How much time involved in one grad class for MSN in Education?

allnurses Guide · May 1, 2010

I only took one class at a time, for 4 years, then did my field work. I spent at least 10 hours a week, and more if a paper was due. The reading and research took a lot of time; but then I had been out of school for over 20 years. (We didn't have online searches, and all papers were hand typed. By dinosaurs )

cnburton · May 2, 2010

I did my BSN online and took two classes at a time and worked full time without a problem. Grad school is different, there is so much reading to do. It is not unusual to have 20 articles to 10 chapters to read for one 3 credit class plus an activity to do, like a discussion board posting every week. I work two part time jobs and take two classes and I spend all my free time studying. I guess it depends on the class too but patho and pharm are tough especially if you have not taken them in awhile. The tests are harder too with all of the multiple choice answers comparable and you must choose the 'best' answer. I had a 3.8 gpa undergrad and now a 3.2 in grad school and have to retake patho because of APA errors on the case studies. I think it would be difficult to have a new job especially a management one and take a class in grad school...in my humble opinion.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · May 5, 2010

Keep in mind that graduate classes are traditionally scheduled only once a week. Depending on how your school is set up, this makes it much easier to take multiple classes while working full time. I worked full time & took from 9-12 hours per semester without difficulty because my school scheduled all MSN core classes on the same day. I only had to be on campus that day. My doctoral classes - EdD - were all held in the evening from 6-9 PM.

I probably spent about 10 hours a week on readings. Mandated group activities (inescapable in grad school) that could not be accomplished during our 'on campus' day were held on weekends.

It's very do-able. Classes will be much more engaging & involvement with your student cohorts will be enjoyable. Much different than undergrad.

imenid37 · May 31, 2010

I am a total wimp. I took one class at a time for 4 school years and 2 summers while working 40 hours/week. My MSN was in Nursing Education, but included 282 clinical hours, 56 hours of education practicum, and the same pharm, pathophys, and many of the other coure courses that the APN students took. They had at least twice as much clinical time as I did, though my degree was also time consuming. I do not have a very helpful family, but even if I did I definitely could not have taken more than four credits/semester. There were many exams, papers, and projects. The courses were online, but sometimes we had chats or phone meetings. Don't kill yourself. Try to talk to others who have gone through your program to see the true time committment.