<p>Do you guys study a lot compared to other top colleges? on average how many hrs per day?</p>
<p>just asking b/c im interested in this college..I studied a lot in high school but i don't think i can last in U of C if what the "top 366 colleges" said was true (i know "when fun comes to die" quote is untrue, based on previous threads).</p>
<p>Why would you bother going to college if you don’t want to study? Isn’t that why people go to college?</p>
<p>I actually wanted to know this too. ^^I doubt the OP doesn’t want to study but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want his college life to revolve around studying.</p>
<p>Personally, I do study a lot and spend a lot of time writing papers.
It all depends on course load and how intense the assignments are that you’re given though…</p>
<p>Most people I know that achieve a good GPA (3.3+) study at least 30 hours a week. Probably 50 or more hours for 3.7+.</p>
<p>It does, of course, matter what your major is, what electives you’re taking, etc.</p>
<p>For me, it’s more like 10-30, depending on the week.</p>
<p>FWIW, when my friends (at comparably elite colleges) and I compare workloads, it’s remarkably similar. At any elite college you should expect some challenging classes with occasionally/often hefty papers, readings, and problem sets. What sets Chicago apart a little bit is a) all students are taking Core, so even the math/science kids are taking reading/writing heavy classes, and b) there aren’t all that many “gut” classes where class is optional and you can still come out with an A.</p>
<p>There are a few, though. If I told you about them, I’d have to kill you ;-)</p>
<p>i see and if i pmed you…</p>
<p>As a UofC undergrad senior, I’d like to echo unalove’s sentiments. There are certainly classes that require five hours of work before every class period, but there are others that are significantly easier. It’s pretty comparable to other peer institutions in terms of academic workloads. On the other hand, I think people usually LIKE (<em>shock</em>) their classes here, and having students talk about their academic work outside of class makes it seem like there’s more work than is actually required.</p>
<p>So summarily, it’s not overwhelming. It’s definitely not EASY to maintain a high GPA, but can still be balanced with sports/clubs/relationship if you can allot enough time to finish your work.</p>
<p>If you went to an academically rigorous high school, UC will be an easier transition than if you just came from a regular public high school. If you’re taking honors courses, expect to study a lot–and by a lot I mean math alone can take you 25+ hours/week. </p>
<p>There are a lot of exceptions to the rule (depending on how fast you read, write, memorize, and comprehend of course), but here has been my own experience:</p>
<p>The quarter = 10 weeks + finals week:
Beginning of the quarter, the load will be light–perhaps around 6 hours/week? (week 1-2.5, ish)
Around midterms, you’ll be studying/writing at least 20/week for a decent to good grade. (week 3-8, ish)
Between midterms in classes, things will get lighter, unless you have a midterm/paper in another class. Depends what’s due when, midterms in classes don’t coincide with one another. Sometimes you can have 2 tests and 2 papers due the same day, other times it could simply be one paper. Expect it to be very inconsistent.
Between big tests and finals, things will lighten for maybe a week. (somewhere between week 8 & 9?) Unless you want to get ahead on reviewing and studying for the final.
