Here’s How You Can Integrate Your Academic Calendar with Your Personal One how-to

When you’re a student, your life is dictated by academic deadlines and other important-to-remember dates. You have to be on top of when your assignments are due, know when your exams take place, and remember when you have to be on time for your classes.

But that doesn’t mean that academia is all there is to your life. There’s a chance you may already have joined the workforce, which can complicate things. In this case, you have to make sure you don’t happen to work a shift when your exam is scheduled. And even if that specific scenario doesn’t apply to you, there’s still a lot of juggling to be done to balance your personal life and academic schedule.

When your different schedules are fragmented across multiple calendars, scheduling anything or making important decisions about how you spend your time becomes difficult. Do you have enough time to throw something together for that assignment – or do you need to work with a professional paper writers to help you learn how to write the best paper possible? Can you visit your family on a particular weekend, or will you be tied down by exam prep?

Syncing your academic calendar with your personal schedule is the key to alleviating all of these potential headaches. Here’s a quick guide to seamlessly integrating all of your calendars when using Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, or a student account.

A Quick Disclaimer

If you take a look at five different universities’ academic calendars, you’ll more than likely see five different approaches to sharing calendars – or in some situations, no possibility of integration at all. When universities opt to use their own systems to add academic scheduling functionality to student accounts, these systems may allow for synchronization with a limited range of calendars. For example, it might work with Google Calendar and Outlook, but not with iCalendar. 

In some cases, universities utilize common applications like Outlook or Google Calendar to host their academic calendars. In these instances, syncing your academic calendar with your others will be a much more intuitive process.

In rare cases, your schedule may be presented as a regular table on a separate web page, with no sharing possible. So, you’ll have to manually add all major events to your personal planner.

In this guide, we’ll break down only the most common syncing scenarios. If none of them work for you, search your institution’s website for information on syncing academic and personal calendars — or talk to your instructors and other students to get some tips.

Syncing Data Within the Same Tool

Let’s say you’re in luck and you’re using the same personal calendar system as your institution — this is how you would add your academic schedule to your personal Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar.

Syncing Microsoft Outlook

To automatically add your scheduled academic events to your personal calendar, you’ll need to:

First, open your academic planner. Then click Share in the toolbar above the calendar.

In the Sharing and Permissions window, enter the email address associated with your personal Outlook calendar.

Now it’s time to set up permissions for the account you added. You can select between “Can view all details” and “Can edit”. Your options may be limited by the calendar’s owner (AKA your academic institution), however. Finally, click Share to save the sharing selection.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll receive an email with an invitation to add the academic calendar to your personal one. Simply click the link in the email and confirm the syncing in your personal account. Now, you’re done!

Syncing with Google Calendar

With Google Calendar, you have two ways to share your academic calendar: either via a link or by entering your email address. If you want to sync one Google Calendar with another, the second option is best to ensure someone doesn’t accidentally access your link and get your schedule.

To sync your Google calendars, you first must access your academic schedule hosted on Google Calendar. Open the settings of the calendar and scroll down to the section Share with specific people or groups.

Then, click the button Add people and groups. It will prompt you to enter your personal email address and select the level of permissions. You can keep See all events or allow modifying events from the personal account with the Make changes to events option. Depending on the situation, your options may be restricted by the calendar’s owner (if it’s not you). Click Send to finalize the process.

You’ll receive an email in your personal inbox notifying you about the shared calendar. Click the link provided in the email, and you’ll be redirected to Google Calendar, where you’ll have to confirm adding a new calendar. Once you do confirm, you’ll be all set!

Syncing Calendars Between Different Platforms

But what if your academic schedule is in Microsoft Outlook, but you use Google Calendar for your daily planning? Let’s break down these two common scenarios for syncing calendars between different platforms.

Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook or iCalendar

In this scenario, you’ll need to create a public link to integrate the academic schedule with your personal Microsoft Outlook calendar.

