<p>For those of you already in college, what's your balance of school and personal time like? I know it varies from college to college, whether you attend full-time or part-time, and so on, but I just want to hear about different people's situations of how much time you're generally spending in classes a week (or a day).</p>
<p>Like, do you only attend two classes a day? Or are you in classes from 6 in the morning to 5 in the evening?</p>
<p>I want to know because I want an idea of how much free time you have (or possibly could have) in college as opposed to high school.</p>
<p>It'll depend from semester to semester, but generally you'll have alot more free time than in H.S.... but the catch is, there's alot more studying involved too (especially when I didn't study at all in H.S.).</p>
<p>I usually take 15-16 credits, which is usually 15-18 hours of class time depending on if there is a lab. This fall I'll be taking 16 credits, with the following schedule: </p>
<p>MWF: Class from 8am to 11am, and noon to 1pm
TR: Class from 8am to 11:20am, and noon to 3 on Thursday</p>
<p>I could have spread the classes out a lot more but I work in the athletic dept for football and usually have to report by 2pm so I tried to get all of my classes done before then. With this schedule I have time to get lunch and study or take a nap before going to work. My job requires well over 40 hours a week, so in the fall most of my free time is dedicated to studying. In the spring I work about 20 hours/week but only for 4 weeks so I have more time for going out to movies, hanging out, etc. I still find time to be social and have fun despite the hectic fall schedule. It sucks having to miss class on Fridays when we travel for road games, but luckily all of my professors last year were understanding and worked with me. </p>
<p>But basically it varies from semester to semester for everyone. 15 credits is "average" and depending on your major and/or study habits, you'll have more or less free time than others. But in general, without 40-hour per week job, you'll have much more "free time" than high school. Except you'll usually have to study a bit more.</p>
<p>If you are going to be a full-time student, then the expected amount of work, both in class and outside of class, is going to be 40 hours a week or more. A common load at the undergraduate level is 1/3 of that time in class and 2/3 outside of class. Even though sometimes you'll be doing group projects or doing something that happens at a specific time, you're going to be given a lot of latitude to figure out your own schedule. </p>
<p>If you are disciplined and focused, you will have plenty of room to pursue your own interests. If you are spending 30 hours a week in school now and not having much study time during the school day, and you're doing 6 or 8 hours of homework a night, you may end up with a lot more free time than you're used to now. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you're not doing much work outside of school now and you're relying on the structure of high school in order to get much done, you may be in for a surprise. If you tend to goof off a lot when you could be working, it's going to feel as if you're studying all the time -- but most of the time when I've talked to someone who says they're studying all the time (while taking fewer than 24 hours), I've found that they're dribbling time away between classes or while sitting with the book in front of them and a cell phone in their hand or something. (Or their definition of "all the time" isn't remotely like mine. Too many people have said things to me like "I don't feel like my grade on this exam reflects how much time I spent studying for it" -- and yes, there are students at top colleges who seem to believe that that's how they're being graded -- "I spent a whole four hours!" for me to think the kind of discipline I'm sure many students here have is universal in the college population.)</p>
<p>Monday: 8:30am until 2pm
Tuesday: 11:30am until 2pm
Wednesday: 11:30am until 2pm
Thursday: 8:30am until 11:00am
Friday: 1pm until 2pm</p>
<p>Which is about 16 credits for me.
I purposefully tried getting all my classes back-to-back, since I'll be living off-campus this year and don't want to have two-three hour gaps between classes and nothing to do besides shovel out $30 for a cab to go home.</p>
<p>In terms of just time spent in class, I have loads of free time outside of that (I have taken between 12-15 credits every semester, taking 14 in the fall), but along with everything else I do, I am usually going straight from about 9am to 7pm everyday. I have 2-3 classes per day (this fall, I only have ONE class on fridays!!!) but I also have a part-time job, office hours to do for an organization I'm in, meetings for different organizations, then of course meals, friend time, homework/reading, etc.</p>
<p>I'm taking 5 classes in the fall
M: 10:30-12, 3:30-4:30 (hopeing to use the break to get ahead on homework)
T: 12-4
W 9-12 with a half hour break, 3:30-4:30
R: 12-4</p>
<p>I hope to do some research Fridays (maybe TR mornings), possibly get a part time job for the evening, continue in the tutoring program that I'm in (go to a local public school during the school day), and join a few clubs, and have fun. This semester will be interesting with 2 math classes.</p>
<p>kiz, in terms of actual time in class, it's much less than in high school. But you will most likely spend waaaay more time on out-of-class work, like studying, reading, writing papers, problem sets etc. If you get involved in extra-curricular leadership positions they will most likely require alot more of your time than such things did in high school. If you are working, you will have to fit that in as well. With college as a whole, I am much busier than I was in high school, despite being in classes only 1-3 hours a day as opposed to 6-7 in hs. It's all the other stuff you do in college that makes it busier.</p>
<p>Yeah, I've begun to realize that after reading over what all of you were saying. I'm really glad that I'm getting insight like this from all of you, thank you again. =)</p>
<p>First semester I somehow ended up with plenty of free time to hang out/play video games/go downtown/etc. than I ever did in high school, even on top of 4 classes, lab, 2 practices a day, SGA, and newspaper. Second semester, however, I rushed a fraternity, so that ate up the rest of my free time. If I wasn't doing work for one of the previously listed things, I was at my fraternity house.</p>