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If you are going to school full time -- the amount of time you spend on school (class and homework combined) should be roughly equivalent to a full time job.
I teach an undergraduate class that meets only for 1.5 hours per week. I expect my students to spend at least another 4-5 hours each week doing homework for that class.
The government has some standards for defining a "credit hour" ... but I forget what they are. I'll try to find that and let you know.
My school breaks down a little different, we do all the a&p, micro, nutrition, etc, then we start clinicals AFTER that, so most people only have one class - they group the class, clinical and lab together so its one unit and counts as 12 credits, which is full time. Anyway, to answer your question, I can't study for hours on end I lose focus. I study for 3, 30 min sessions. So 1 1/2 hrs per day.
I believe it all depends on the material and how well you adapt to the knowledge/understand it all. I tend to study 3-4 nights per week...the time varies, but I usually try to make it 1+ hours most nights. I also usually get to class a few minutes early, or while my instructor is calling role I'll review all the notes that we took over the chapter the previous days until lecture starts. :)
4-5 hours a day studying for each class is intense...I would say 2-3 hours for each class. I have two classes fundamentals and health assessment which is intense
If you are responding to my earlier post ... I said "4-5 hours each week" -- not each day. I hope that sounds a little better to you.
I operate on a "work hard, play hard" philosophy. To me, that means I might spend 3-4 hours studying Monday-Thursday and not even thinking about school Friday-Sunday. Obviously it's not always those days of the week because nursing school schedules make things a lot less constant. But I find I operate best when I buckle down and study for a few more hours one day and just take the next day completely off. If I know I have a 4 hour lecture and have to work for 3 hours that night, I make sure to really buckle down and study that afternoon to make it a "work hard" day for me. That way, I can have a whole "play hard, no stress" day later that week.
I'd say on average I spend 9-12 hours in lectures, 16-20 hours at clinicals, 5-10 hours at work, and 12-15 hours studying every week.
You have to find what works for you. Good luck! :)
tag2007
174 Posts
I am curious as to how often you all study or how many hours per week or per day you work on school? My goal is to devote 2 hours a day studying, reading, etc. I am wondering what has worked best for you all?