How many classes in a row is too much in college?

<p>I posted this in the parents forum too but I'm trying to see if any students have any input on this:</p>

<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>3 is pretty doable, especially on MWF since the classes are shorter. 3 on a TR would be pretty brutal. Most would agree that 4 is too much. Remember that tests will tend to sync up a bit in your classes, so you could end up taking 3, back to back to back, no time to do last minute studying or eat in between.</p>

<p>I would say only do 2 back-to-back classes. You will need a break.</p>

<p>Yeah, when I say “pretty doable” I mean that it’ll suck but you can live with it.</p>

<p>I’d say about 3 hours is about the max. So maybe 3 classes MWF and 2 classes TR.</p>

<p>4 hours in a row isn’t so bad. I did 6 hours in a row once (3 2 hour classes)–I was SOOO hungry by the end of the day (luckily it was in Spain where eating lunch at 3 was normal.</p>

<p>I’m pretty used to having classes back-to-back from 8am to 4pm. I try to put breaks in between so that I can study (I prefer study at school rather than at home) or review what was taught in the lecture – but with my schedule, that’s not always possible.</p>

<p>Oh, in that case, I would say 4 maybe 5. I didn’t know you were a glutton for punishment ; )</p>

<p>If going to Clemson one thing you need to confirm is that you can even get from one class to another between hours. On large campuses, one class can sometimes be a 20 minute walk from another.</p>

<p>Generally three in a row is doable, four is usually stretching what you can put up with personally without a break in between.</p>

<p>I’ll be going straight from 8 until 3:20 on Fridays with only 10 minute breaks in between. I am sooooo not looking forward to those days but I didn’t have a choice because they were the only open times for those classes. And luckily there’s a choir practice in between so there won’t be any tests there and hopefully I can sneak in some last minute studying…</p>

<p>Man, good luck with that. I wouldn’t last doing that.</p>

<p>If you think that’s bad, tack research and an internship on top of it.</p>

<p>I think I might not change my schedule after all, I looked at the map of campus and this is what I found:</p>

<p>a) spread classes out (2 in a row, then break, then 2 more), have time for lunch and walk 3-4 times across a HUGE campus
b) don’t spread classes out and only walk 2 times across campus</p>

<p>I think I’ll keep B since switching classes could be risky that way</p>

<p>How bad is having two lectures and two labs in the same day?</p>

<p>That is nothing I have classes from 9 am - 2:30 every day right now.</p>

<p>I had one four hour summer anatomy class with like two hours of lecture and the rest lab and I wanted do kill myself with just one lab/lecture in a row. Two would be horrible.</p>

<p>First semester last year I had 4 classes in a row on Thursdays…I was in class from 8 AM to 4 PM, then I had a meeting from 4-5.</p>

<p>Yeah, I hated it. Don’t do more than two or three in a row.</p>

<p>This is a little off topic but for anyone who’s had say a 3 hour lab, was there ever a time when you wouldn’t need the full 3 hours to complete your assignment (and consequently got out early)?</p>

<p>I should have probably mentioned in my earlier post that while I’m going 7+ hours on Fridays I technically only have 2 academic courses during that time</p>

<p>Why are some people trying to avoid work? It’s not that bad.</p>

<p>haha I agree PlattsburghLoser honestly if I weren’t in class all the time I’d probably just procrastinate even more</p>