College tuition is not cheap and at Bucks it’s only getting more expensive. So how do students juggle classes, work and other responsibilities without abandoning a social life? As it turns out, most students have to make a choice: Have a fulfilling social life or a high GPA.
Dominic Overa, 20, a business major from Levittown, feels that between his schedules for school and work he does not have the time to have the social life that he wants.
Overa works a full-time job and a part-time landscaping job in order to afford his education.
Overa is not alone. Many students at Bucks are paying for college on their own, sometimes picking up two jobs and snatching as many hours as possible at work to make ends meet. The end result is a diminished social life.
“If I valued my social life over school at this time in my life, I’d be working for nothing. I have to prioritize,” Overa said.
Being a two-year commuter school, most students at Bucks are working their way through college with plans to transfer and earn their bachelor’s degree. Because four-year institutions look at grades obtained at Bucks, having a good GPA is vital.
Gerald Retzion, 21, a computer science major from Morrisville, warns students not to make the same mistake he did during his first year at college, putting his social life before his schoolwork.
“When you’re young you don’t think about the lasting impact it will have on your future. It affects your GPA and ability transfer, and it’s a mistake you cannot afford to make,” Retzion said.
Jessica Bard 19, a psychology major from Levittown, shared a similar story, saying that she spent too much time going out with friends during her first semester at college and not enough time doing homework.
“I wasn’t even doing half of the work I was capable of,” said Bard.  She has since limited her social life and has seen a marked improvement in her grades.
Prioritizing is one of the first things that students learn to do upon entering college. There is a positive correlation between a student’s social life and their GPA.
Students who reported to only go out one or two nights a week also reported having very good grades.
But sometimes the factor isn’t time. Sometimes it’s the cost of having a social life that hits students hard.
Many students find that every time they go out with their friends they are spending more money than they would like to.
Students like Christopher Beacon, 20, a business major from Bensalem, who said, “I find it downright impossible to not spend my money with friends, there’s just nothing fun to do for free.”
Beacon said that he enjoys going to the city with his friends, usually to a nightclub or concerts.
Sarahlyn Castro, 18, an accounting major from Dublin, also said that she visits the city to have a good time.
“There’s just a lot more to do in the city” Castro said. “We go to colleges, concerts, sporting events, bars, and clubs.”
Some students on the other hand, save money by staying local, enjoying bonfires, going to a pool hall, catching a movie, or watching sports on TV.
“It’s a lot cheaper to stay around here with my friends” Gina McDermott, 18, an education major from Newtown, said.
“Somehow, it still costs me money in the end though.”