Balancing Homework & Study Time for All Classes

[GirlInDoubt]

Approximately how many hours a day do you spend doing your homework and/or studying? How many hours do you spend daily (approximately, of course) on physics homework alone, math homework alone, studying for physics, studying for maths, studying/doing homeworking for the rest of your class (english, humanities, etc), and how many hours of studying/homework do you spend daily for ALL of your class in total? Thanks so much. Sorry my question is so confusing.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I spend around 15 hours a week outside of class on mathematics. Another 10 outside of class on Physics. Perhaps 5 on Chemistry, and I never really spent anytime outside of class on the humanities courses I took, save for the hour or two spent writing an essay. On average I would say that I spend about 4 hours per 1 hour of class for actual in-major courses. I have scored only one B in my life, and it was in Freshmen Composition.

 

[Dembadon]

I shoot for 2 hours a day per science/math subject and about 2 hours per week for non-science/math subjects. My work schedule is unpredictable so it's difficult to plan study time; I often take what I can get.

 

[Highway]

as many as it takes.

as long as you spend the hours you study isolated, and focused, you should be able to get a lot of work done. reading, practice problems, etc.

if you work with the tv on, or with facebook open, you might as well not be studying at all. i think that is the key. work when you are working, and you should be able to accomplish a lot.

 

[bael]

I spend around 15 hours a week outside of class on mathematics. Another 10 outside of class on Physics. Perhaps 5 on Chemistry

do you just work problems the whole time?

 

[Highway]

do you just work problems the whole time?

you can't do well in any of those classes if you don't do as many problems as humanly possible.

you need to have time either outside of lecture or whatever to learn the concepts, and then have to do every problem you can get your hands on until you are solving them all 100% correctly. this is if you are shooting for an A+ though, if you are going for a C+ you might want to use a different method.

 

[Sankaku]

On average I would say that I spend about 4 hours per 1 hour of class for actual in-major courses.

Between 3 and 4 hours of study per class-hour is a good amount to aim for, depending on the difficulty of the class. I have gotten away with less, but I have also had classes that took over a 5-to-1 ratio (I use a time-tracker to record how many hours I spend on each). In other words, around 40 hours of class/exam time and over 200 hours of study time over the course. Try not to take more than one of those in your schedule at a time.

I know people are eager to get through school and find a job, but if you can take 1 less course per term and focus on the others, you have a much better chance of doing well. Keep some balance.

 

[Oriako]

I feel in a decent position to offer a bit of advice, but I only just finished my first semester in university in a Double Honours Astrophysics and Pure Mathematics program, I took:
Calculus I, Honours Math: Proofs in Set Theory & Number Theory, Logic I: First-Order Logic, Introduction to General Chemistry, and Honours Physics: Classical Mechanics I.

I also almost didn't get an A in my chemistry class and I really pulled myself together at the end of the semester in Honours Math (spent around 40 hours studying with others from the class before the final, so I got 100% on it after receiving 84% on the midterm).

My main problem near the middle of the semester was that I was doing too much extracurricular reading and had committed to too much. I was reading through a graduate level convex geometry textbook, chapters from Rudin's Real Analysis, and trying to have friends, and oh wait- "That logic assignment that takes 15 hours is due on Friday... It's Thursday morning". I'm not sure if this is what a lot of people who are academically oriented do, but I would strongly recommend against it. You can study whatever extra stuff you want over breaks, and not during the semester, focus on the actual classes you have.

As for studying:
Chemistry: I probably studied an hour a week, I'm really surprised I pulled off an A, I pulled the "cram before the final exam" and it worked out well. I'm sure this would be the ONLY class that it would be possible to do that for.

Calculus I: I did the weekly assignments which I ripped off in about in an hour or two and didn't do anything else, this was because I did calculus in high school.

Logic I: A ridiculously time-consuming class, with assignments that were so massive you would literally have to spend a full day to finish them. I didn't really have a chance to "study" for the class outside of working on assignments for it, I probably spent 15 hours a week outside of class on this class.

Physics: I thought I was ahead in physics because I attended a summer program and "I knew my stuff", but I sure as hell got a wake up call when I got 80% on the midterm, so I studied really hard (probably 2-3 hours a day every day of the week) during the second half of the semester to make up for it. Remember to stay at or ahead of where the class is at. You know that if the class is lecturing a day ahead of where you are at in the material that you need to not talk to anyone, head to the library and catch up immediately.

