Heavy uni/college course load

I'm in my last year of a uni degree course at the moment and while I admit it hasn't been a walk in the park, I haven't let it consume me as I might have done in the past. I too struggled with finding the right course and balancing work loads due to my disability. But, I find that some decent time management and trying to keep my stress levels low have helped. It's great that you're doing better and feeling healthier I think people can take their health for granted when embarking on a new chapter in their life.

I wish you all the best.

---------- Post added 3rd Dec 2013 at 08:16 PM ----------

Oh! And also a big problem for me was/is procrastination. I'm doing it right now in fact. Try and stay focused when you need to or your work can suffer. Work hard then play hard

 

You're doing part of what I would recommend already! If you can afford it, definitely live at home and work the least amount possible--check!

Five courses is a lot, but not unmanageable. A few things I have found work for me:

-Don't do all of your 'weaker' areas at once. If you struggle with x and y subject, try not to do both at once and spread out your course load evenly between subjects you are strong in and ones you are not. (This also goes for ones you think you might hate for other reasons, don't take them all at once, being miserable does not help get the work done!)

-I know everyone says this but really carefully budget your time. Make sure you're able and willing to spend at least a few hours a week outside of class on each course's work. Make sure you know when due dates are and mark them down in your calendar in advance so you know when you'll need to block off time for heavy duty study sessions/paper writing/projects/etc.

-as well as planning for your work load, plan for time when you won't have to do schoolwork and you can do something you like to do instead. If you plan for this time, you'll be less likely to skip it and maybe that will help you stay cool even when school is hard because you'll have time to just unwind a bit.

-sleep. even if it means your paper is 500 words too short or you miss an extra hour of studying. you gotta sleep.

-see your professors if you even feel like you might possibly fall behind. you're not only more likely to understand what's going on in class/what the professor's expectations are if you go see them, you're also far more likely to get extensions on assignments if you form a relationship with your teacher (unless they don't ever offer that kind of thing, but even so, they're there to help you learn!)

-don't freak yourself out. remember that you cannot be perfect all the time and that's okay. remember that you are not a failure even if you fail at something. remember that the semester does not actually last forever. remember that the world keeps on turning and in a few years you probably won't remember any of the school problems you have right now.

Anyway, hope these are at least a bit of help, I've been in college for quite some time now and these are definitely how I make it through the rough patches. Good luck

 

If they are all 3 credit course then you will have what 15 credits?

I would stick around this point, because if you have to drop a course that will drop you down to 12 credits which is full time for most uni/colleges. If 15 is too hard you go down to 12, but that will extend the amount of time that it will take for you to graduate.

I averaged 17 credits a semester at undergrad (bachelor degree), but it was a struggle at times. The most I ever took was 19, which was during the fall of my junior year, on top of working 10-15 hours a week and covered a couple shifts a week, 4/5 hours of placement a week for the first 8 weeks. A president, treasurer, secretary, student government representative and panhellanic represent of a sorority, but the sorority closed at the end of fall semester (not enough members), secretary and acting president (fall semester) of an interfaith club, a member of Circle K (college Kiwanis, not gas station, we did community service), member of history club, attended catholic campus Wednesday even though I'm Protestant, attended Church every Sunday, and was in the pep band. For the love of God do not have a semester like that. I barely slept that semester, I do not know how I survived, or did my homework.

A couple things that I found helpful was taking things one thing at a time. As well as going and talking to people when things became too stressful. I do not the type of college that you are attending, but a lot them have free or cheap counseling for students and it has helped me a lot. I am currently attending graduate school, I am going for my masters, and I have been attending counseling every semester. I didn't go during undergrad, didn't have time. My school offers cheap services by professionals or free by students who are studying for their masters or PHD. I preferred the students because they know exactly what I was going through with class work, because they are currently going through the same thing.

Another thing, if you are living on campus, RAs are the best thing in the world. They are a support system that live with you. I also found it easier to focus on my work when I am on campus. Plus it is a great way to make friends.