I find myself constantly studying, and passing up opportunities to go outside and instead continue studying. One of the perks of having no social life I guess. To the people who have social lives unlike me, how long do you typically study and how do you balance things out?
No longer in school, but while I was couple decades ago, I found that sitting at the desk studying all day was mostly inefficient. Some study said that people could concentrate only for 15-30 minutes and then the mind would just wondering around. Maybe you should try to spread your study hours and put in long breaks in between and talk to people and participate in some activities. Social skills in these days are more important than hard skills which could be obsolete in a short period when new technologies take over. My DD is in her 2nd year in college, and that’s what I always says to her to study for a few hours and take a few hours doing something else before study again (and also study different subjects for one hour each is more efficient study the same subject for a long period).
If the college uses credit hours, then 1 credit hour is supposed to correspond to 3 hours of work per week, including both in-class and out-of-class time. So a full load of 15 credit hours nominally takes about 45 hours total work per week.
The time you actually need may vary, since you may find some courses easier or harder than the estimate.
What’s an appropriate way to study for when you have 15 credit hours worth of classes? Cause honestly, I feel like I’m over working myself just spending all the time focusing on school.
Keep in mind that the government/accreditation assumes that for every academic hour in class, you need to do 2-3 hours of studying/reading/homework.
I would highly recommend the book by Cal Newport: “How To Become a Straight-A Student:
The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less”
It will help you with time management and how to be more efficient.
Are you studying or are you struggling to study? If you find yourself unable to complete problem sets, or rereading the same passages but not retaining them, then don’t keep beating your head against the wall and get help for the areas where you’re stuck or struggling.
I was one of those people who breezed through high school without cracking a book. When I got to college, I figured out (much too late) that I literally did not know how to study. Get the Newport book and seek out services offered by your college for academic support.
Finally, a way to address both your study issues and your social life at the same time might be to start or join some study groups.
Also read this post: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1920853-college-is-a-step-up-from-hs-16-tips-on-doing-well-in-college.html
Well, currently I’m taking precalculus algebra, geology, English, and general psychology. I feel solid at English, I study a lot for precalc and I’m content so far with my results. When it comes to the more textbook intensive courses, such as geology and psychology, I’m a bit worried about whether or not I’m studying correctly. I go over lecture notes and then read the textbooks to go over the whole chapter, and summarize the important stuff I read. I admit I read the whole chapter, but I don’t just gloss over it, I make an effort to go back and retain what I just read. Last semester I had a class that was heavily centered around a textbook, and using this same strategy I managed to get A’s on all the test. Well, only difference really was that now I summarize what I read, back then I just read it for the sake of covering it (we had to read a whole chapter before each lecture). Am I doing the right thing?
My son was given this advice by a pre-med senior just this week:
Study an hour a day for each of your main classes and use the rest of your time on yourself - enriching your education, working out, having fun. He said in his experience doing more than that will make you unhappy and not enjoy the experience. As I told my son, the challenge is to be sure that hour is constructive and it is sufficient for you to understand the material. Obviously, some nights there may be next to nothing while other nights 2 hours might be needed. My wife an I agreed this was pretty reasonable.
As was pointed out, 2 to 3 hours study per class is the common metric. You will take some classes that need less time and others with a heavy reading load require more. Less time is required to master content in areas of interest and skill. Essentially, you should spend the hours of study to perform well in every class. You are enrolled in college and spend lots of money on tuition. How well you perform and how much time you expend depends on you, not a one size fits all rule…
I have no social life but I do other things besides studying. I work, exercise, watch movies etc. I study however much I feel I need to in order to be as successful as I want to be in a class. For some classes that’s an hour a week, for others 1-2 hours a day.
Typically, studying should involve 2 to 3 hours is study led class meeting. Depending on the course such as PE or musical appreciation take less time, while classes with extensive reading or writing requirements will take more time. Math and science classes also my take extra time to master.
Fundamentally, however, a student is expected to take as much time and effort as needed to master content and satisfy requirements. In college, classes tend to be more independent in that they are not offered in a sequence such that content will not be reviewed sufficiently to make up for what was missed in an earlier course. Teach course is a guided independent study.
Truth is, students must understand that they are in school to learn and have paid lots of tuition for that opportunity. College will have social opportunities but students are not obliged to take advantage of every chance.