Poll says extracurriculars affect student priorities

Katye Chung '05 spends about eight hours each week at the University art museum archiving photos and preparing for new exhibits. Unlike many students with campus jobs, Chung said she prioritizes this work over her grades.

"I really am not interested in the grades that I get," she said. "I'm more interested in learning and being able to apply what I learn, and at work I definitely get to do that."

Chung seems to be the exception. In a poll conducted by The Daily Princetonian last week, students whose primary extracurricular activity was employment tended to rank the priority of this employment at 5.18 — on a scale of 0 to 10 on which 10 was the highest priority — as compared to 7.22, the priority given by varsity athletes to their activity.

The poll of 213 students examined the effects of activities on academic performance. Many students had an average answer that their nonacademic activity does not significantly impact their academic performance.

Twenty-six percent said it had overall helped their academic performance, 47 percent said it had not significantly impacted their academic performance, 25 percent said it had somewhat hurt their academic performance and one percent said it had seriously hurt their academic performance.

However, these results varied across activity groups. Forty-one percent of varsity athletes said their activity hurt their academic performance, while just 13 percent of club and intramural sport participants responded it hurt their academic performance and 53 percent said it helped.

Richelle Blanchard '04, a member of the club volleyball team, said she felt her activity had helped her academically. She differentiated between club and varsity sports by pointing out that club sports are student-led and as a result allow those participants to do more organizational work that can be a valuable learning experience.

"Academics are important to me, but learning to do things is just as important as learning to think," Blanchard said.

Deborah Prentice, chair of the psychology department, conducted a broad survey study of the Classes of 1998 at Amherst College, Columbia University and Princeton and of the Class of 1999 at Yale University to explore student life, particularly extracurricular activities.

Prentice said many factors contribute to somewhat lower academic performance among varsity athletes. She listed the time commitment, travel and the associated physical exhaustion as some of these reasons.

She agreed that it was most likely with results like these in mind that the Ivy League presidents last year passed the moratorium limiting athletic practice time for out of season athletes.

"[The idea for the moratorium] was based on the recognition not just that it's hard to do athletics and academics but that it's hard to do athletics and anything else extracurricular," Prentice said. "It's about the University taking some responsibility for what it's presented students with."

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However, some varsity athletes see their sport as positively affecting their academic performance.

Varsity lacrosse player and former football player Ryan Watson '05 said sports made heavy demands on his time, but that this commitment helped him better plan his work. Watson said he spends 20 to 22 hours a week on lacrosse in-season for practices, lifting and tape viewing.

Steve Lauritano '05, president of the Katzenjammers a cappella group, agreed with Watson that his activity helps structure his time.

Lauritano added that his a cappella group has made a rule that academics are never an excuse for missing rehearsal. Forty percent of orchestra, band and a cappella participants said their activity improved their academic performance, 36 percent said it had no significant impact and 24 percent said it hurt their academic performance.

The poll also examined the priority students place on academics, compared to the priority placed on nonacademic activities. The average priority value students gave academics, on a scale of 0 to 10, was 7.83. This value did not vary much among activity groups.

In prioritizing nonacademic activity, the average value was 6.23.

Justin Baker '05 works as an intern at Merrill Lynch 12 to 20 hours each week."[At a job], you're working for the money, whereas when you're playing sports for the pleasure or the entertainment," he said, explaining one reason employed students might not prioritize their activity highly.

Another way to consider these values is the difference between the priority value given to academics and that given to nonacademic activities. Employed students put academics an average of 2.55 points over activities, while varsity athletes put academics just .52 points over nonacademic activities. Everyone else on average ranked academics 1.79 points higher than activities.

Janet Dickerson, vice president for campus life, said her sense was that nonacademic activities were helpful to students, as long as they did not overextend themselves.

"The activities they have outside the classroom can complement their academic work," Dickerson said.

Darren Geist '05 has worked on various community service projects with groups such as Oxfam and Unicef. He said that while he would prioritize academics over nonacademic activities, as a Wilson School major, he sees the two as related.

"Really doing these activities put a human face on academia," Geist said. "I wouldn't see academics removed from the community service I do."

Details of the poll were printed in yesterday's 'Prince.'