It’s time for another edition of our new series here. Now that you’ve got your financial stuff together, you need to take care of your academics. This is probably the most boring, yet most important part of the How-to Become A Financial Stud Series. So now, why are academics so important?
- For starters, this is technically the main reason you go to college (aside from parties).
- You want to keep your options open for life post-college. Whether you want to get into an exceptional post-graduate program or want to switch fields to try something new.
- You might want to land that lucrative. but competitive position. Many of the more reputable companies will look over your grades with a magnifying glass to see if you have what it takes to work for them. You don’t want a few poor grades to prevent you from making the big bucks.
Now that we understand why academics are such an important aspect of becoming a financial stud in college, we need to look into the necessary improvements that need to be made so that your academics have a positive influence on your finances. First we need to go over how academics can screw you financially, if not taken seriously:
- Repeated courses. When you fail a course, you need to pay another fee to take this course again.
- Time consumed. Repeating a course due to a poor performance, will eat up a semester of your time. Do you really have time to spare?
- Lack of work options. It’s going to be difficult to land a high-paying job if your academics are not up to par.
Okay so now we know that grades are important. We also know how grades can screw you financially. Now it’s time to go over a few general academic tips that are related to money management:
Take the maximum course load.
Most colleges have a flat rate tuition fee for full-time students regardless if you decide to enroll in 4 or 7 courses (this depends on your school). Through taking a few extra courses you can potentially graduate ahead of schedule or you can lighten up your course load in the latter end of your academic career.
Try to find work around your campus.
Working on your college campus can do wonders for your career and your academic life. Whether you decide to tutor students on your own, or if you choose to work as a Teaching Assistant, you can use your exceptional academic performance to earn you some good money. If you don’t believe me, then check out my article on how my friend earned $2, 100 from tutoring students.
Pursue work terms.
Almost every program offers a paid work term, or a summer work program. This is an excellent opportunity to gain some experience in your field, while making some money. If your grades are up to par, then make sure that you apply for and take advantage of any work terms that you can.
Now that we went over general academic tips related to money management, it’s critical that we go over productivity tips to tie in academics and money management:
- Get your work done first. No matter how you want to spend your evening, it’s necessary that you get your school work done first, not vice versa. Telling yourself that you’ll go out first and then come home to do your work, never happens. Once you get your school stuff out of the way, you can enjoy the rest of your day.
- Always come to class prepared. I can’t stress enough how important it is to come to class ready. You notice how there’s always that one guy that comes in half way into the lecture with his notes all over the place? Yea try not to be that guy. Coming prepared is more than half of the battle. The other half is staying awake.
- Set daily goals. Instead of saving that huge term project for the last night (which we’ve all done before), I find it to be much more productive to perform small daily tasks leading up to the due date.
- Always ask for help. Take advantage of the resources that are offered to you by your college. Whether it be free tutoring sessions or seeing your professor at their designated visiting hours. There’s no shame in seeking out help to improve your grades.
There you go. Now you have your financial stuff and your academics in order. You’re on you way to becoming a financial stud! Please share you progress with us below.