Question about studying engineering

<p>People say if you study everyday and keep up with the syllabus you retain information better than those who study a week before the exam, and that you don't really need to study as much during exam week.. I plan to study 5-7 hours daily in chemical engineering (I'm starting this year as a freshman at Purdue), but does it work the same way as different majors? I know you have to have a deeper understanding of the concepts in engineering in order to apply them during exams in order to do well, but even if I have that understanding, will there unavoidably be intense studying near exam week? My point is, if I can cram like hell a week before the exam, will I do as well as I would have if I studied everyday (around a month before the exam) like the exam was the very next day?</p>

<p>My experience has told me that the study 5-7 hours a day route is very difficult to maintain, especially if you want a normal social life with a few extracurricula activities thrown in the mix. Either due to laziness or the nature of an engineering curriculm students typically end up cramming the night before an exam let alone a week before it. When you are taking 4 or so technical classes with 4 problem sets due each week, at least 1 or 2 lab reports, big projects for some classes, and 8-10 exams per semester, things add up. You invariable fall behind and end up having to cram.</p>

<p>5-7 hours studying a day? **** man thats a lot. I dont know how u guys do it because i study for about an hour and take a break...and repeat the cycle. I passed my 1st year of college though =]</p>

<p>5-7 hours of studying per day is pretty unrealistic. It can be done, but not if you want a balanced college life. In fact, it's possible you'd do better in your academics by studying a little less but by doing it in study groups, office hours, etc (i.e. social learning). You don't want to burn yourself out.</p>

<p>As spe07 mentioned, just going to classes, doing homework, eating, and sleeping is already going to take up ~17 hours a day, so that only gives you 7 hours for everything else (including studying).</p>

<p>I thought 5-7 hours was the norm for engineering.. am I horribly mistaken?</p>

<p>Yes. Tone that down to 3-4 hours, and you'll still be honor-roll material.</p>

<p>Studying structural engineering, even taking 19 hours of classes, there were times that I went <em>days</em> without studying, and still made A's with a couple of B's, at Rice, which is a tough school, and I'm not brilliant, by any means. I'm just hard-working, and even then, everyone needs a break.</p>

<p>The fact is that burn-out is REAL. It's not something you can just "press through", and if you spend several years burning the candle at both ends and spending every waking minute studying, you're going to go down in flames and despise engineering.</p>

<p>College is FUN. It is a BLAST. Even for those of us who went on to be in all the honor societies and get admitted to all the top grad programs and ended up getting a really lucrative job with a really prestigious firm, college was a time for FUN, too. Please, please, PLEASE don't forget that, and don't think that just because so much is riding on your college education (because honestly, it's that way for pretty much EVERYBODY), that you can't enjoy the process along the way.</p>

<p>Please look forward to it. Honestly, you're far too nervous for the great adventure you're about to partake in, and it IS a great adventure. Enjoy it. Please.</p>

<p>Come to think about it, the only time that I do any studying is the few days leading up to exams. The rest of the time is spent grinding through problem set after problem set and writing up 20 page lab reports. My philosophy has tended to be that if I start studying 3 days before an exam I am way ahead of things, 2 days before and I am going to be fine, the day before and things are normal. People don't study nearly as much as you would expect, and I have done extremely well in engineering classes.</p>

<p>
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I plan to study 5-7 hours daily in chemical engineering

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<p>easier said than done. I havn't taken any engineering courses yet(rising sophomore) but i found that it's almost impossible to even study one hour every single day. You're just not going to have the time. Way too much distraction(hanging out with friends, television, computer).You can do it for a week or so but you'll quickly get bored and NATURALLY, you'll end up studying a few days before exams. At least this applies to me and all of my friends.</p>

<p>By the way, how did scheduling work out?...I remember you had some issues regarding placement for different courses you're taking this fall.</p>

<p>I hope I can transfer my study habits from highschool to college. I just do homework when available. If I have a test I will usually only study the day before the test. I get almost all A's too.</p>

<p>yeah, i think most of my time spent frosh year was going to class and trying to figure out the hw.</p>

<p>when i did the hw i considered that 'studying' and didnt actually review anything until at max 1 week before the midterms.</p>

<p>I am doing all of my core courses BEFORE I transfer to a university to start the engineering program. Will this make things easier or harder for me? I'm thinking it MIGHT make things a little more relaxed, but I don't know, though.</p>

<p>Shackleford-
I would say it's a good idea. Taking core classes at CC will be easier, and less expensive. Just make sure you are able to transfer all your classes easily. I've had no problem getting As in most core classes at CC, even with studying only a couple hours a week. You just miss out on the college life, which makes things kind of suck.</p>

<p>If u have to study 5-7 hours a day to keep up, then the major prolly isn't for you.</p>

<p>Wow this is all very weird. I've been reading these forums for like 18 months and the general consensus I've picked up is that 5-7 hours was the norm, and most people did that much just to break a 3.0. I want as many A's as possible but I thought 5-7 hours was what most average students would be doing.. how much do those "cut-throat premeds" study everyday?</p>

<p>By the way, the courses I was registered for are as follows:</p>

<p>Calc 1 - MA 161
Gen Chem 1 - CHM 115
Eng Problem Solving - ENG 126
Eng Lecture - ENG 100
Intro Phys - PHYS 149</p>

<p>I realized that calc, chem, problem solving, and lecture were the norm. Nothing wrong with not getting placement into MA 165 and CHM 123. I just don't know if I need intro physics in preparation of Mechanics second semester; I should've had a writing composition class in place of that.</p>

<p>yeah that intro to physics class isn't going to help you with mechanics AT ALL.Total waste of time.</p>

<p>...except that engineering mechanics is completely based on physics. So if you don't know the material yet, then you need to take the course. So, <em>not</em> a total waste of time.</p>

<p>5-7 hours of studying? Good luck with that!</p>

<p>From my experience most engineering students will grind away at the problem sets and then pull 3-9 hour study marathons one or two days before an exam.</p>