Finals week: expect to spend one or several all-nighters for a decent to good grade and spending as much time as possible from week 9 and a half to finals exam only studying and eating. (week 11). Oh, and sleeping–sort of.</p>
<p>Side note: I’m a 2nd year and took: (autumn quarter) honors math, physics, hum; (winter q) math, physics, hum, art history; (spring q) intro to microecon, math, chinese 103, core bio</p>
<p>You have to take into account also that in high school you go to class 5 days a week for about 7 hours each day. In college you might go to class for about 15-16 hours per week (even with a lab) and that’s if you take 4 classes.</p>
<p>When I think about it, I studied between 40-50 hours per week during high school, counting class time. And I went to a crappy rural high school, though I took classes that my school’s administrators didn’t design to be taken together. I’m still worried about the transition, but if we’re talking 40-50 hours per week of studying, it appears as though I can handle it.</p>
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<p>I’m glad you’ve anticipated that. I think you might also find, as I have found, that your goals, motivations, and, for lack of a better phrase, “what makes you tick,” might shift or get rearticulated in the process, and your concept of “responsibility” might even be redefined. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It can actually be an extremely important lesson for your own future.</p>
<p>One of the most important lessons is that grades and academics aren’t everything, not even at the University of Chicago. For example, one of my good friends more or less supports a university organization from the ground up and devoted lots and lots of time to it. It’s an organization that benefits the entire university community and without this person, campus life would not be the same. </p>
<p>It turns out that this person devotes so much time to this organization that class becomes optional. I’ve been in classes with this person, and I think it’s safe to say that she shows up less than half of the time, and when she is in class it is clear that her mind is on the organization. I have no idea how well she’s done in her classes; I imagine she’s not getting A’s but I also know that she manages not to fail.</p>
<p>Anyway, long story short: the University did not overlook her in thanking her for her efforts with a prestigious award. When she goes on to do whatever she is going to do, her resume will sing her praises for her.</p>
<p>hahhaha well if you had my life you’d be almost studying 8 hours a day plus 7 hours of HS plus other activities. LOL College is easy compared to what I’m going through.</p>
<p>Uh…I never had to study, really. The only studying I really did was in the morning before going to school, or during school a few periods before the class. My school was…less than intense. </p>
<p>College is going to be fun :P</p>
<p>Hey firsties, Don’t believe it when people tell u that you’ll have to pull all-nighters. Not everyone does and it isn’t a necessity in order to study/have enough time to write papers. The latest I’ve stayed up working is 4:00am and that’s when the next day’s class didn’t start until 1:00pm so I had enough time to get some sleep. I’m going to be a 3rd year and I’ve got sports and music at U of C too plus I have my GPA’s over 3.5 so you don’t have to pull all-nighters… Just manage your time well and you’ll be able to get plenty of sleep.</p>
<p>So usually do you have time to hang out in the weekends and sometimes in the day? how much free time do you have a wk?</p>
<p>Yeah, you have plenty of time to hang out. Lots of people do very little work on Fridays and Saturdays, but many spend a good portion of Sunday studying and doing a bit of catching up. You have plenty of free time a week, although there’s a lot of studying too. Even if you study 5-7 hours a day on weekdays, go to class for 2-3, then you have 6-9 hours of free time a day, assuming you get 8 hours of sleep a night. But you really don’t have to work that much.</p>
<p>And Cosmos is right for the most part. Personally, I’ve had maybe 1 or 2 all-nighters, but those were my fault. They’re avoidable if you’re responsible. I usually sleep at least 8 hours a night, which is VERY FAR from the average of 5-6 hours of sleep I got a night during high school.</p>
<p>and again, I cannot stress how much your mileage may vary when it comes to how you allocate your time and where it disappears to. The common theme here is that we all have enough time to do the things we need/want to do, and if we sacrifice one thing (sleep, class) for another (studying, crew practice) we know it’s our “fault” and how to amend the situation.</p>
<p>My “typical” day Monday-Thursday includes class and paid work from about 9-5pm. Then, I usually have dinner and an activity, club meeting, or two, taking about 2-3 hours out of my day. Some time around 8 or 9pm I start homework, and I scale myself to finish by midnight. By “scaling” I mean I prioritize and figure out what’s really important and what I should skim; what’s due tomorrow and what I can push off.</p>
<p>Fridays are usually very light for me. I usually have 1-2 hours of class in the morning, but after that I might be totally free, I might be doing something during the day elsewhere in the city, I also might be working on a final or a paper if I have one coming up. Saturday is more of the same: if I have a lot of work, I spend my time doing it, and if I don’t, then I’m up to other things. Sunday is my consistent work day, though I usually don’t get started until 1pm.</p>
<p>That’s just me and my situation, for an example. I don’t think my example is highly unusual, though.</p>
<p>I just hope I can keep up my early rising habits. This summer I’m operating on a schedule of sleeping from midnight to 7:30, and that works well. Those morning hours would be GREAT for studying and laundry.</p>
<p>I keep a similar schedule, though I’m hardly efficient in the morning ;-)</p>