<p>I’m super busy right now too, just not with grad school. I am working 60 hours a week at my company, plus commuting about 20 hours a day. So I’m tied up about 80 hours a week with work and then do grad school in the evenings.</p>
<p>Fortunately, my classes are easy so I listen to the lectures while commuting to and from work, and that helps a lot on saving time.</p>
<p>this is a good question, I know people that are studying 2-3 hrs a day, but they are they are sub 3.0 students. </p>
<p>That being said, outside of class it’s pretty much all day 6 days a week minus downtime like those 10 min breaks after you’ve got some work done, or watching (in guilt) tv for 15 min. while eating…but still it’s not all that bad and here’s why…</p>
<p>studying is composed of two parts, the intensive part of learning material and testing your knowledge with problems is one part…and as long as you read your text before class and have a good prof or just don’t get behind you won’t have to spend more than 2-3 hrs a day ‘stomach ache studying’ as I like to call it. The rest of the time will be spent on ‘softer’ studying like for projects, pre-labs, doing hw problems for practice, review, just all the small stuff that’s not intense but gives you the confidence and preparation for exams. </p>
<p>It’s totally doable to go to all the football games, or go to a party on friday, but I don’t because anything else for me is added stress, I like to spend my half-day off (friday) super laid back with friends and get to bed early and recharge, Sat is like the first day of the week for me. I also like to take breaks and play my guitar if I’m frustrated it relaxes me and I’ll be able to focus again…going to the Gym is another good way to spend time. But yea, I’m studying as much as I played guitar in high school, and that was pretty much just not stop jammin all day but I love it.</p>
<p>I’d aim for a 3.7 and have some fun with your life rather than try to get a 3.9++. Even a 3.5 is good. Any less and I’d re-evaluate your study habits. People who give up easily also tend to have a lower gpa. So don’t give up!</p>
<p>Sure, aim for a 3.7, but getting below 3.5 is not grounds for panic. A 3.5 GPA in engineering is still a very respectable GPA. You can get into a good grad school with less.</p>
<p>The three main classes I had my first semester…</p>
<p>I probably spent about 80hrs total through the 14 week semester on Calc
100 hrs on Orgo
150 hrs on Engineering 101 (introductory C++). </p>
<p>Orgo + orgo lab was 98 hours/semester of class (5 credits but 7 hrs of class)
Engineering 101 was 70 hours (4 credits but 5 hours)
Calc was 56 hours (4 credits, 4 hours)</p>
<p>So I’d say for every hour of class, I spent about an hour and a half out of class, and for every credit I spent about an hour and 50 minutes per credit hour outside of class.</p>
<p>My problem with undergraduate grades is that the time that I spent in the class didn’t correlate well with grades.</p>
<p>For example, I could put a ton of effort into a class and get an 95%, which was a solid A. Or I could put slightly less time and get an 75%, which is a solid C, not good. It seemed like cutting back just a little would cause my grades to plummet.</p>
<p>They were almost like pass fail classes for me.</p>
<p>Ehhh… I felt that there was sort of a ceiling for Orgo. I got a B and I doubt any more time spent studying would have done me any better. And I bet I could have spent a fair bit less and done the same. Though that was one thing I liked about my Engr 101 class, even though it was more work, it really seemed like the effort correlated to the grade, and I didn’t feel the same ceiling.</p>
<p>I felt like I could put a ton of effort in and get a solid A or put medium effort in and get a B+/A- depending on the class or put in minimal effort in for like a C (such as my circuits or economics classes… oops). Of course there were exceptions, but I didn’t feel like I had to spend 10 hours a week studying one subject just to make a good grade as Qwerty seems to feel.</p>
<p>For my Engr 101 class the majority of that time was spent doing projects. Very little of that was studying for tests.</p>
<p>I dont count hours spent on projects/classes as studying. Studying for me is when I get home and open the book to revise what I learned for the sake of understanding only.</p>
<p>“I dont count hours spent on projects/classes as studying. Studying for me is when I get home and open the book to revise what I learned for the sake of understanding only.”</p>
<p>The OP probably wants the amount of hours spent outside of class on a class. To say, “Well, I spent about 10 hours during the semester studying for my 4 credit ENGR 101 class” doesn’t really say much.</p>
<p>What a wake up call! I’m a sophmore. I haven’t had to study too much because I’ve found all the basic classes (chem, calc, physics) not too hard. But I’ve gotten my first B’s in my first two engineering classes…and I might get a C in my third one. Well, it’s only going to get harder so I better spend more time studying! Just have to make a lifestyle of it.</p>
<p>holy crap, looks like I need to study more</p>
<p>yea, as your studies progress towards senior year, the more you study the more it becomes like breathing, you just become a hard worker…It gives engineering grads a lot of confidence to take the next step in academia or industry…you’ll feel like you came in green and are leaving dangerous.</p>
<p>Geez my undergrad experience was just so ridiculously different than all of yours. I studied a lot but not on the same order that you guys talk about. I suppose that if I count all the time I wasted on the internet while “studying” then I might hit those numbers, but the time of actual useful work was much lower, haha.</p>
<p>^ Yes, its true that the time spent on studying is not exactly linear with regards to quality work output. I waste so much time during my “short” breaks. I also cannot study in groups because it is hard to focus ( unless its a review ).</p>
<p>Shoot, I study probably 300% more effective in groups in terms of homework progress made per time than I do alone simply because it eliminates the internet (particularly this forum, hehe) from the equation almost entirely.</p>
<p>I find it VERY difficult to study for tests in groups though, as it frustrates me when the group gets to a concept that I understand and everyone else struggles on. For that I usually prefer to study on my own and then meet up with peers to discuss our individual problems.</p>