<p>I’ve taken some 8 AM courses before, and I did better in those classes than in classes that took place around 2pm. I was more alert in the morning than I was in afternoon, especially since in the morning it’s still cool out and not too hot.</p>
<p>I’mOnABoat nailed the problem. Yes, it’s horrible. In school, it’s easy to go to class at 7 AM because, well, everyone else has to be there too. You’re in a whole another world after you enter your school building. In a giant campus, you don’t wanna be the one who has to wake up that early to go to class, especially FIVE days a week. </p>
<p>The classes I did worst in college were the ones that were at 7:45 AM. I’ve had only two semesters of them (MWF) and vowed never to do them again. Ended up skipping class at least once every week.
Then again, depends on if you’re a night owl or an early bird. A large majority of college-goers are night owls (they think they have infinite freedom from their parents, who aren’t there to yell at them to go to bed, so they hang around doing nothing till 2-3 AM), which makes it very, very difficult to rise for 7 AM classes.</p>
<p>I had a 7am rowing PE class this semester and absolutely loved it!</p>
<p>Early morning classes are no big deal if you can go to bed at a reasonable time. But that’s a big if. There’s not only the social distractions of college, but also a fair amount of noise in the dorms that might make it impossible to go to bed before midnight. (Last year my neighbor would host parties in her room until 3 or 4am on school nights. Argh.)</p>
<p>The reason morning classes are tough is because it’s hard to get to bed on time the night before. You can schedule your classes for 8AM but you can’t reschedule the late-night party that goes from midnight-3AM. You also can’t avoid all the people in your dorm who will make noise until 2AM, so you might as well join the club and sleep 2AM-9AM then take a class at 10 or 11.</p>
<p>^ Exactly why I never go out on Thursday nights.</p>
<p>“Every single person who says “I’m taking 8AM classes so I can be done by 11-12 everyday” WILL be ****ing and whining about it two weeks into the semester.”</p>
<p>Not true. If you’re a morning person, or hate spending the whole day in class, then you’ll love it. I sure as hell did.</p>
<p>I would think having an 8 am class wouldn’t help students acclimate to the work force, since most people at that age (18-22) naturally stay up later and wake up later, not because their parents aren’t around but because that’s what people that age do. Eventually they outgrow it and become adults who wake up a 7 am.</p>
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I hope you mean ‘naturally’ as in that’s what we as a society have come to expect of college students, not as in biologically programmed to.</p>
<p><a href=“http://sleepforscience.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/5598e427689cd7382cdb641dbb672c2a/pdf/carskadonschltrans1998.pdf[/url]”>http://sleepforscience.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/5598e427689cd7382cdb641dbb672c2a/pdf/carskadonschltrans1998.pdf</a></p>
<p>[Circadiana:</a> Sleep Schedules in Adolescents](<a href=“http://circadiana.blogspot.com/2006/03/sleep-schedules-in-adolescents.html]Circadiana:”>Circadiana: Sleep Schedules in Adolescents)</p>
<p>[Understanding</a> the teenage circadian shift or sleep-wake cycle - by Maggie Larkin - Helium](<a href=“http://www.helium.com/items/296058-understanding-the-teenage-circadian-shift-or-sleep-wake-cycle]Understanding”>http://www.helium.com/items/296058-understanding-the-teenage-circadian-shift-or-sleep-wake-cycle)</p>
<p>[Adolescent</a> Sleep Needs](<a href=“http://www.sleepdex.org/adolescent.htm]Adolescent”>http://www.sleepdex.org/adolescent.htm)</p>
<p>[K-12</a> - FamilyEducation.com](<a href=“Teens and Sleep - FamilyEducation”>Teens and Sleep - FamilyEducation)</p>
<p><a href=“http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/42910/sample/9780521642910ws.pdf[/url]”>http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/42910/sample/9780521642910ws.pdf</a></p>
<p>Here’s a general rule to those entering college: Don’t plan on doing things a certain way until you get there. Well, it might be okay to plan but don’t make your schedule dependent on you studying between breaks or at a certain time because you have no idea how college is or what you’re going to want to do with your time. You haven’t lived that life yet, so don’t assume you can just study at a certain time - you might have roommate problems or sports or clubs or the dining hall may only be open at a certain time or whatever. You have no idea what college life is like yet, and no person describing it to you is going to let you know. You will change, too. It’s fine to go in trying things a certain way. However, DON’T make a schedule that will force you to do anything that isn’t going to class (ex. studying, meals) at a certain time. You just have no way to know if that’s going to work.</p>
<p>And yes, as someone mentioned: you can get up and go to high school each day because everyone is there and it’s its own little world. In college you will be the only one (or one of few) and it will suck a lot. You also have less control over how early you can get to bed (loud dorms, parties, roommate) and you don’t want to miss out on those amazing spontaneous things like parties or whatever - it’s one thing to be a little tired at your 11AM class because you had a spontaneous party or went sledding on dining hall trays or whatever, it’s another to be essentially falling asleep/skipping your 8AM because of that (or the alternative option is missing out on all that stuff, and honestly that stuff is part of what makes college amazing).</p>
