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studying in college

Taught economic classes for a local college part time. I think those guys probably put 10 minutes in outside of class, except for the jack wagon who actually read the book twice before the first day of class. He was mad that I didn't decipher the laws of nature instead of lecture basic fundamental principles.
 
I have received an undergraduate, master's degree, and PhD all from Iowa State. My undergrad major was in Psychology, and my master's/PhD were both in Human Development and Family Studies.
-For my undergraduate: I studied around 20 hours a week.
-For my master's: I studied around 30 hours a week.
-For my PhD: I studied around 50 hours a week.

35-40 is ridiculous unless you are in engineering or something like Art/Design/Architecture. Those cats put in mad hours in the Design building.

In summary, take school seriously (like a full time job) as doing well will only open doors for you. It's better to be cautious, but don't study 35-40 hours just because someone says: "you should." It isn't about how much you study...It IS about what you absorb when you DO study.

Cyclones Be Praised.
 
I think I spent more time at the Cave-Inn ( I know, it's not there any more. It was right across from Thumbs Up. Wait - that's not there any more either...), than I did studying. Finance and econ - ended up just below a 3.0. And yes, the year I graduated is below my avatar.
 
Read all of the textbook chapters the day before the test for classes you aren't interested in and don't go to class.
 
I feel stupid reading this thread. I honestly studied at least 50 per week. That is, any time spent studying for tests, reading, homework, projects, etc. :shocked:
 
On average, I probably spend less than 10 hours a week on homework and studying. Depends on what I have due and how many tests I have that week. I always say I'm going to start doing more, like reading the textbook or reviewing notes before/after class each day...but I haven't had a grade lower than an A- since my first semester. Not much incentive to do more when I don't need to to get an A.
 
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NickTheGreat said:
I feel stupid reading this thread. I honestly studied at least 50 per week. That is, any time spent studying for tests, reading, homework, projects, etc. :shocked:
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Don't feel stupid! I am sure you did great and that is what is important. As a decade long student I can tell you it isn't about "how much" you study, but more about the quality of the time studying/composing/working on school stuff.

Cyclones Be Praised.
 
If I attended class I usually didn't have to study, had a very good memory. Some classes I literally never opened the book. Class attendance is important.
 
I was a mechanical engineering major and when I've talked to some of the other people who were in my major (or other engineering majors) about how much time they spent studying in school, it blows my mind. I was probably a little lucky in that "book smart" stuff and test-taking has always come pretty easy to me, but the amount of time some people take on stuff that isn't required classwork just seems unnecessary. Just seems like if you have to put in 30-50 hours per week outside of class as your norm, you're just not using your "school time" very efficiently.
 
My 2nd semester of my MBA, I spent tons of time on campus doing papers and presentations, probably 5-6 hours/day. The problem: one person in our team (1st year, you practically work in an assigned team of 3 or 4) always came unprepared and would spend hours and hours thinking and reading the papers that were prepared by me and another teammate. Not that this person increased quality, he basically spent time trying to understand and finally just made couple of wording changes.

But if I didn't have to work in a team, I spent probably 2-3 hours working on my homework and reading the textbooks. Also, I'd like to discuss the professor's expectations for the paper, so I spent a lot of time sitting down and brainstorming with them.
 
BCClone said:
IHavNoCyCash said:
Just wondering, how many hours (for college students only) did you study per week?I'm guessing it's different for each major but I'm curious if 35-40 hours a week is the normal or if it's made up.
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When I was there the foreign students studied about 110-120 per week, so it might have averaged 30.
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being in the library for 110-120 hours doesn't count as studying 110-120 hours...they sleep, game, yell, facebook, those hours
 
scottie33 said:
being in the library for 110-120 hours doesn't count as studying 110-120 hours...they sleep, game, yell, facebook, those hours
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When I was there. Facebook not invented. Nothing but namco football for handheld games, but I will give the rest to you.

Although they used to sleep in the union, before they remolded they had couches on the top level of the west end. I found this out because I had to be homeless for two days on ISU campus, didn't want to spend $$$ on hotel. I found those and noticed they all acted like they fell asleep studying, so I tried it. They got grumpy with me that I took one of their coaches, like stealing a homeless' box.
 
cyflier said:
Depends on your major. My degree was in marketing and I studied no more than 3 hours a week and I skated by with a 3.00.
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Yeah, I'm a marketing major, and I don't really study except for 2-4 hours a week doing homework.
 
Like most said it all depends on your definition of "study".

I was a Civil Engineering major and I would only "study" 4-6 hours the 2 days before some tests. However I did spend a 2-3 hours a day doing homework which often required me to read sections of a book or look over sample problems.

Hell I didn't even attend a Physics II or Dynamics lecture. But what I did do in both those classes was take plenty of time to complete all the homework assignments without using a solution manuals or a friends solutions.

The best thing I ever did was get together with a friend and we agreed to meet every day M-Th after dinner ~6:00 and we would spend at least and hour and a half working on our dynamics homework. We both stuck to the plan and it worked very well.
 
AnotherMNClone said:
Like most said it all depends on your definition of "study".

I was a Civil Engineering major and I would only "study" 4-6 hours the 2 days before some tests. However I did spend a 2-3 hours a day doing homework which often required me to read sections of a book or look over sample problems.

Hell I didn't even attend a Physics II or Dynamics lecture. But what I did do in both those classes was take plenty of time to complete all the homework assignments without using a solution manuals or a friends solutions.

The best thing I ever did was get together with a friend and we agreed to meet every day M-Th after dinner ~6:00 and we would spend at least and hour and a half working on our dynamics homework. We both stuck to the plan and it worked very well.
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This. A study group if done properly can be your best friend, also a good way to make friends
 
MNCyGuy said:
I was a mechanical engineering major and when I've talked to some of the other people who were in my major (or other engineering majors) about how much time they spent studying in school, it blows my mind. I was probably a little lucky in that "book smart" stuff and test-taking has always come pretty easy to me, but the amount of time some people take on stuff that isn't required classwork just seems unnecessary. Just seems like if you have to put in 30-50 hours per week outside of class as your norm, you're just not using your "school time" very efficiently.
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Did you study with anyone? I had a roommate who sounds similar to you who whizzed through college in 4 years with a 3.8ish in ME. He got a girl friend his Jr. year and he went from 25-30hrs/week (I'm including class time) to 40-50 hrs/week and that's when he lost is 4.00.

Different Strokes for different folks I guess, but I learned roughly zero from going to class and used it mainly as a chance to collect the handouts, know what the assignments were, turn things in, complete the labs, read the daily and nap.
 
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