How much work is college?

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I'm wondering how much work is required in college... I want to know how much it is for 'average' colleges and higher ones like Princeton, Yale, MIT, etc. Do they require hours of work everyday like high school?

BTW, I'm trying to see if I'll be getting a lighter load when I'm in college....

Oh yeah, what time does college start for most kids? As in your first class...

 

[hdeck]

depends on the school/courses.

 

[HappyPuppy]

You can skate your way through college, or you can work your way through college. Either way, you are going to be working like a bitch for the rest of your life.

 

[pyonir]

like hdeck said, it really depends on a lot of different factors. I had an 8am class. I remembered to NEVER do that again. I took a lot of night classes during the week (M-Th). My earliest class was 11ish because i don't like getting up early.

 

[hdeck]

Originally posted by: pyonir
like hdeck said, it really depends on a lot of different factors. I had an 8am class. I remembered to NEVER do that again. I took a lot of night classes during the week (M-Th). My earliest class was 11ish because i don't like getting up early.

yeah early classes suck. i remember my first semester i had an 8:30 class and it was hell. these days i hardly even go to my 10 am classes 😉

 

[Imported]

I vowed myself to not take an 8am class ever again.. and in the Fall I'll have an 8am class everyday cause all the rest were full 🙁

 

[erub]

Well, if you care about your grades, and take a tough major like engineering, it can be hours of work each day..if you don't care about your grades and/or take an easy major, you can get by with not studying at all or studying less than an hour every few days..that is if all you want to do is pass..

My freshman year I had an 8 am both semesters, twice a week..this year I am going to do my best to avoid any of that..my earliest class is at 11:15 this year.

 

[Broohaha]

since you pick your own schedule, classes start when you want them to. i know lots of people who have never had a class before 11 am. what scuks is when there's a class you want/need to take and it's at 8 am.

as for difficulty, it totally depends on three things: 1) the calibre of school 2) the type of courses 3) how smart you are.

1. frostburg state university will have a lower standard for grading than north carolina which will have a lower standard than princeton, for instance.
2. electrical engineering is more difficult than physics is more difficult than biology is more difficult than accounting is more difficult than economics is more difficult than philosophy/english is more difficult than phys ed, for instance.
3. i'm pretty smart but some of the kids i know are pure, unadulterated geniuses and literally never study and get As in all their classes, and i'm talking HARD, HARD classes

hence, if you go to penn/yale and study chem it'll be pretty hard (both because of the strength of the school and hence the competition of your fellow classmates and because of how hard the subject is). however, if, as in #3, you're a pure, unadulterated genius, it probably wont be too hard.
but if you go to frostburg state or shenandoah valley community college and study chem it'll be pretty easy. however, if you're a dunce, it might be tough.

 

[Broohaha]

oh yeah, i also forgot to mention what erub mentioned: 4. how much you care about your grades (you should care about them a LOT)

 

[MegaloManiaK]

However much work you want it to be.

 

[Supermercado]

I never spent hours doing work in high school. I hardly did anything at all. College is definitely a lot more work. I usually spend at least 5 hours daily reading and working on stuff.

As for what time classes start, MWF I have classes at 8 🙁 but TTH they don't start until 2. What time your classes start is pretty much up to you, as long as all the later sections aren't full.

 

[Mltsao]

The reason why people hate to get up for those earlier 8am classes is because teenagers and people in their lower twenties have a different biological clock. They tend to be more active at night and sleep later.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: Mltsao
The reason why people hate to get up for those earlier 8am classes is because teenagers and people in their lower twenties have a different biological clock. They tend to be more active at night and sleep later.

is there a research on this??

 

[Broohaha]

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: Mltsao The reason why people hate to get up for those earlier 8am classes is because teenagers and people in their lower twenties have a different biological clock. They tend to be more active at night and sleep later.

is there a research on this??

i remember hearing research on this, yes. wouldnt know where to find it though.

 

[anxman69]

To put things into perspective, some years are also harder than others.

As an engineer, I can say that:

a) First year I did about ... 4 hours of classtime (I skipped a lot of classes) and about 8-10 hours of homework a week.

b) Second year I did about ... 5 hours of classtime a week, 3-5 hours of lab, and 10-12 hours of homework a week.

c) Third year I did about ... 8 hours of classtime a week, 25-30 hours of homework a week.

I am just enterring my senior year and have a brutal lab coming up, I anticipate to do about 6 hours of classtime a week, 20+ hours of lab, and 10+ hours of homework.

Classes are hard. I go to University of Rochester (we rank about 35 on the nationwide rankings) and my branch of engineering is particularly challenging.

Do I regret working so hard? Sometimes, but if you find balance, life can be good (which mine is).

Just remember, and remember this well, "College is hard".

-Ankur

 

[Bleep]

It really depends on your body. Are you any good at football? This makes things pretty easy if you live in Texas.

Bleep

 

[TheShiz]

i got a business degree from virginia tech and it was a complete joke, it was like high school, it just depends where you want to go and what you want to do. The obvious advice rings true, do what you love, if i could do it again i'd major in something different. I don't love business in the slightest.

 

[Sachmho]

this fall i have two 9:30am days, and 3 11:30am days... i'm content

 

[Justin218]

I'm a freshman this year. I'll have classes starting at 11am on Monday, 9:30 on Tuesday and Thursday, and 8:00 on Wednesday. Wednesday sucks.

 

[rocadelpunk]

as others have said college is how difficult you want it to be.

it was the best of times it was the worst of times : P

as far as scheduling, as a freshman you have lowest rank, unless you get into honors as a entering freshman...then you might get a decent schedule and unless you're at a the first orientation date, you're gonna get an early class.

that being said, i went to the third orientation date for engineering and I got a pretty sweet schedule.

 

[Siddhartha]

I found if I went to every class, did the homework to the point I understood it, rewrote my class notes and made sure I understood them, I usually got an A or at least a B+.

I also recommend that you try not to take more than 15 hours per semester. Anything more than that level of a workload can lead to trouble.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Frosh week is tough. All those parties, the beer, and man, the former "good girls" just getting their first taste of freedom ... it can really wear you down. :beer:😀:beer:

- M4H

 

[nitsuj3580]

well as an engineer, I was always doing work while my roommate majoring in English did absolutely nothing

 

[jaydee]

Originally posted by: z0mb13

Originally posted by: Mltsao
The reason why people hate to get up for those earlier 8am classes is because teenagers and people in their lower twenties have a different biological clock. They tend to be more active at night and sleep later.

is there a research on this??

I did a research paper on the effects of sleep deprivation on education. What is quoted above is proven.

I also recommend that you try not to take more than 15 hours per semester. Anything more than that level of a workload can lead to trouble.

As a freshmen, maybe.. but you'll definitly be expected to take more classes than that after your first year. At a state school, I took 18 and 20 credits in my first two semesters. It was doable, but definitly wasn't fun, especially with calc-Physics II in the latter semester with 5 other classes.



Like everyone else is saying, it depends on the major, school and your own intellegence. I'm taking 16 credit hours at a pretty tough school, and I spend about 3-4 extra hours a day studying, doing homework and I'm keeping up.

 

[KingNothing]

College is as much work as you want to make of it. If you don't want to challenge yourself then you can probably find a way to skate through your major easily, regardless of what it is.