Coping with University Work and Personal Reading

[Speaking Mute]

To echo the general sentiment, I never had an issue with personal time in general - during my undergraduate years I was a double major in philosophy and mathematics and then in graduate school I went into statistics and actuarial science.

I can offer some cynical advice based on my own experiences on how to preserve your free time and keep your schooling on track: first, try to separate what you need for your own professional and personal advancement from what faculty, departments, and colleges try to load onto you just because they can - be ruthless about giving the later the bare minimum of time and effort required. Second, be extremely wary about taking up research projects and who you're taking them up with - there's a lot of push for undergraduate research now, but unfortunately a lot of faculty just use it to unload busy work and pet projects that, aside from working you to the bone, might actually hurt your graduate school application. Third, whereas this may be a bit far off, prepare for it now if you're in the USA: avoid teaching and/or assistant teaching at all costs in graduate school - the majority of horror stories I know about graduate school chewing up and spitting people out involve them getting forced into teaching and grading responsibilities to pay the bills.