How much time do you *really*spend studying?

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I am curious if I am doing too much, or not enough! I would love to hear how often everyone studies and if you dont mind sharing, what your general GPA/letter grade is. I spend at least 3 hours every night studying, and weekends are a free for all. This has worked well so far (pre-reqs) but I havent taken my first nursing test yet... I hope its enough!

Specializes in RN. Med/Surg.

I studied, maybe 2-3 hours daily for my LPN program and pulled a 4.0, NCLEX-PN in 85. My ADN was a different beast, altogether. Our program recommended 3 hours study per credit hour and I felt as though I was having trouble retaining information at that rate, put I pulled through with a 3.70, and wrote my NCLEX-RN first time in 75 questions. Funny thing; one of my classmates was some kind of savant, photographic memory, or something. Remembered EVERY detail. Was Harry Potter's "Hermoine in class... always was waving her hand at a question. Straight A's, really nice lady. Complete pain in the butt in clinicals, though. She couldn't apply anything she'd memorized. Being an RN is ALL about critical thinking.

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I can't imagine being able to put in the hours some of y'all are. When I was in graduate school, in another life and before my daughter, I was putting in that kind of study. Now with a 2-year-old and a husband who puts in sometimes 16 hours working out of the house on conference calls and his computer, I can pretty much only study when the little troll is napping or down for the night. My parents help and we've just registered her for a daycare 2 days a week so that should help.

I simply can't imagine the LUXURY (that's right, luxury) of studying 33 hours a week. I study when I can, laminating index cards and attaching them to the shower wall, the microwave over the stove, in the car, etc. It seems to be getting the job done as my pre-req grades are competitive.

We all learn differently. Try making a schedule. Give yourself breaks. Switch subjects often. Haunt the offices of your professors. Form study groups IMMEDIATELY. Find a friend or family member, or pet who will sit and listen to you teach them the information.

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Specializes in ER paramedic.

I am a fulltime paramedic ( 20 years as a basic EMT and the last 11 as a medic) who works 24 hour shifts. I am allowed to study on downtime (after housekeeping chores, training, audit and review, and in between runs). I made straight A's throught my pre-req's. I found I had to study longer the farther I got into my ASN program. The last semester my study goal was 4 hours a day. Somedays I made it others I fell short. I graduated May 8, 2010 with a 3.53 GPA and I take the NCLEX on Sept. 24th ( I have been hospitalized, so I have been delayed). My EMS experience helped, but having to think like a nurse instead of a field paramedic was a struggle. You should know how you learn best, stick to that method, study as much as you need to, and keep your goal insight.

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I studied the night before the test and made As but I had great teachers who gave us power points and made sure we understood the info that was given I think every night and weekend is too much you will burn out

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I can't imagine being able to put in the hours some of y'all are. When I was in graduate school, in another life and before my daughter, I was putting in that kind of study. Now with a 2-year-old and a husband who puts in sometimes 16 hours working out of the house on conference calls and his computer, I can pretty much only study when the little troll is napping or down for the night. My parents help and we've just registered her for a daycare 2 days a week so that should help.

I simply can't imagine the LUXURY (that's right, luxury) of studying 33 hours a week. I study when I can, laminating index cards and attaching them to the shower wall, the microwave over the stove, in the car, etc. It seems to be getting the job done as my pre-req grades are competitive.

We all learn differently. Try making a schedule. Give yourself breaks. Switch subjects often. Haunt the offices of your professors. Form study groups IMMEDIATELY. Find a friend or family member, or pet who will sit and listen to you teach them the information.

I would never consider studying 33 hours a week a Luxury. I would consider it hell. :| Than again I still manage to have a fun and free time and I have 4 kids, a husband that is self employed (works out of the home) and is the only employee so he works a lot and works out of state for 5 months a year and have no help. Yet I still manage to have down time. It's always so strange to me how different people's lives can be. My sister only has one kid, doesn't work, and isn't in school but always talks about how she never has any free times or can't ever do this or that. Makes no sense to me.

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Not as much as most people on the boards!

Now, I will admit that I've only been in NS for 3 weeks, but I'm 3/5 of the way through my fundamentals class (ours is a 5 week course, then we move on to intro to professional nursing practice)...and I haven't spent more than 3 or 4 hours studying in a single day!

I got an 84 on my first test, and a 90-something on my second (grades won't be posted til tomorrow, but we did test review, and there was only 1 thing I'm sure I got points taken off for).

I would say I'm doing pretty well.

However, with that being said...I am an extremely auditory learner (we did an inventory at the beginning of the semester, and I had twice as many points in auditory than I did in each of the other categories -- not shocking, I've known I'm an auditory learner for ages, and got the same results on the same inventory when I took it a year ago)...so much of the information that we need to know, I remember without any review at all.

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I am in an accelerated 2nd degree BSN program. I study about 4 hours a day. I hope it is enough. I take 1-2 hours a day on each weekend day to do whatever I want. I'm just finishing my second week of the program, pretty intense so far! If I didn't work I would probably study a lot more!

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Depends on what classes I'm taking. Over the summer I took Micro, A&P 3, Psych 2, and the nurse aide class. I studied maybe 6 hours for each A&P test (there were 3), never studied for Pscyh(had take home tests), and studied probably 4 hours a week for Micro. Never studied for the nurse aide class.

This quarter, I see myself studying 2-4 hours a week. I'll spend more time on homework than I will studying.

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I would study maybe 3-4 hours the night before a test, but usually never more than that.

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Specializes in RN. Med/Surg.

I had great admiration for my classmates who were in a similar situation to many of the respondents here, those working full time and those with heavy family responsibilities. I breezed through A&P , Psych and Micro, ut those were pre-reqs. I've seen many persons with 'relaxed' study habits hit the wall in ADN or BSN studies. I studied as often as possible (I agree that more time is, indeed, a luxury). Many in class would talk about what was happening on 'Big Brother' or 'Dancing With The Stars'. My TV remote had a film of dust on it when the semester ended. I admire others who can do it, but I had to go the total immersion route, so that I can be a good nurse on the job. BTW. Four of the ladies who were often commenting on TV... they're repeating Pharm or MedSurg 2 this semester. j

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I am curious if I am doing too much, or not enough! I would love to hear how often everyone studies and if you dont mind sharing, what your general GPA/letter grade is. I spend at least 3 hours every night studying, and weekends are a free for all. This has worked well so far (pre-reqs) but I havent taken my first nursing test yet... I hope its enough!

I cant study at home. My daughter and son are both teenagers and I swear they can hear me open the books. Those are always the times they want to have a conversation with me...lol

I study 4 hours a day in the college library after classes.

My clinicals are usually 12 hours long so I don't do much of anything when I get home but sleep.

On days when I don't have clinical or class, I spend around 8 hours in the library studying.

I also have a study group that meets usually every other weekend, usually for 4 to 6 hours, longer if a test is coming up.

I also carry my laptop and books in the trunk and if there is a chance Ill get to crack a book or something Ill bring them with me somewhere.

Last week I was studying for around 31 hours. That's not counting class time or clinical time.

And yes, other than a trip to the loo every few hours it was all study time.

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I would study maybe 3-4 hours the night before a test, but usually never more than that.

Are you in nursing school?

We have been told various times throughout the program that nursing is not like highschool, it's not one of those things you can study the night before a test and expect a good grade. You have to fully comprehend the material and be able to apply it.

That being said, I study around 4-6 hours a day. I make sure I review all my previous material, even skimming it, before going over new materiall.

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