Factors Influencing Time to Degree
We hope all of our students enjoy their college experience with as few troubling events as possible; however, we recognize that students may encounter personal/family issues, health problems, and other matters. If you meet difficulties and obstacles, you should schedule an appointment with your Arts and Sciences academic advisor and consider altering your degree plan.
Working
Being a full-time student is a demanding full-time job, and you may find it necessary to take lighter course loads in order to perform as well as you expect. This may prolong your graduation date. Students work for various reasons, including paying for college or for extra money. Balancing school and work is a delicate situation; thus, it is important to talk about timemanagement strategies and course loads with your Arts and Sciences academic advisor. If you must work, working on campus is strongly encouraged; an on-campus employer is more apt than an off-campus employer to see you as a student first. For a listing of on-campus job opportunities.
There are also scholarship opportunities available for which you may be eligible. This is another way to reduce the necessity of working in order to pay for school. For more information about scholarships.
Health
Health problems can affect a four-year graduation plan. Taking time off in order to attend to your health does not mean that you will not graduate in four years; however, you may have to alter your initial degree plan. Often, students will continue to enroll in courses while managing an illness; this can lead to struggling in courses and complicating financial matters. It is important to keep your professors, advisors, and other university officials informed about problems that are hampering your ability to attend classes, focus on the material, and complete required work.
Personal Issues
Managing your time effectively is one key to academic success. University courses require hard work, and you will need to strike a balance between the demands of your course work and all of the competing demands in your life—extracurricular activities, social activities, volunteer work, employment, family obligations, and sufficient exercise and sleep to remain healthy, to name a few—that may diminish the time you will have available to succeed academically.
Time Management
Managing your time effectively is one key to academic success. University courses require hard work, and you will need to strike a balance between the demands of your course work and all of the competing demands in your life—extracurricular activities, social activities, volunteer work, employment, family obligations, and sufficient exercise and sleep to remain healthy, to name a few—that may diminish the time you will have available to succeed academically.
One useful index to help estimate the time your course work will require is the Ohio State faculty rule that establishes, approximately, the time that a student should be required to spend to earn one credit hour: two hours per week outside of class and one hour in class to earn a grade of C. A five-hour class, therefore, should require 15 hours per week to earn a grade of C, and a 15-hour schedule will require a commitment of about 45 hours per week. Students who expect to earn higher grades will often need to invest significantly more time in their course work.
To help you track the demands of your courses—due dates for assignments, examinations, and papers—along with the various other activities that will take you away from your school work, we strongly recommend that you keep a calendar or planner. Careful planning will help you use your time more effectively and to see in advance—when you can plan for them—the more stressful weeks in your schedule.
A calendar alone will not, of course, resolve all challenges, and should time and the pace of an academic quarter seem to be getting out of hand, you should remember the various university services, including academic advising, available to help you make a wise choice about what to do next.
