

Life
1. Being a mother + spouse = no free time

As others have said stress is a motivator for me it was my best semester academically at a 4.0

Inspiring

 

[Noctámbulo]

1) Biology IV
2) Biochemistry
3) Physiology (+ lab)
4) Human Anatomy
5) Upper-level Neuroscience
6) Spanish
7) Italian
8) Graduate research seminar

ECs:
Research (~20 hrs/week), volunteering at the hospital, TA, president of 2 student orgs, student rep. on university advisory committees

25 credits, junior year; GPA: 3.95


Wanted to see if I could handle it. Ended up being my most rewarding semester to date, in terms of intellectual challenge, course content, what I was doing outside of class time, and above all, a good lesson on stress management.

 

[cryhavoc]

Eh, not exactly inspiring, didn't get a 4.00. But:

14 credits. (Physics 2, Ochem 2 Lab, Physics Lab, some 1000 level non-science classes. With labs and recitations I was technically in class 21 hours a week.)

8 hours of volunteering a week, 20 hours a week of working at a lab (part-time job). I also did some tutoring. Worked out for an hour in the morning every day.

Got a 3.72 that semester (11 credits of A's, 3 credits of B minus). I was proud of me haha.

 

[ski89]

This semester was my hardest. Took 8 credits to graduate, pass/fail. While working full time and waiting to hear back for MS interviews. Procrastination was in full effect. I felt much less stressed in previous semesters taking 17 credits + part time work + research + family + volunteer -- in those semesters I had the eye of the tiger!!


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Dr Van Helsing]

I've forgotten the course numbers -.- oh well.

Orgo II + lab
Bio III + lab
Math 300 level (Diff Eq)
Physics 400 level (Mechanics)
Physics 400 level (E&M II)
Physics 500 level (Adv Physics of the Heart)
Japanese Civilization

Second semester Sophomore year, 23 credits.
GPA: 3.39 (I didn't bother weighing the classes, too lazy and redoing the calculation after like 10 years)

TAing intro Physics (~10 hours/week)
Research (15-20 hours/week)

Kinda have a low tolerance for people saying that they did poorly in Orgo because they took too hard of a semester.

Boss.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Spring of 2011 Quarter. I was a sophomore. Definitely didn't know how to study back then - my GPA didn't drop below 3.7 after this quarter.

I took:
Orgo 3 Honors (B+)
Orgo Lab (B+)
Upper-level French Grammar class (A)
Upper-level Molecular Genetics course (C+)
Physics (A-)

Ended with a quarter GPA of 3.37. Not pretty at all. I was working ~15 hours a week as a lab tech, finishing up my pledging for my Fraternity, singing with an a capella group and volunteering at an after-school program. I can just remember leaving the final of the Molgen course giving zero ****s about my grade, just being glad that it was over.

 

[DrHart]

O Chem II Lecture - 4 Hours: B
O Chem II Lab - 2 Hours: B+
General Microbio - 5 Hours: A-
Social Psychology Writing - 3 Hours: A-
Spanish Reading Composition - 3 Hours: A-
Total: 17 Hours, Semester GPA: 3.488
Had some club leadership involvement on the side. Although after this semester I decided that I wouldn't take more than 15 hours again. I'm not as hardcore as some of these SDNers

 

[masaraksh]

Automotive Appreciation II
Indoor Hiking + Outdoor Lab Component
Wine Tasting
Physical Chemistry of Brewing
Intro History of Swiss Watches
Basket Weaving

ECs
parties 4-6 nights/wk
golf
skiing
weekend trips abroad (generally every couple weeks)

result: 4.0

 

[alpinism]

8 week summer semester (courses at 2 different schools - small private and an Ivy)

-Gross Anatomy - 6
-Neurobiology - 4
-Genetics - 3
-Drug metabolism - 3
-Physician and society - 2

18 credits + 12/hrs a week of research and volunteering.

ended up with a 3.9 GPA

 

[chillinillinkillin007]

ECs
parties 4-6 nights/wk
golf
skiing
weekend trips abroad (generally every couple weeks)

result: 4.0

damn your cool

 

[Miss_Premed]

Inspiring

Ha! Well thanks I guess! It was quite a bit of luck in the end! I was anticipating more like a 3.7 but I rode a few favorable curves to a 4.0.

 

[Banco]

Some of these are pretty crazy.

 

[Pusheen]

Freshman spring, 22 units including an time consuming EMT class twice a week at a different school with lots of training hours in a hospital.
Plus, gen chem 2 plus lab
Calc 2
Swimming
8 units of GE

GPA, 3.64.

