How to Win at College, According to Economics

Dear Emily,

I’m heading into my first year of college and want to make sure I get off to a good start. As an economist, what’s your advice for succeeding in school?

The most important piece of advice I can give you is that combining Malibu and pineapple juice is a very, very bad idea. If you follow this wisdom, your first week in college will be better than mine.

I do have a bit of economics-based advice as well.

The best thing about college is that it is a place to try new things and find out what you love. At the same time, you cannot do them all. Your time has value–there is an “opportunity cost” to each activity you do.

This means that if you’re staying up till 3 am to get the next issue of the newspaper out, you won’t be at your best at track practice the next morning. The same logic applies to the buffet of college courses at your disposal. It may seem tempting to load up on extra classes so you don’t have to choose between the history of French cinema and Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse. However, the energy you spend scrambling to keep up with both course readings might be better directed at acing just one of the classes.

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