12 Reasons Why College is Stressful & What You Can Do About it

As a recent college graduate, I know first hand how stressful college can be. At times, you may feel overwhelmed and like college is impossible to get through.

For some students, college is super fun, but for others it is a dreadful and stressful experience. It’s important to identify the stresses in college and find ways to handle them, to make your college experience as good as possible.

In this post, I share 12 reasons why college students are stressed and how to avoid being stressed in college.

12 Reasons Why College Students Are Stressed

College is a huge change from high school. For many students, leaving home, living alone and having a lot of freedom can make school pretty stressful.

Identifying what causes stress in college is a great way to prepare yourself for college. With that being said, here are the 12 reasons why college students are stressed.

1. Assignments, Tests & Exams

In college or university, there are a lot of assignments, which can create a pretty stressful environment. Balancing the workload across multiple different classes is super stressful.

In college, no one cares whether you complete an assignment or not. Teachers expect you to be responsible for your work, and your parents aren’t there to keep you on track.

There’s a lot of freedom in college, and while this is a good thing, many students struggle because they do not complete assignments.

On top of the assignments, there are tests and exams. When exam time comes around, it’s very stressful for college students because exams are worth a lot.

It’s very common for college students to even miss classes in order to study for their exams.

I remember back when I was in college, towards the end of the semester being flooded with assignments tests and exams. These would be super stressful times but I had to find ways to get through it.

Being responsible, completing assignments and staying organized is a great way to avoid being stressed over assignments.

Nowadays, there is a lot of pressure for college students due to social media. For many college students, social media creates a stressful environment and can be a huge distraction.

Whether it’s looking at other students and seeing their Instagram worthy dorm room decor, perfect designer clothing or nice vacations, it can seem look like other people have it all together and you just don’t.

Online, on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, it can be hard for students to not compare their lives to influencers. This can create a lot of pressure on college students to be successful.

3. Student Debt

College can be very expensive and many students have to take out student loans. This is a major reason for many students to be stressed in college.

Unfortunately, many students in America finish college with piles of student debt. It’s pretty hard to avoid student debt it is very expensive to go to University in the United States.

As a Canadian, I was fortunate that my college tuition was manageable and I did not need to take student loans. However, worrying about student debt is a real issue for many students in the US and across the world.

4. Relationship Issues

In college, relationship issues are common. Many students will get a girlfriend or boyfriend and there can be problems that come up.

Relationship issues can make a college student super stressed out. Managing a relationship, school, a part-time job and extra curricular activities can make a student very stressed.

5. Working a Job

Oftentimes, college and university students will work on top of going to class, so they can have some spending money, and lower their student debt. Working a job while balancing school can make life stressful.

When I was in college, I was working part time while going to school. Even then, I remember being at work till 9:00 PM and having to go home after a long shift and complete assignments.

I would be at work stressing wondering how I am going to complete assignments. At the end of the day, I got through it, but it wasn’t easy and it was super stressful.

6. Not Eating Well

It’s not uncommon for university and college students to neglect their eating habits. Some students don’t know how to cook and others don’t have the time to cook.

In college, it’s important to eat properly. When students go to class hungry, they will not retain information and they will not have energy.

Not retaining information in class leads to having more trouble studying for tests and completing assignments.

7. Procrastinating

Without having teachers or your parents on your back, it’s super easy to procrastinate in college. Most college students including myself, procrastinate.

Throughout a lot of my time spent in college, I would leave assignments till the last minute and hold off on studying. This would make me super stressed because I would have tons of assignments left to do at the last minute.

8. Difficult Subjects

In college and university, there will be easy courses and there will be hard courses. It’s important to look at the classes and professor before taking them. As a college student, you want to take classes that are interesting to you and not just ones that are easy.

I’ve taken easy class and have struggled in them because I was super bored and had no interest in the topic. If you are interested in a course, the subject will be a lot easier to learn.

