I like the path that's involved. It feels earned and you get to know the systems in place. If you just want a quick reward, you get the Sarah scenes up front and can revisit them from the Replay menu at any time.
However, I kind of know what you mean because there's a section where it feels like you're treading water, especially when you don't know the tricks yet. It's very important to get discipline over 20 as soon as possible. That means teaching classes, punishing, and training Miss Potts at night.
You can get a free education boost in the dorms on Monday nights, and Wednesday nights when Miss Potts is busy you can use on Chang, Wilson, or spying. (Or after you've trained Potts enough that you're waiting on other events.)
Once you do that it's not a grind at all, but I do wish I'd known how much time I was wasting on paperwork or that I couldn't afford to just wander the campus early on.