Recommended Hours of studying per week

[TheSand]

Hi,

 

I'm an undergrad that works 24 hrs on the weekend as and the nature of my job allows me to study 7 h both days, however, to make up the recommended 3 hours of study/1 hour of class I get this monstrosity of a schedule below. I think the hours tally 40 h/week without classes. Does/did anyone else have such a ridiculous schedule or do I not need that amount of studying to do well in undergrad. I tried the search, but it was unhelpful. p.s. I know that the level of studying required differs per individual, but I'm just looking for an average. This isn't even a full course load and whenever I do have any ecs, it's at the expense of sleep which annihilates my schedule for the rest of the week

[robclem21]

This type of scheduling is beyond neurotic and completely unrealistic. I think you know that is ridiculous and there is a 0% chance you stick to this schedule. Even if this sleep and eating schedule doesn't mess you up big time, this type of schedule will burn you out in a week. You have literally scheduled every minute of your day. How do you plan to go from gym to eating in 0 minutes with no time to prepare, or make, or buy food?

To answer your initial question, there is no way for us to know the exact number of hours you will need to study. That varies by each person and the courses you are taking. Some people do well studying a few hours a week, others need an hour or two to review nightly. Rather than insanely scheduling every second of the day, just try to squeeze in studying when you can and see how it goes.

[Aconitase]

Are you trolling or for real? No one has a schedule like this I’ve ever seen. 

 

In terms of studying everyone is different. Some people barely study and do well and others study all day and fail. You should be able to figure out how much time you need by seeing how long it takes you to cover the material

[TheSand]

16 minutes ago, robclem21 said:

This type of scheduling is beyond neurotic and completely unrealistic. I think you know that is ridiculous and there is a 0% chance you stick to this schedule. Even if this sleep and eating schedule doesn't mess you up big time, this type of schedule will burn you out in a week. You have literally scheduled every minute of your day. How do you plan to go from gym to eating in 0 minutes with no time to prepare, or make, or buy food?

It's not a troll, but it is pretty crazy, isn't it?

I worked precarious temp jobs in the GTA for the past few years, so my eating/sleep/gym schedule is the most normal and appealing for me. I'll probably cut the study time in half. 

 Other than the ridiculous study time/commute time, everything else may as well be my summer schedule only difference is that I sleep from 2-10 everyday to maintain a consistent sleep schedule.

 

28 minutes ago, Aconitase said:

Are you trolling or for real?

Never understood the purpose of trolling. Tried it once when I was 17, never saw the appeal.

 

[Aconitase]

7 minutes ago, TheSand said:

It's not a troll, but it is pretty crazy, isn't it?

I worked precarious temp jobs in the GTA for the past few years, so my eating/sleep/gym schedule is the most normal and appealing for me. I'll probably cut the study time in half. 

 Other than the ridiculous study time/commute time, everything else may as well be my summer schedule only difference is that I sleep from 2-10 everyday to maintain a consistent sleep schedule.

 

Never understood the purpose of trolling. Tried it once when I was 17, never saw the appeal.

 

If it works for you then more power to you. Asking people how much you should study is hard to answer as everyone is different. I barely studied in undergrad and others I know studied all day. We both ended up doing fine so depends on the individual. It should become very apparent by your first set of tests if you need to study more 

[Edict]

Everyone needs a different amount of time to study to achieve the same result. Some people are just better at memorization, others are better at reasoning, others are better at sports or socializing. All I can say is that study as much as you can handle. If something is unsustainable, re-evaluate your path. 

Don't underestimate the power of a strong work ethic either. If you are able to pull this schedule off long term, it will pay off in the end. Employers want people who have a great work ethic over someone who is smart but lazy. Even if one day you decided not to go to med, if you earn a med school level GPA, you can change directions quite easily to a different career path. 

[iSpawnTrapInMW2]

Definitely agree with Edict, sustainability above all else. Also, maybe split up the studying blocks? Not sure an 8 hour study period is the most effective use of your time, its unlikely that anyone can focus that long and stay productive. 

[foasenf]

Try changing your mentality from "number of hours spent studying" to "task-orientated studying." This means, instead of saying you will study for six hours, X number of days a week, you will instead analyze what needs to get done (i.e., chapter 4 from yesterday's lecture, etc) and decide when to use your free time to complete these individual tasks.

In this case, it helps to then plan out on what days you want to complete specific assignments or chapters of studying, as it gives you a better picture of whether or not you're keeping up and what is and is not getting done.

[Monkey D. Luffy]

Personally, I could never understanding scheduling a fixed number of hours studying every week. It changes week to week, sometimes you'll be slammed and sometimes you'll have a lighter workload. It's admirable that you're planning out time to get your work done, but try to make it a bit more flexible if you can because sometimes things will come up and you'll have to adjust accordingly.