Honours Math: I probably spent more time on that class, than all of the others combined. Probably 20-30 hours outside of class each week working on really challenging assignments with a study group (one of them took 20 hours over 2 days), attempting every single question in the textbook, reading over notes from the lectures, and trying to make up my own questions and solve them to gain some intuition and creativity for proofs. For me, the course was extremely challenging and difficult, but I LOVED IT. I feel so much more mathematically mature, and it really has helped me develop a passion for mathematics.

Overall, in the first part of the year (before Midterms) I spent around 20 hours outside of class, hung out with friends twice or three times a week and was studying a lot of extracurricular books in my free time. After getting my midterms back and seeing that I was heading for the B+ to A- range, I decided to get my act together, put away my graph theory and convex geometry books and let my friends know that I'd see them over the winter break. I probably spent about 50 hours outside of class studying for the second half of the semester and it paid off. I got 100% on my Honours Math, Logic, and Physics final exams, and got an A on Calculus and Chem.

Hopefully that is helpful to let you know how hard it is for someone with a decent level of intelligence to get a 4.0, but I'm sure next semester will not be as bad since I have learned a lot about prioritizing and studying efficiently.

Remember that social interactions and having friends are important! You need to take a break for a while, and I'm fairly convinced that time spent studying is in an inverse square relationship with how effective that time spent is. If you can spend 3 hours studying, then go for a run, come back and spend another 2 hours studying, then play a game of chess with your roommate/friend and play guitar/piano for a bit, then head back to the library/your room to study for another 3 hours, that will be WAY more productive than spending 9 hours straight studying and being burnt out for the last 4. Not to mention, you will enjoy your life more!

 

[mtayab1994]

I spend about 3 hrs a day on math and about 4 hrs a week on physics :O.

 

[Naty1]

To what level of education is your question directed?

The higher the level of education, generally the more time is required outside of class. In graduate school for engineering, I have worked on a single homework problem all day...six or eight pages of calculations////

 

[USN2ENG]

I know people are eager to get through school and find a job, but if you can take 1 less course per term and focus on the others, you have a much better chance of doing well. Keep some balance.

Exactly, one extra semester isn't going to kill anyone and it will definitely yield a much higher GPA and satisfying student life.

For me, I try to dedicate about 4-5 hours a day to studies. Last semester I took Calc 2, Phys 1, Intro Engineering, C++, and received a 4.0. I quit studying every day by 5pm. I still do a little on the weekends, but not as much.

I also have a 3hr round trip commute to school so taking more classes would not be fun on my personal life.

 

[cjl]

To what level of education is your question directed?

The higher the level of education, generally the more time is required outside of class. In graduate school for engineering, I have worked on a single homework problem all day...six or eight pages of calculations////

Agreed. I would say for undergrad, I averaged about 2 hours outside of class per class hour, and for graduate, it's closer to 4 for me (both in Aerospace engineering).

 

[GirlInDoubt]

I feel in a decent position to offer a bit of advice, but I only just finished my first semester in university in a Double Honours Astrophysics and Pure Mathematics program, I took:
Calculus I, Honours Math: Proofs in Set Theory & Number Theory, Logic I: First-Order Logic, Introduction to General Chemistry, and Honours Physics: Classical Mechanics I.

I also almost didn't get an A in my chemistry class and I really pulled myself together at the end of the semester in Honours Math (spent around 40 hours studying with others from the class before the final, so I got 100% on it after receiving 84% on the midterm).

My main problem near the middle of the semester was that I was doing too much extracurricular reading and had committed to too much. I was reading through a graduate level convex geometry textbook, chapters from Rudin's Real Analysis, and trying to have friends, and oh wait- "That logic assignment that takes 15 hours is due on Friday... It's Thursday morning". I'm not sure if this is what a lot of people who are academically oriented do, but I would strongly recommend against it. You can study whatever extra stuff you want over breaks, and not during the semester, focus on the actual classes you have.

As for studying:
Chemistry: I probably studied an hour a week, I'm really surprised I pulled off an A, I pulled the "cram before the final exam" and it worked out well. I'm sure this would be the ONLY class that it would be possible to do that for.