To sync your calendars using a shareable link you must first access your academic calendar on Google Calendar’s website. Once there, open the settings of the calendar and scroll down to the section Access permissions for events.

Check the box Make available to public and confirm your decision. Then, click the Get shareable link button and copy the link that pops up.

But unfortunately, getting this link is only half the battle. To add the academic calendar to your personal Outlook calendar, you’ll need to follow a few more steps.

First, log into your personal Outlook account. Then click Add calendar in the left sidebar. Select Subscribe from web in the left sidebar of the new window and paste the calendar’s URL in the corresponding field.

If you’re using iCalendar, you’ll need to open the app on your phone and tap Calendars at the bottom of the screen. Then select Add Calendars at the bottom left of the screen. Select Add Subscription Calendar in the menu that appears and paste the URL into the field.

Microsoft Outlook to Google Calendar or iCalendar

If your college or university uses Outlook for academic scheduling, follow these directions to sync its contents with your personal account.

First, access the academic schedule on Outlook’s website and head to Settings by clicking the corresponding icon in the menu at the top of the screen. Use the navigation bar to open the Shared calendars section and scroll down to Publish a calendar.

Select the calendar you want to sync, set the permissions, and click Publish. Then, copy the link that appears immediately below the fields.

Now, to add this calendar to your Google Calendar using the link, you will need to log into your personal Google Calendar account and head to Settings before opening the section Add calendar. Click From URL in the menu on the left and paste the calendar’s URL in the corresponding field.

As for adding the Outlook link to your Apple iCalendar, the steps are all the same as for with the Google Calendar link:

• Open the app on your phone.
• Tap Calendars at the bottom of the screen.
• Tap Add Calendars at the bottom left of the screen.
• Select Add Subscription Calendar in the menu that appears.
• Paste the URL into the field.

Syncing an Academic Calendar from Your Student Account

If your instruction doesn’t use common planning apps to host its calendar, you may still be able to sync it with your personal planner. However, those specific steps will vary depending on the interface and functionality available.

In broad strokes, here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Log into your student account and head to the academic calendar page.
• Click the Share button to sync it with your personal planner. Verify that your target planning tool is supported.
• Check sync options (which events to add, for example).
• Log into your personal calendar account when prompted.
• Allow some time for the events to get synced. (It may take between 5 and 30 minutes, depending on the tool).

Extra Solution: Exporting Your Academic Calendar

In some cases, you may be unable to sync your academic schedule – however, you may be able to export it. You should keep in mind the difference between the two approaches since it’s quite consequential:

• Syncing calendars means that if your instructor adds or modifies an event or deadline, the changes will automatically be reflected in your personal planner. You don’t have to do anything on your part for it to happen.
• Exporting a calendar means downloading all of its events as they are and importing them into your personal planner. If a new event gets added to the academic calendar or there are changes made to these existing events, the change won’t be automatically reflected in your personal calendar.

Exporting the calendar can save you time since you won’t have to add every event manually. However, keep an eye out for those changes!

You can export and import a calendar in a file format (.ics). Before you do so, make sure your target calendar supports import via a file.

The Bottom Line

Syncing your calendars between different tools is often an exercise in patience. While many institutions use common tools like Outlook and Google Calendars to help students manage their busy schedules, there are just as many that turn to lesser-known alternatives designed specifically for education and learning.

So, if you’re facing a particularly challenging scenario that we haven’t covered above, make sure you browse your institution’s website for a calendar syncing guide that applies to its specific system.

Once your calendars are all synced, managing your workload should become a lot easier. You’ll have a better grasp on when you should turn to the best research paper writing service for help, for example. So, don’t forego this step, as frustrating as it can be at times!

About the Author

Lydia Havens is a multifaceted professional with a deep-seated passion for education, creativity, and communication. As a dedicated teacher and experienced writer, Lydia has devoted her career to helping students navigate the complexities of higher education. She is an expert in coursework assistance, committed to guiding young adults in acquiring essential knowledge and skills for their academic and personal growth.