<p>Currently as my schedule works out, I have 3-4 classes in a row Monday, Tuesday, Friday from 9 or 10 to 1:15 PM, classes from 8 -1:15 PM on Wednesday.</p>
<p>My question is, if I take so many classes in a row, how much information will I actually be able to retain. I'm aware that college is nothing like high school. </p>
<p>My preference would be to get all my classes done in the morning and do homework in the afternoon and leave my nights for clubs and activities. However, if taking 3-4 classes is not practical, I have the option of switching 1-2 of my classes to the afternoon.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice.</p>
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<p>I don’t see a problem with taking so many classes in a row, with the exception that you may have trouble physically getting from one class to another. Some campuses are very large.</p>
<p>Remembering the amount of material you retain from a classroom lecture is a very small part of what you’ll be required to do to prep for a college test. There is a lot more “out of class” reading, studying, organizing and learning that goes on in college than in high school.</p>
<p>Just take good notes in each class.</p>
<p>Speaking from a teacher’s perspective, I normally teach three 50-minute classes in a row, and by the third one, I’m flagging. And I know the material. If there’s a way you can put a break between classes 1&2 and 3&4, I think you’ll be less stressed in the long run.</p>
<p>I’m sure it is all personal preference, but my D likes to schedule back to back, mornings preferred. She likes having a larger block of time to study in the afternoons before her sport workout. As ellemenope said, also depends on the size of the campus. D is at small LAC where it is 5 minutes max from class to class.</p>
<p>pierre, I tried to do what you are doing when I was in college. I still remember feeling sick (headaches) from packing classes together, focusing and sitting for so long, and needing to eat a late lunch. </p>
<p>Semesters that I tried to break things up a bit, I found a lot of wasted time (which is what I was trying to avoid). I did not feel like studying hard during breaks, found sitting in a student union after half an hour to be time wasted since I did not want to sit there more than 30 minutes to eat and talk, and if I scheduled enough time to go back to my dorm and do my laundry I felt that walking back forth for a short period was also time wasted. </p>
<p>I never did find a happy medium. In my opinion, the best solution is scheduling classes back to back but allowing 20 -30 minutes between the classes. Scheduling for me rarely allowed that. One thing that I did enjoy was taking the once a week long 3 hour night class. I found older non-traditional students, a more laid back environment, and they did break for 15-20 minutes within the 3 hour block. Even though this was a long class to get through, meeting just once a week felt refreshing for me. BTW, the class was about art appreciation and included some trips (on our own, but had easy access through public transit) to local museums. It was a fabulous experience for me, so I would encourage exploring a night class as well.</p>
<p>Whatever schedule you choose, your key will be managing your time - if you have an hour between classes you need to clearly decide day to day if you can “waste” that hour lounging or if you need to use it study, make a trip to the store -whatever. If you have all your classes in the morning, you need to clearly decide how you manage your afternoon time - can you study for more than 2 hours without a break? Should/could you schedule an hour for exercise? </p>
<p>My D has had many different schedules (she is on quarters, so has had more opps for schedules since classes change every 10 weeks) - each quarter she looks at “have to do’s” - classes/studying/projects/work hours/club meetings, etc and “want to do’s” - exercise, dinner with friends, church activities - and then PLAN AHEAD. </p>
<p>With any schedule, it’s easy to NOT accomplish things. The freedom and flexibility can be a friend or a foe.</p>
<p>Do consider the impact of not having a regular lunch time. Not only the drop in blood sugar - whch you can take care of by packing a snack, but DD found it was a good time to catch up with friends. Make sure you would have time to be in the cafeteria during normal times, or you might end up spending more in a cafe instead.</p>
<p>DD compacted her schedule into the mornings three days a week. She says it was fabulous. After the classes ended…she immediately went home, completed homework…and then had the rest of the time to either relax…or review. For her, this worked.</p>
<p>For me - and it has been a long time - I found that 2 classes followed by an hour break followed by two more classes was the perfect MWF schedule. </p>
<p>As I recall, 10-11, 11-12 then 1-2 and 2-3 was the dream schedule. Didn’t have to get up too early but still knocked everything out three days a week, leaving T TH completely free.</p>
<p>I would watch out for finals. Sometimes back to back classes may result in back to back finals. I advise my daughter to look at the finals schedule to see if she would have back to back finals. For example, last year she felt ill during finals especially one day that she had 2 finals, it would have been much better if she just had one final in that day.</p>
<p>well there’s a new complication.</p>
<p>If I space out my classes on Monday, I will be walking across the (large) campus 3 times. If I don’t space out my classes, I will only be walking twice across campus but I won’t have time for lunch either.</p>
<p>I guess I’ll just keep my schedule as it is</p>
<p>If your classes are back to back you may be in trouble if your professor lets you out late. (There are no bells at college, so you are your your professor’s mercy (watch) when s/he wants to let you go). Also, you can’t carry on a conversation with your professor or class mates before or after class. (Your classmates might want to discuss a group project after class when you need to dash to your next class.) Finally, it can be nice to do some last minute studying, print out a paper, or read a small assignment that you completely forgot about in between classes.</p>
<p>My son has had to take classes when he can get them- sometimes heavy/light days. One semester he chose to get up earlier for the better professor. Figure out your priorities regarding the course and professor, then consider the timing. Pros and cons to both having bits or big blocks of time. Never a perfect schedule, or world, for most of us.</p>
<p>I would restrict to about 19 credit hours / semester with no more than 3 scince classes. Together or with breaks in between is unimportant.</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong with the schedule in the first post. There certainly is time for lunch after the morning classes! In fact, putting classes back to back opens up the afternoon for studying rather than an hour here and an hour there and also opens up time for extracurricular activities. I am sure there are at least ten min. between classes built into the college schedule for getting from place to place. As far as “retaining information”…I do not know the nature of your classes but many college classes are not lectures. And a lot of the learning is the work you do outside of classtime. </p>
<p>For the record, my younger D’s college schedule was 9-6 straight through except one hour for lunch and then a half hour at dinner and scheduled requirements all night too. My older D had classes for many hours each day and then extracurriculars all afternoon or else vice versa. Now, in grad school, most days classes are 9-6 with an hour for lunch.</p>
<p>It really does depend on what works best for you. I found that having a short time, generally not more than an hour, between classes was beneficial. I could finish my notes for the class I just left (adding more to quick notes and identifying questions while they were still fresh in my mind to prepare for office hours/TA/study group). I also had time to look over my notes/reading to prepare for my next class. I did not go back to my dorm, or to the student union unless it was close by. I often used the library or just found a quiet place to sit. For me, staying focused and organized, and studying in shorter bursts, was key. Anytime I planned to study for a whole afternoon/evening, it usually ended up being less productive, especially in a dorm where there are so many other things to do! </p>
<p>If you do choose the longer sessions, be aware of when you’re procrastinating and/or just doing “busy work” and take a break to recharge/refocus. Try to get in the habit of scheduling consistent blocks of time that you do work for each class. Have a concrete goal for each block of time - write a rough draft, read a chapter, master a concept - as opposed to general “study time” which tends to get rescheduled alot otherwise!</p>