9. Lack of Sleep

Whether it’s staying up late partying, studying or playing video games, many college students struggle with lack of sleep. As a college student, there is so much going on that it’s hard to be well rested.

Not getting enough sleep can lead to stress and even depression. When I was in college, I was always tired which made it very hard to learn and stay up in class at times.

10. Substance Abuse

Something that many people fail to realize, is that many college and university students struggle with substance abuse.

Whether it’s from drinking, smoking or taking drugs, it is very common for students to turn to substances to deal with the stress of college.

In North America, the college culture has a lot to do with partying. Many people, including myself, will go to college and party a lot. This can lead to a lot of drinking and a lot of time spent hungover.

11. Lack of Parent Evolvement

Throughout elementary school, middle school and high school, it’s common for parents to be involved in their children’s schooling. Once students go off to college, it’s hard for their parents to keep them in line.

Some students can be responsible and stay organized with their studies. Unfortunately, many students take advantage of the amount of freedom they have, which can result in too much partying and not enough studying.

This can lead to stress as assignments and studying for tests will get pushed to the last minute.

12. Poor Time Management

In my opinion, the biggest reason college students get stressed and feel overwhelmed, is because they do not know how to manage their time. Managing a job, school, social life and extra curricular activities is a lot of different things to manage.

As a college student, it’s important to organize your time so you’re not left studying all night before an exam. While overwhelming at first, it will get easier.

How to Avoid Being Stressed in College

Now that we’ve identified the reasons why college students are stressed, it’s important to find solutions to the problem.

College can be hard and stressful, but there are many ways to make it less challenging and an enjoyable experience. Here are some ways to avoid being stressed in college:

Time Management

In college, a great way to help with stress is to manage your time. It’s important to designate some time for studying but also relaxing.

If you can make a schedule and stick to it, you will be succesful in college. It just takes discipline to stick to your schedule and do the work that required.

Organization

Many college students struggle with being organized. Since high school, I’ve had trouble being organized and it made school a lot harder.

Taking the time to write important dates in your agenda is a great way to stay organized. It’s important to have notebooks for each class so when exam time comes it’s easy to study.

If you’re looking for some ways to stay organized in college, check out the products: 27 College Desk Essentials Every Student Needs

Surround Yourself with Motivated Students

In college and university, it’s very easy to get caught up with the wrong crowd. There are students who go to college to have fun and party, and there are others who take their education seriously.

If you surround yourself with students that are always partying you will not have time to study and the assignments will become overwhelming. I’ve seen many students drop out due to this reason.

Surrounding yourself with motivated students will push you to do your best. If you have some motivated classmates studying and doing assignments is a lot easier in groups.

Sleep

As a college student, it can be tough to pass on parties or different activities. As someone who is very social, I did not get enough sleep throughout college and it has some very negative side affects.

I would have trouble focusing in class, studying and I would always be miserable at school. Towards the end of college, I began to sleep more and I enjoyed going to college.

It’s important for college students to get between 6-8 hours of sleep every night. It makes a very big difference and helps a lot with stress.

Eat Well

Eating well in college can be tough for students. It’s important to eat before class as you will be a lot more attentive.

Having at least 3 meals a day is healthy and makes learning a lot easier. Before going to college, make sure you know how to get groceries and cook a few basic meals.

Avoid Procrastinating

It’s no secret that many college students struggle with procrastinating. Nowadays, our phones have become so addictive that it’s too easy to get distracted and waste time scrolling on social media, instead of studying.

A way that I was able to avoid procrastinating is by setting limits on my phone for how much social media I can use. This allowed me to spend less time on social media and more time studying.

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Final Thought on Why College is Stressful & What You Can Do About it

As a recent college graduate, I understand the struggles that many students experience in college. There are many reasons to be stressed in college but there are just as many ways to deal with stress and do well. In this post, I share 12 reasons why college is stressful and some helpful ways to deal with stress in college.

If you’re a college student, do you find yourself being stressed in college? Please let me know in the comments below.