Spare time to attend lectures for Grad students?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the experiences of graduate students regarding their ability to attend undergraduate lectures while managing their research commitments. It explores the balance between research, coursework, and personal time within various graduate programs in mathematics and physics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Debate/contested, Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants indicate that graduate students often have little to no coursework, focusing primarily on research and writing.
  • One participant mentions spending around 70 hours a week on research, suggesting that time constraints make attending lectures challenging.
  • Another participant reflects on their own experience, noting they attended lectures and taught, except for their last semester.
  • A participant highlights that the ability to attend lectures may depend on the type of graduate program and the coursework requirements, mentioning different credit requirements for project and research options.
  • Some participants discuss the organization of their time, with varying approaches to balancing thesis work, teaching assistantships, and extracurricular activities.
  • One participant states they attend graduate courses rather than undergraduate ones, focusing on learning concepts without completing assignments, while others suggest that doing assignments could enhance understanding if time permits.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility of attending lectures, with some indicating it is not possible due to time constraints, while others share experiences of balancing coursework and research. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the optimal approach to managing time as a graduate student.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include varying definitions of coursework requirements across different programs, individual time management strategies, and the subjective nature of what constitutes a manageable workload.

pivoxa15
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This question is addressed to (past or present) graduate students doing MSc or Phd. I am aware that there isn't any coursework for these students? Or maybe very rare amount? In my uni there isn't any for maths or physics grad students.

Do you spend most of your time doing your research? Do you find time to attend (although not neccessarily enroll since they don't check enrollments during lectures) some of the undergrad lectures that you did not do when you were undergrads? If so how many of those subjects do you think you can fit in per semester? I am assuming you are doing all the coursework in those subjects and not only listen.
 
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Personally I don't have any time to attend lectures. I spend all my time doing research and writing up. If my uni was more flexible in allowing extensions to PhD candidature beyond 3 years I'd have attended some classes. But that's life :smile: I'm sure if I really wanted to I could have found time, but I'm already doing around 70 hours a week. If I tried to take on any more than that I'd lose my sanity (or what's left of it) :-p
 
When I was a grad student, I think I attended lectures and also taught, except maybe for the last semester.
 
Depends on the type of graduate programme your in and the amount of courses required to graduate? As a project option student there was quite a bit of coursework in first term(i'm required to have 6 half year credits in 18months...research option is 4half year credits). So if you pile all the credits into one term(i know students who did 4 first term) then for the other 16 montsh you have TAship/2-3 half terms/research or project. The remainder of the time is how you organize it? some poeple solely focus on their thesis, other have other jobs, others run extracurricular activity...i attend other graduate(rathrer than undergraduate) courses. Its 3 hours per course a week, but i don't do the assignments...i'm just there to learn the concepts adn try to code or find papers for the remainder of the free time i have.If you feel that doing the assignments would give you a better understanding of the topic your sitting in on, and you have the time...then IMO do the assignemnt. Personally if the assignmnet takes loinger than 4 hours i do not think its worth it.
 

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