Calculus I: I did the weekly assignments which I ripped off in about in an hour or two and didn't do anything else, this was because I did calculus in high school.

Logic I: A ridiculously time-consuming class, with assignments that were so massive you would literally have to spend a full day to finish them. I didn't really have a chance to "study" for the class outside of working on assignments for it, I probably spent 15 hours a week outside of class on this class.

Physics: I thought I was ahead in physics because I attended a summer program and "I knew my stuff", but I sure as hell got a wake up call when I got 80% on the midterm, so I studied really hard (probably 2-3 hours a day every day of the week) during the second half of the semester to make up for it. Remember to stay at or ahead of where the class is at. You know that if the class is lecturing a day ahead of where you are at in the material that you need to not talk to anyone, head to the library and catch up immediately.

Honours Math: I probably spent more time on that class, than all of the others combined. Probably 20-30 hours outside of class each week working on really challenging assignments with a study group (one of them took 20 hours over 2 days), attempting every single question in the textbook, reading over notes from the lectures, and trying to make up my own questions and solve them to gain some intuition and creativity for proofs. For me, the course was extremely challenging and difficult, but I LOVED IT. I feel so much more mathematically mature, and it really has helped me develop a passion for mathematics.

Overall, in the first part of the year (before Midterms) I spent around 20 hours outside of class, hung out with friends twice or three times a week and was studying a lot of extracurricular books in my free time. After getting my midterms back and seeing that I was heading for the B+ to A- range, I decided to get my act together, put away my graph theory and convex geometry books and let my friends know that I'd see them over the winter break. I probably spent about 50 hours outside of class studying for the second half of the semester and it paid off. I got 100% on my Honours Math, Logic, and Physics final exams, and got an A on Calculus and Chem.

Hopefully that is helpful to let you know how hard it is for someone with a decent level of intelligence to get a 4.0, but I'm sure next semester will not be as bad since I have learned a lot about prioritizing and studying efficiently.

Remember that social interactions and having friends are important! You need to take a break for a while, and I'm fairly convinced that time spent studying is in an inverse square relationship with how effective that time spent is. If you can spend 3 hours studying, then go for a run, come back and spend another 2 hours studying, then play a game of chess with your roommate/friend and play guitar/piano for a bit, then head back to the library/your room to study for another 3 hours, that will be WAY more productive than spending 9 hours straight studying and being burnt out for the last 4. Not to mention, you will enjoy your life more!

Thanks so much for taking your time to give me such thorough informative! I really appreciate it! ^^

First of all, I really admire that you study advanced math during your free time. Wow! You really do enjoy maths, and have such a passion for it.

I want to ask you if you are dorming, and if so, do you have roommate? I find that having a roommate is kind of distracting, even though my roommate is quite quiet and does not like to talk much. And do you eat in the dinning halls? My friends always call me to eat with them, and we talk and eat together there for a long time. I really need to tell them that I can't do that so often anymore, probably once a month or something.

 

[GirlInDoubt]

Exactly, one extra semester isn't going to kill anyone and it will definitely yield a much higher GPA and satisfying student life.

For me, I try to dedicate about 4-5 hours a day to studies. Last semester I took Calc 2, Phys 1, Intro Engineering, C++, and received a 4.0. I quit studying every day by 5pm. I still do a little on the weekends, but not as much.

I also have a 3hr round trip commute to school so taking more classes would not be fun on my personal life.

Thanks! I agree with that statement completely. On the first day of Orientation, my peers were already speaking of taking more classes to graduate earlier, but I was already planning to take it in a challenging but not overwhelming pace for myself. Perhaps it is because they have had a better academic foundation than I do, but I still feel that not overwhelming yourself is more important to skipping a semester. Good grades are way more important.


Anyways, what class is C++?

 

[Oriako]

Thanks so much for taking your time to give me such thorough informative! I really appreciate it! ^^

First of all, I really admire that you study advanced math during your free time. Wow! You really do enjoy maths, and have such a passion for it.

I want to ask you if you are dorming, and if so, do you have roommate? I find that having a roommate is kind of distracting, even though my roommate is quite quiet and does not like to talk much. And do you eat in the dinning halls? My friends always call me to eat with them, and we talk and eat together there for a long time. I really need to tell them that I can't do that so often anymore, probably once a month or something.