[m_jacob_45]

Some advice that I got was to treat undergrad like a 9-5 job. So, you should essentially be spending about 40 hours a week on school (including both attending classes and studying for them: 8 hours a day x 5 days per week= 40). However you want to divide that out and fit in your gym time, job, etc is up to you. 

[Intrepid86]

I wasted a lot of time throughout undergrad, medical school, and residency making schedules only to abandon them after a few days (or in some cases just a few hours later). When I say a lot of time, I mean a comically large amount of time, and nothing less. The most important thing is to have clear priorities of what you need to accomplish, and to be adaptable, because it's not possible to schedule every little thing that comes into your life.

 

TL;DR:  I don't need a plan, just a goal, the rest will take care of itself.

[freewheeler]

Just plot the due dates for you different assignments and exams in a monthly calendar at the beginning of the semester when you get your course syllabi, and then schedule off days in each week/month accordingly to dedicate to each exam or assignment as appropriate. That way once the semester starts, you don't have to think about things, but can just refer to your plan of what to focus on and when, and get things done. You can schedule your tasks in more detail than that if you desire if it helps keep you accountable, but isn't necessary.

[TheSand]

Just to clarify: all of the courses I'm enrolled in, in their outline, tell the students that to do well 2-3 hours of study per every hour of class time is recommended. I'm in class 12 hours/week, so, according to the recommendations, I should be studying 36 hours/week. MINIMUM 

To me, that seemed a bit ridiculous, so I wanted to get the experience of current med students/pre-meds. 

Did anyone that got med school level GPAs ever have to study that much during undergrad? 

[freewheeler]

I didn't keep track of my time spent studying, but I can tell you that when I wasn't commuting, volunteering, working, or performing activities of daily living, I was studying.

That being said, looking back it certainly would have been possible to engage in more recreational activities with a lower GPA and still be admitted.

[Bambi]

In undergrad, as in med school, I always had to work very hard. While friends were partying, I wqs studying, so I lost that set of friends. My goal was med school. I was not the brightest lightbulb. I worked hard to the point of exhaustion every semester. Although we were poor, and I was living on student loans, I did not work during the school year - as I wouldn't take the chance of using my energies for money not matter how badly I could have used it. Whenever possible as a strategic decision, I skipped lectures and used that time to learn the material in a more time efficient manner. To say I was motivated is an understatement. Although previously I had been a so so student, I became a straight A student and was accepted on my first attempt. My ECs and Volunteerring hsd some down time, which I would use to study. In summary, I was always studying.

[hartk48]

I appreciate what you are trying to do here, but I believe it will only make things difficult for you. As mentioned above, there are many variables you need to account for, which is just unrealistic. Time management is a very, very important skill that you will need (looks like that isn't any news to you!) but your approach has to be more flexible rather than rigid.

What you can do proactively is choose your courses wisely (lighter courses, better profs, etc..) , meal prep/cook in bulk (your chores block), change your workout (I went from 6 hrs a week to 3 hrs), change your commute time (don't be on the road during rush hour)... I can go on forever but I hope you catch my drift. 

I was super anal about time management and I was able to get "med school level GPA" and maintain various EC's.. everyone has a different approach, I hope mine helps you. 

[excelspreadsheet]

On 11/19/2018 at 5:52 PM, TheSand said:

Just to clarify: all of the courses I'm enrolled in, in their outline, tell the students that to do well 2-3 hours of study per every hour of class time is recommended. I'm in class 12 hours/week, so, according to the recommendations, I should be studying 36 hours/week. MINIMUM 

To me, that seemed a bit ridiculous, so I wanted to get the experience of current med students/pre-meds. 

Did anyone that got med school level GPAs ever have to study that much during undergrad? 

Everyone's experience will be different. I know quite a few people in my class were crammers in undergrad (and still are). But it really will help you in med school where you can't cram as effectively anymore. There's way too much info and it's actually needed in the future so it's just easier on your future self to learn it once well.

 

Honestly, I'd be surprised if you didn't do exceedingly well with just 1 hour of studying per 1 hour of lecture (+ the overall review closer to the exam of course). Maybe you could start with that for a week and reassess from there? (think, how well do I know this material? am I feeling burned out? am I using my study time effectively?)

Good luck!

[Wasteman]

I think me and this dude may be in the same school, because my outlines suggest the same things. 2-3 hours of work per 1 hour of inclass time. I have 16 hours of school, full course load. This means that I would have to put in minimum 32 hours of work per week. I don't do that. I only put it about 7 hours per week, and I have to say, only getting A's here, but mostly B's.

 

 

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[OwnerOfTheTARDIS]

My school also recommended 2-3 hours studying/work per hour in class. I usually took a 16 credits plus 2 uncredited labs so it would have been literally impossible to study 40-60 hours per week. Most weeks I only spent ~10 hours per week out of class studying and working on assignments. 

I have absolutely no idea where college administrators got the 1:3 ratio, it’s an unrealistic, unnecessary and discouraging standard.