A balancing act keeps students busy

"Work hard, play hard," may be many students' motto, but deciding where to draw that line can be difficult.

Balancing more enjoyable extracurricular activities with schoolwork can jeopardize academic performance, but some students say it's worth the consequences.

When College sophomore Rachel Romeo has a Bloomers show coming up, she occasionally skips class because of the six hours of nightly rehearsal the week before the show.

Likewise, Penn Democrats president and College junior Lauren Burdette said that in addition to her classes and work, she spent an average 40 hours a week before the presidential election on her efforts to get president-elect Barack Obama into office.

She, too, admitted to skipping class for Penn Dems-related events.

But some students find a way to balance it all.

Although Undergraduate Assembly chairman and College and Wharton senior Wilson Tong said he spends an average of 40 hours each week in his extracurricular pursuits - on top of class and a thesis - he said he doesn't skip class for his extracurricular activities.

Students like Romeo, Burdette and Tong have to consider how their current involvements will affect future plans.

"Obviously a graduate school's not going to know if you're skipping class," said School of Arts and Sciences associate dean of graduate studies Ralph Rosen. He added that, for the most part, students' extracurricular pursuits won't affect their admission into grad school.

Activities that relate in some way to students' academic fields of interest or that aren't "pure entertainment" are the exception.

But students applying to pre-professional schools may face slightly different standards.

"The Law School looks for both academic excellence and extracurricular involvement during the undergraduate years," Jeanne Leong, spokeswoman for Penn Law, wrote in an e-mail. "There are activities that take up a ton of time and energy - and in these cases some academic deficiencies can be forgiven."

But she added that "if academics suffer too much, that could be an indication of misplaced priorities, poor time management skills or even a lack of dedication to academic achievement."

And different standards apply to the professional world.

Some employers "focus more on leadership and extracurricular accomplishment," said Career Services Director Pat Rose, "and just as long as someone is doing reasonably well at a school like Penn, that's just fine."

She added that extracurriculars the demonstrate teamwork - participation in varsity athletics, for example - are often preferable.

But Rose advises that students should not forget their academics entirely.

"Certainly strong academic performance is very important with most employers," she said.

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