In retrospect, I really wished I had just not done EMT and instead focused on my university science classes..I got a B in both. Now I have to raise my science GPA with stuff like Pchem and Biochem

 

[ConsultantMD]

Oooh, a contest... My hardest quarter (we did quarters not semesters) was the last fall quarter I had senior year. We didn't have credits, all classes counted the same except a couple. This quarter was fun, but hectic as it was my last year and things were wrapping up.

*Medical Anthropology
*Quantum Mechanics (had zero idea of what was going on in this class)
*Spanish Colonial Literature (in Spanish, lot of papers)
*Human Sexuality (best class ever)
*Public Policy Economics
*Public Health Challenges
*Biostatistics
*Latin Literature (in Latin, not Spanish)
*Concert Band (1/2 a class)
*Chemistry Research Independent Study (published article from summer research)

I took these 10 classes on top of captaining my varsity sport, serving as a volunteer coordinator for my school at a local hospital, and finding a full time job consulting before the end of the quarter. I think I ended up with a 3.6 somehow.

Close second would be the quarter where I had:
*Orgo 1 (+lab)
*Physics 1 (+lab)
*Thermodynamics (+lab)
*Spanish Literature 2
*Microeconomics
*Religion course about the Bible

This quarter was a disaster since it was also in the fall during my sport season.

 

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Perfect examples of how heavy courseload =/= poor grades. A typical college workload is not demanding enough that you will actually run out of time trying to get it all done (this coming from a pre-med engineer).

However, those with heavy time commitments (30+ hours/week) along with class tend let a few things go (MCAT, ECs suffered, research suffered, etc...). Being intensely busy with a few things is so good for you in terms of organizing your time, but trying to juggle too many unrelated things will always leave one or two things straggling behind.

I think this is why pre-meds are so poor with time-management and always feel cluttered and stressed. Sure, med school will be harder, and we will work longer hours, but from what I hear it's less of a clusterf*ck. Any current med students know if this is the case? I love working ~60 hours/week at my current job because it's focused and interesting work, but I hated pretty much everything aside from research in undergrad. Is it possible that it's more work but more enjoyable, or am I being overly optimistic?

 

[Pusheen]

Perfect examples of how heavy courseload =/= poor grades. A typical college workload is not demanding enough that you will actually run out of time trying to get it all done (this coming from a pre-med engineer).

Eh, you can't really say that for sure. It really depends on the class. Some classes at my school are notoriously difficult (~20 hours to complete an assignment, teacher who uses grad-level textbooks, ect, ect). It is literally impossible to get an A in the context of a regular courseload, e.g. 16-18 units and say, 10 hours a week at a part time job.

It really depends on the particulars of the given classes.

 

[DrShephardWannabe]

This semester, by far. I can't imagine one beating it even though I'm still early in my undergrad.
Only 13 credit hours-
Ochem 1
Calc 2
American Lit (The killer, ~5 hours of reading assigned every class. That's just the reading not even studying anything he wanted us to)
Bio 2

EC's:
Pledging a Fraternity (~50 hours a week on average, sometimes more. I calculated)
15 Hours a week of service events (Sometimes more)
Event coordinator for pre-med society.

I also got so sick for about 2 weeks I missed 95% of my classes. Pneumonia on top of sinus infections and two eye infections. It was hell, and I had solid high B's/low A's until that point. Bombed the third round of midterms, leaving me stuck looking at a 3.0 with all B's. But it didn't end there, I had made an 83/89 on my two Calc 2 exams and a 99 in calc 1, so I felt prepared walking into the calc 2 final. Turns out, class average was a 58. I made a 60 and it brought me from an 86 to a 79 in calc 2 leaving me with a 2.7. Tears rolled that day.

Also pledging a fraternity at universities like mine isn't just a full time job, it's a lifestyle change. I had to write several hundred pages of essays over topics like brotherhood and responsibility, mandatory service events, mandatory meetings, mandatory "study hours" that just consist of our officers going over fraternity related things and not letting us study, mandatory tests that we had to score certain benchmarks on to be initiated, even about 75% of our social events were mandatory during pledgeship, taking even more time. I could go on and on

 

[Dr.Zoidberg]

Eh, you can't really say that for sure. It really depends on the class. Some classes at my school are notoriously difficult (~20 hours to complete an assignment, teacher who uses grad-level textbooks, ect, ect). It is literally impossible to get an A in the context of a regular courseload, e.g. 16-18 units and say, 10 hours a week at a part time job.

