How many hours of research did you do a week(undergrad)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Unsure2534
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Research
AI Thread Summary
Balancing work, coursework, and research is a significant challenge for students managing 20 hours of work per week and 15+ academic units. Many participants in the discussion emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy balance to avoid jeopardizing academic performance. The type of research—whether for coursework or independent—is crucial, as it affects time commitments. Some suggest reducing course loads or extending the undergraduate timeline to accommodate research, which can enhance graduate school prospects. The potential for paid research opportunities is highlighted as a way to alleviate financial pressures while gaining valuable experience. Additionally, academic credit for research can help manage course loads, allowing students to focus on both their studies and research effectively. Overall, careful planning and prioritization are essential for success in this demanding academic and work environment.
Unsure2534
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I work 20 hours a week and take on average 15+ units a semester and while this is so far fine it is hard while also managing free time and personal relationships. I want to get into research but I'm unsure how many hours I can realistically do while maintaining a healthy balanced life. How did you manage doing research with full time school and part time work?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Unsure2534 said:
I work 20 hours a week and take on average 15+ units a semester and while this is so far fine it is hard while also managing free time and personal relationships. I want to get into research but I'm unsure how many hours I can realistically do while maintaining a healthy balanced life. How did you manage doing research with full time school and part time work?
It's not clear what kind of research you are doing.

Is it for coursework? Is it something separate from your studies?

If you are working 20 hours a week and taking 15+ credits during the semester, your plate is about full. If you bomb out of your undergraduate program, your research problem will have solved itself. Is that what you want?
 
SteamKing said:
It's not clear what kind of research you are doing.

Is it for coursework? Is it something separate from your studies?

If you are working 20 hours a week and taking 15+ credits during the semester, your plate is about full. If you bomb out of your undergraduate program, your research problem will have solved itself. Is that what you want?

As of right now I'm not doing any research. The research I want to do will involve singing up with a lab and it will be separate from my classes. Yes right now I work two full days friday and saturday and a half day shift sunday. I do most of my studying during the week at night and this still leaves me friday and saturday night plus sunday for myself or to catch up.

For those of you who did research during undergrad did you have to cut back on classes or do it mainly in the summer? I want to get into research to see if grad school will be an option for me(if I enjoy research) but I'm not sure how others who have done it managed it with classes.
 
I'm presently a senior in undergrad, been working with the same group since I was a freshy.

It's quite a tough balance. I decided to do a 4-year instead of 3-year undergrad so that I could take fewer credits per semester and do more research. I average 13 (barely a full-time student) but I also do research for 25-30 hours a week (~15 meeting with advisors, the rest independent work).

If you're already working 20 hours a week, you will have serious difficulty fitting enough research into your schedule to become a productive member of the group. Is staying for an extra semester or two and taking fewer credits an option? Have you sought out opportunities to get paid for research? At most schools (I believe), honors students have the ability to apply for research mentorships/scholarships/fellowships.
 
  • Like
Likes Unsure2534
I am going to look into any paid research, if I can get paid even minimum wage that will be a minor pay cut but enough for me to quit my job. Do you by any chance get paid for the hours you put in? I mean 30 hours with no pay would be tough. Thanks for the suggestion if getting paid is out of the question I will potentially talk to my advisor to take an extra year to finish so I can do research. I can also potentially cut back on my work schedule but not completely in order to pay my bills(financial aid only covers so much).

How many hours minimum would you expect from someone looking to join your lab in order to be productive?
 
Can you get academic credit for your research? At the college where I work, students who do research supervised by a faculty member can register for a certain number of credit hours (depending on how much work they're expected to do) of a special "Research" course. If so, would this allow you to reduce your course load?
 
After a year of thought, I decided to adjust my ratio for applying the US/EU(+UK) schools. I mostly focused on the US schools before, but things are getting complex and I found out that Europe is also a good place to study. I found some institutes that have professors with similar interests. But gaining the information is much harder than US schools (like you have to contact professors in advance etc). For your information, I have B.S. in engineering (low GPA: 3.2/4.0) in Asia - one SCI...
Bit Britain-specific but I was wondering, what's the best path to take for A-Levels out of the following (I know Y10 seems a bit early to be thinking about A-levels, but my choice will impact what I do this year/ in y11) I (almost) definitely want to do physics at University - so keep that in mind... The subjects that I'm almost definitely going to take are Maths, Further Maths and Physics, and I'm taking a fast track programme which means that I'll be taking AS computer science at the end...
I graduated with a BSc in Physics in 2020. Since there were limited opportunities in my country (mostly teaching), I decided to improve my programming skills and began working in IT, first as a software engineer and later as a quality assurance engineer, where I’ve now spent about 3 years. While this career path has provided financial stability, I’ve realized that my excitement and passion aren’t really there, unlike what I felt when studying or doing research in physics. Working in IT...

Similar threads

Replies
3
Views
2K
Replies
7
Views
2K
Replies
17
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
1K
Replies
2
Views
1K
Back
Top