Thanks, glad it helps. I am currently living at home, my brother is a philosophy student and my parents are pretty supportive of education (they run a school themselves), so it is a really good studying environment. I'm sure I would find it very distracting if I lived on campus, in that case I think studying at the quietest corner of the library would be a good idea (SHUT OFF YOUR PHONE & COMPUTER). There's no problem with having occasions like that with your friends, just not multiple times a week if you spend hours carrying on.

 

[-Dragoon-]

I tend to split it between math and physics and spend 4 hours/day on math and another 4 hours/day on physics.

 

[deluks917]

50 hours outside of class per week.

 

[bael]

I tend to split it between math and physics and spend 4 hours/day on math and another 4 hours/day on physics.

are you serious

 

[-Dragoon-]

are you serious

I'm not smart, thus I have to work twice or thrice as hard at the subject than the typical math and physics students.

 

[GirlInDoubt]

are you serious

How much time do you spend?

 

[GirlInDoubt]

I'm not smart, thus I have to work twice or thrice as hard at the subject than the typical math and physics students.

Your motivation, determination, and most of all, COMMITMENT are very admirable. I believe 4 hours a day to study for classes as rigorous as physics and math is reasonable. I'm curious, though: do you study for both classes in a single day? So 8 hours of study a day?

 

[-Dragoon-]

Your motivation, determination, and most of all, COMMITMENT are very admirable. I believe 4 hours a day to study for classes as rigorous as physics and math is reasonable. I'm curious, though: do you study for both classes in a single day? So 8 hours of study a day?

I split it between math and physics, and I don't do 8 hours straight. It is mostly spread out throughout the day (whether I'm on the subway, with a prof during office hours or TA, or just with a friend doing as many problems as possible).

I'm not too sure about this, but I also feel like I work during my sleep as well. I usually think about the problems I couldn't figure out just before I go to sleep, and surprisingly, wake up and know how to do some of them and know exactly where I went wrong. I remember reading some study where a person's brain does more work while they are sleeping, if they went to sleep just after they studying. So, I probably do study >8 hours, but at least 8 of those hours is subconscious studying.

 

[Hobin]

I'm not too sure about this, but I also feel like I work during my sleep as well. I usually think about the problems I couldn't figure out just before I go to sleep, and surprisingly, wake up and know how to do some of them and know exactly where I went wrong. I remember reading some study where a person's brain does more work while they are sleeping, if they went to sleep just after they studying. So, I probably do study >8 hours, but at least 8 of those hours is subconscious studying.

You might want to consider the possibility that you're simply tired when working on your those last few problems. Then, when you wake up refreshed, you will find such problems much easier. Hence the idea that the act of sleeping made you learn how to figure them out.

 

[bael]

How much time do you spend?

Last quarter I studied 2-3 hours a week and got a b average. I was only taking two classes though, a first chemistry and chem lab class.
After reading many of these threads on this website, I think the ideal way to study is to pick two or three classes a day, depending on how many credit hours you have, and spend 1.5 to 2.5 hours on each course, alternating what courses you study throughout the days of the week.

 

[lisab]

Thanks! I agree with that statement completely. On the first day of Orientation, my peers were already speaking of taking more classes to graduate earlier, but I was already planning to take it in a challenging but not overwhelming pace for myself. Perhaps it is because they have had a better academic foundation than I do, but I still feel that not overwhelming yourself is more important to skipping a semester. Good grades are way more important.


Anyways, what class is C++?

C++ is a programming language.

 

[Cuauhtemoc]

I was never able to maintain a schedule, I would study until I understood the subject well. If I found it to be too easy, like biochemistry or microbiology I wouldn't even study at all. If it was harder like calculus or thermodynamics I would spend maybe an entire week, studying it 10 hours a day.

 

[Quite_Whittle]

I spend about 8 hours a weekday for three days on Calculus/Linear Algebra self study and 8-9 hours on physics self study for the other two. On Saturdays and Sundays, I spend about 12 hours each on both my math and physics study. 3 hours for my actual school homework a week.

I'm always afraid that I won't retain information after "learning" it. So I continously study.