Well... obviously I disagree, but hey I only know one school and one major. I was in a major known for being a GPA killer and very time intensive (engineering, I frequently had 20 hour/week assignments), but other than that semester, I rarely felt rushed for time. I worked 10 hours/week and 20 hours/week in research. More often, I find that college students, because of their many small commitments pulling them from every limb, have atrocious time management. I don't think long assignments or grad-level textbooks should keep anyone from getting an A.

Then again, I'm one of those who absolutely refused to go to class if it wasn't mandatory, and I rarely sleep more than 6 hours/night, so I was undoubtedly picking up extra hours that way. Still, there are 168 hours/week, 112 after (normal) sleep, and at least 95 after eating/hygiene/bills/travel, and those are generous estimates. If you need more than 90 hours to complete a typical college semester, you were never going to get an A in that class, regardless of time.

Pledging a Fraternity (~50 hours a week on average, sometimes more. I calculated)
[...]
Also pledging a fraternity at universities like mine isn't just a full time job, it's a lifestyle change. I had to write several hundred pages of essays over topics like brotherhood and responsibility, mandatory service events, mandatory meetings, mandatory "study hours" that just consist of our officers going over fraternity related things and not letting us study, mandatory tests that we had to score certain benchmarks on to be initiated, even about 75% of our social events were mandatory during pledgeship, taking even more time. I could go on and on

I feel you. Pledging was easily the single biggest time suck of college. It's not just the time they take up with useless "study hours" and fraternity exams and randomly being woken up at all hours of the night, it's also the time you spend recovering from the drinking at the "mandatory" social events. Like, how am I supposed to get anything done if you make me get drunk at 4 pm on a Tuesday? Just make the semester an anomaly man.

 

[Pusheen]

Well... obviously I disagree, but hey I only know one school and one major. I was in a major known for being a GPA killer and very time intensive (engineering, I frequently had 20 hour/week assignments), but other than that semester, I rarely felt rushed for time. I worked 10 hours/week and 20 hours/week in research. More often, I find that college students, because of their many small commitments pulling them from every limb, have atrocious time management. I don't think long assignments or grad-level textbooks should keep anyone from getting an A.

Then again, I'm one of those who absolutely refused to go to class if it wasn't mandatory, and I rarely sleep more than 6 hours/night, so I was undoubtedly picking up extra hours that way. Still, there are 168 hours/week, 112 after (normal) sleep, and at least 95 after eating/hygiene/bills/travel, and those are generous estimates. If you need more than 90 hours to complete a typical college semester, you were never going to get an A in that class, regardless of time.


I feel you. Pledging was easily the single biggest time suck of college. It's not just the time they take up with useless "study hours" and fraternity exams and randomly being woken up at all hours of the night, it's also the time you spend recovering from the drinking at the "mandatory" social events. Like, how am I supposed to get anything done if you make me get drunk at 4 pm on a Tuesday? Just make the semester an anomaly man.

That's an interesting breakdown. I mean I would say you need significantly more than 20 hours a week to eat/get groceries/commute/clean your house/do laundry/make food/shower/live a normal human life. plus some minimal amount of socialization/interaction with others.

Anyway, respect to you if you can do the things you mentioned. And yeah, most of my friends are engineering majors, and I'm a similar major, it's pretty intense.

 

[Dr.Zoidberg]

That's an interesting breakdown. I mean I would say you need significantly more than 20 hours a week to eat/get groceries/commute/clean your house/do laundry/make food/shower/live a normal human life. plus some minimal amount of socialization/interaction with others.

Anyway, respect to you if you can do the things you mentioned. And yeah, most of my friends are engineering majors, and I'm a similar major, it's pretty intense.

Really, you take more than 20 hours/week to eat/grocery shop/do non-social things?

Laundry: 2 hours every two weeks, most of it is waiting time when you can be working.
Grocery shopping: make a list, get in and out in 30 minutes, 1 hour with commute.
Pay bills: auto pay.
Clean your house: 20 minutes/day every day.
Eat: No, you don't have time for a well-seasoned pork roast, but making a turkey sandwich takes about 2 minutes. Travel: normal person walks 2 hours/day, that's 14 hours/week.
Hygiene: About 30 minutes/day. That's about 20 hours/week.

You know what takes a lot of time? Getting up off the couch, sleeping in, watching TV, browsing the internet (I'm guilty here), you get the idea.

Try this, tonight or maybe on Sunday make a list of all the things you want to get done and schedule them into your day. Then wake up at 8 am, get out the door by 8:30 (even if you could get it done at home, it's important to leave FIRST), and start plowing through the list. Don't let yourself get off task. If you do, get up and take a walk to reset. Take care of the little/easy things first, and do them efficiently. Then move on to the bigger things. You'll probably find yourself done by 4 pm most days. If you do this everyday (and I really couldn't aside from that one semester) you'll have more time to socialize and you'll be more stress free than you've been your entire life. Keep in mind, this is how many of the most successful people in the world operate, especially in fields not requiring "genius," (but rather hardwork). Early risers and task-oriented people just accomplish more with their time. Now time for me to get off SDN and start living up to that rant...

