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group of people studying and reading at a kitchen table
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Life > Academics

ACADEMICS: Pros and Cons of Having Your Besties as Study Buddies

Lynn Nguyen
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SDSU chapter.

Maintaining a healthy balance between school, work, and socializing is tough. Having emotional support from friends and family is key to becoming the most successful version of you, especially when they can relate to your struggles. 

Studying is one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks for most college students. It can be hard to figure out the best ways to study for you. Friends can be great study buddies when you need motivation and company. Being productive with your bestie is super helpful when you’re balancing a busy schedule or just need support, but it can also be a huge distraction. Here are some pros and cons to help you find out what works best for you:

PROS:

  1. Scheduling – When you’re balancing your professional and personal life, it can be super helpful to study with friends. You can socialize while being productive, which is perfect for multitaskers. It’s also easier to plan study sessions with your besties because you’ll see each other anyway and you’ll be more likely to show up if you’re looking forward to it! 
  2. Communication – It can be nerve-wracking to talk to strangers about your personal schedule or struggles in class. So, if you’re already comfortable with your friends, asking questions, discussing class material, or coming up with study plans will be much easier and more effective.
  3. Motivation –  Finding the motivation to study can be hard. Meeting up with your friends to get it done is helpful because you can hold each other accountable! Sometimes it’s easier to be productive when your friends are relying on you too.

CONS:

  1. Distractions – It’s fun to spend time with your friends and do homework, but it’s easy to get distracted. Having too much fun with your besties can actually make you less productive. It can be harder to focus on your work and you might get less done than you wanted to. If you get easily distracted by your phone or noise, studying with your friends might not be effective for you.
  2. Wasting Time – When you’re spending time with friends, it can be hard to stay on track the whole time. It’ll be fun to catch up and talk, but your conversations will likely go off topic at some point and this can end up wasting time. If you usually enjoy talking to your friends for hours when you’re hanging out with them, it might be more efficient to study on your own time instead.
  3. Different Studying Methods – Every student has their own studying methods, so it’s possible that your favorite way of studying might not be the same as your friends. If you know what works for you, it won’t be as efficient to try to change your strategy to fit someone else’s. Some people work better with music and others need silence to focus. These differences will make studying with your friends a lot harder than studying by yourself.

These pros and cons are a general list that can help you determine whether or not it’s in your best interest to study with your friends. Your personal relationships, personality, and specific classes will also affect how successful a study session is. It all depends on what works best for you!

Lynn Nguyen

SDSU '24

Lynn is from Encinitas, CA. She is a junior majoring in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations. She is interested in online and social media communications, media relations, and entertainment journalism. Currently, she is the Director of Internal Affairs of SDSU’s PRSSA chapter and a staff writer for The Daily Aztec. In her free time, she enjoys going to the beach, bingewatching bad reality TV, creative writing, and reading.