<p>There’s a reason that <em>most</em> (not all, I know) people who have actually been in college say that 8AM classes are a nightmare. Even people who have taken them say that they suck. Notice <em>many</em> (again, not all) of the people who are saying 8AMs might be okay haven’t actually experienced college, and you won’t be able to really know until you’re there.</p>
<p>8am classes are only bad if you have to get up at 5 to get to them.</p>
<p>I am going to be a Senior (in college) in the fall and had an 8:40 AM class this past semester. I managed to attend every class for the entire semester, but I was not particularly happy doing it. While, no, 8:40 AM is not that early, you have no control over the other people in your dorms. My dorm’s quiet hours didn’t start until 1 AM, which means that people were pretty much screaming until 1 AM when they were told to be quiet. Therefore, it was difficult to get enough sleep, not because I didn’t have the discipline, but because of the people around me. </p>
<p>Also, everything is scheduled a lot later in college than it is in high school. While you may be going to sleep at 10:30 PM in high school and getting up at 6:30 AM for a 7:30 AM class, it can be extremely difficult to do that in college. Meetings can start at 10 or 10:30 PM and last an hour. By the time you get back to your room, it can be 11 PM or midnight. </p>
<p>In my three years at college, I think I only went to bed maybe 5 times before midnight (most nights are 1 AM or later). Once again, this is not because I didn’t try to go to bed earlier, but because of meeting time constraints and the people in my dorm. </p>
<p>So pretty much what you have to remember is that your schedule in high school is absolutely no indicator of your schedule in college because the atmosphere is so different. It is possible to get up and go to early classes if you have the discipline, but don’t be surprised if you are jealous of your peers that get to sleep until 9 AM every day.</p>
<p>I had 9 AM classes these past two semesters and already I hated it…</p>
<p>Its not the worst thing in the world, but it pretty much sucks. I’m someone who can barely do 9:30 am classes. Terrible!! (for me at least). </p>
<p>But doesnt anyone else find it odd that in High School it wasnt that hard to get up for school that started around 8 or 9 everyday and college its difficult to even want to get up?</p>
<p>" You also can’t avoid all the people in your dorm who will make noise until 2AM, so you might as well join the club and sleep 2AM-9AM then take a class at 10 or 11."</p>
<p>Depends on the person and whether they can get to sleep easily or not. I can literally fall asleep even if there are loud noises around–as soon as it’s 12-1am, I’m automatically out like a light, lol. At 11pm, my eyes are already getting heavy.</p>
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<p>An addendum to this: Classes at my high school didn’t start until 8:10 AM and so I chose to take a class (jazz band) that started at 7 AM. I never was forced to and I’ve been getting myself up for school by myself since I was about 7. Actually, before I got a car, I would never have made it to school on time if I didn’t wake up my dad to take me there… so I think that I have the discipline to go to all of my classes, though obviously, I don’t know for sure.</p>
<p>But… I naturally wake up at about 7 or earlier even if I stay up really late. Most people sleep in in the summer, but I simply can’t… even if I stay up until 2 am or 3.</p>
<p>I guess we’ll see. I’d rather have 8 am every day than just a few days, because I figure it’ll be easier to wake up to that. And three of my 8 am classes are University 101, which I’ve been told on numerous occasions is basically just a class to get an easy A.</p>
<p>On top of that, I am in no means a partier. I don’t drink, so that type of thing should never be an issue for me… and earplugs are one’s best friend for getting rid of noise. I can usually sleep through really loud noises and if I can’t, earplugs always do the trick. So I’m hoping I can get adequate sleep, but I guess I’ll have to wait it out and see how the semester goes. At the very least, I’ll know at the end of the semester if I prefer an early or a late schedule.</p>
<p>imdamoos, I have only clicked on the first couple of links, but they all seem to be discussing the sleep needs of teenagers as they are hitting puberty. One of them said remarks towards the end that around age our sleep needs decrease and we are good to get up early again. Isn’t that the opposite of what you claimed?</p>
<p>I am happy to believe that students aged 12-18 might need more sleep than adults, but I could not find a single study demonstrating that this sleep needs to be gotten at a specific time of the day. I recall being perfectly capable of going to bed at 10 in high school, but staying up till 11 anyway to watch TV or chat with friends after a busy day of school work and extra-curricular activities. Thus I am much more inclined to attribute bed times to sociological rather than biological factors.</p>
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<p>I could be wrong, but haven’t studies shown that teenagers and young adults release melatonin later than children/adults?</p>
<p>I haven’t started college yet, but I know my college has 7:30 AM classes… I really hope I don’t get anything earlier than 9 or 10. I had to get up at 6:30 during high school and it just about killed me. I had 3 absences because I literally just slept through my alarm and woke up at 10…</p>
<p>I took an 8 AM class this spring. I’m never doing it again. :(</p>
<p>You will undoubtedly at least once stay up to study, but think about what happens in the morning too.</p>