 

[VlLLVGE]

INORGANIC CHEMISTRY I
CHEM 331 PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY I
CHEM 336L APPL PHYS CHEM LAB
CHEM 362 BIOCHEMISTRY II
CHEM 366L BIOCHEMISTRY LAB
CHEM 499B HONORS (2 credits of thesis research, 10hr/wk)
ISAT 451 BIOTECH INDUSTRY & AGRI
PHYS 150 COLLEGE PHYSICS II
PHYS 150L GENERAL PHYSICS LAB II

21 credits following my (admittedly late, second semester junior year) plunge into adding chemistry as a second major.

GPA: 3.49

I actually missed dean's list with 21 credits of chem/physics by 0.01, was pretty bummed but glad Pchem was over for the summer.

edit: also Pchem 1 lab got bumped-up to 2 credits over 1 credit following my class' completion. Which, if it had been 2 credits when I took it, would have made my GPA above the cut-off for dean's list. It's easier to laugh about it now that it's been a couple years.

 

[Pusheen]

Really, you take more than 20 hours/week to eat/grocery shop/do non-social things?

Laundry: 2 hours every two weeks, most of it is waiting time when you can be working.
Grocery shopping: make a list, get in and out in 30 minutes, 1 hour with commute.
Pay bills: auto pay.
Clean your house: 20 minutes/day every day.
Eat: No, you don't have time for a well-seasoned pork roast, but making a turkey sandwich takes about 2 minutes. Travel: normal person walks 2 hours/day, that's 14 hours/week.
Hygiene: About 30 minutes/day. That's about 20 hours/week.

You know what takes a lot of time? Getting up off the couch, sleeping in, watching TV, browsing the internet (I'm guilty here), you get the idea.

Try this, tonight or maybe on Sunday make a list of all the things you want to get done and schedule them into your day. Then wake up at 8 am, get out the door by 8:30 (even if you could get it done at home, it's important to leave FIRST), and start plowing through the list. Don't let yourself get off task. If you do, get up and take a walk to reset. Take care of the little/easy things first, and do them efficiently. Then move on to the bigger things. You'll probably find yourself done by 4 pm most days. If you do this everyday (and I really couldn't aside from that one semester) you'll have more time to socialize and you'll be more stress free than you've been your entire life. Keep in mind, this is how many of the most successful people in the world operate, especially in fields not requiring "genius," (but rather hardwork). Early risers and task-oriented people just accomplish more with their time. Now time for me to get off SDN and start living up to that rant...

I'd do like an hour a day for hygeine/makeup/fixing hair, but then I'm a girl so theres more involved
And it takes more time than 20 minutes a day to do dishes, clean up counters, sweep, put away clothes, and so forth
And not everyone can subsist on 2 minute sandwiches for every meal for long.

But in your defense, those are more lifestyle choices. I suppose if you lived the more minimalist lifestyle you described then it's possible.

 

[Dr.Zoidberg]

I'd do like an hour a day for hygeine/makeup/fixing hair, but then I'm a girl so theres more involved
And it takes more time than 20 minutes a day to do dishes, clean up counters, sweep, put away clothes, and so forth
And not everyone can subsist on 2 minute sandwiches for every meal for long.

But in your defense, those are more lifestyle choices. I suppose if you lived the more minimalist lifestyle you described then it's possible.

Okay, but still... let's say you take 1 hour for hygiene/makeup, 1 hour for eating, 1 hour for cleaning, 2 hours for traveling, and 8 hours for sleep. That still leaves 11 hours/day to get work done. That's ~80 hours/week to do your work, and that's giving very generous amounts of time to do all of the necessities. You should be able to get done all but the most grueling college schedules with plenty of time to socialize. The problem here is inefficiency. I'm not trying ride some sort of high horse here. I do it too! There were times when I would be taking just 16 credits and think, "there is no possible way to get this all done," but then I'd look back on the past week and realize I spent Saturday morning hungover, Tuesday afternoon trying to bake a lasagna, Wednesday night binge watching Netflix for 4 hours, etc... It wasn't until I had to get it all done that I cleaned up the inefficiencies. (My understanding is that most people make a similar transition in medical school).

I think the point here is that time is still the limiting factor, but you have more of it than you realize. Don't waste it doing things that don't contribute to your overall life happiness, and we're all guilty of doing that.