For those who still haven’t nailed down an ideal schedule, you still have until Monday before the add/drop deadline passes.

That gives you an entire weekend to think about whether or not you really want to devote a whole semester to the nuances of cost/benefit analysis (or any other subject, for that matter. I only pick on economists to anger my roommate).

Last semester I remember writing about class selection and the importance of picking a schedule that was not only ideal in terms of class times but also academic challenge.

There’s nothing wrong with taking less intense classes, but sometimes the more difficult ones yield the greatest reward.

It’s important not to close yourself off to a particular class just because it might be especially difficult.

But I also want to give as much attention to the opposite problem: biting off more than you can chew. Most of us undergrads are only allowed to take up to 18 credit hours per semester.

That usually equates to six unique classes, which translates to a sizeable amount of work already.

However, as many of my friends have discovered, there are some easy workarounds to taking even more.

I’ve noticed this tendency to overload with credit hours is especially prevalent among students in more scientific fields: I can’t think of a single one of my engineering or pre-med friends who isn’t taking at least 20 hours this semester.

They make my 19 hour schedule look like a cakewalk in comparison.

There’s nothing wrong with being an overachiever (or at least I hope there isn’t).

A lot of people who are fitting in hour-intensive majors or multiple majors and minors often don’t have a choice but to take ridiculous amounts of credit hours each semester.

Couple that with internships, leadership positions, academic research, Greek life and whatever other commitments one might have during the school year, and a person might begin to wonder what the term “free time” means.

However, I think in college especially there exists tremendous pressure for students to overload themselves.

It feels like from the moment we start at orientation we’re inun

dated with information about extracurricular clubs and activities. “Get involved” is a common refrain.

And I agree that getting involved is a great thing.

College offers a chance for you to experience so much in such a short amount of time and I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t take advantage of all the opportunities around you.

But being involved just for the sake of being involved isn’t always wise.

When you end up being president of five different groups and try to work three separate jobs in addition to all the schoolwork you have to do on the side, it becomes pretty apparent that you simply can’t give your 100 percent to any one activity.

Of course we all want to look impressive and build powerful resumes, but you have to remember that you simply can’t do everything.

Think about all of the groups and activities you’re involved with.

Consider whether or not you’re really passionate about what those groups are about.

Then consider how much time you find yourself dedicating to that group.

If you’re putting in significant amounts of time with little payoff, reconsider your priorities. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, and if you find that you’re overcommitting yourself it becomes nearly impossible to do anything well.

If making your activities more manageable entails dropping a club, class or job, then perhaps that’s a course of action worth considering.

Brandon is a sophomore majoring in English.