How much homework and how much studying time is normal for college?

[off to a new life]

I'm just starting out at college with a general university transfer in the field of arts. I need to work at the same time as studying and I'm wondering how many courses it would be reasonable to take at the same time. All the classes I've checked out only seem to be about 2 hours per week, which isn't much at all. However, I'm not sure how much time I would need to study and do homework.

[phoenixsrmc]

It depends on the classes you're taking and if your professors are heavy on the homework or not too.

Usually I devote at least 2 hours per class, maybe more if I need to study for a test or maybe less if my professors are lenient and if the class comes easy.

You'll probably do fine when it comes to balancing classes with work. I took on two on-campus jobs and did fine. However, do sign up for loads of extracurriculars while taking classes and while holding a job - trust me, it's not worth it

[Silver Halide]

Generally from what I have experienced at university is nearly an absence of homework. Most classes I have had either had a few papers or a lot of tests.

Some professors will give out homework. I find that the math department tends to give out the same amount of homework as secondary school math teachers did.

However, you may have reading to do or other studying to keep up with the material. For that they generally do recommend 2 hours per hour of class. Most universities have about an hour of class per credit per week. If you take 12 credits (full time student) that is 12 hours of school and 24 hours of home work. You have about 112 hours of awake time during the week if you sleep 8 hours a night. Therefore you could work full time (40 hours) and you would have 36 hours left for travel.

That being said, I generally never worked more than 24 hours a week during a semester with 12-16 credits. Having time to yourself is very important, especially in college where the stress level can increase.

[Youth Pastor]

Chris said a lot of tips there. Something I'd like to add is when you look at your syllabus for the semester see if there is something you can be working on during the semester like a paper. If there's a paper due around a holiday break, like Thanksgiving here in the USA, work on a page a week or a little bit at a time and eventually it will all start coming together. There are weeks when professors seem to get together and talk about when to load up homework/tests but it's just the timing of the semester. Helping yourself out early in the semester will help later on in the semester when you're busy. Good luck in college, it's your second childhood!

[Crazy Filmmaker]

i remembered this dude at the college i went to said for every credit hour you have you should devote like 3 hours of outside study time,

[Melody Pond]

We got told something like 1 hour at home for every hour in the lesson. Since you are doing 2 hours a week then you could do more but I have been told that is the minimum.

This year I am starting a different college and the library is open until 5pm where my other college library closed at 3pm.
So this year I plan on spending study time after school in the library as the computers there have everything I will need and my laptop doesn't have microsoft office on it which makes it difficult to do any coursework. There are also more textbooks there than what I have so it saves me buying them.
I have the plan of if I stay behind the library I will actually do work, if I come home and go on my laptop I will end up on here, Facebook and MSN and get distracted by TV and things.

[Kate*]

I'm sure if you asked them they could tell you how long it should take you. I was always told that every hour in class is 1.5 hours outside of class, but it depends how long the class is and how many credits. Some subjects take you all of that time and others you barely need any. A lot of it is reading too so it would depend on how much of it you actually read and how fast of a reader you are.

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

It doesn't matter what others say as to how long it takes them for studying and reading because they're not you. The time that's necessary is the time that it takes and all courses aren't the same. If there's reading involved, then it doesn't matter how long it takes you to read the stuff. What matters is how long until you understand it, which may require several re-readings. A class of two hours can require little studying or a lot, depending heavily on how brutal the professor is. I had a third-year class in neurophysiology that was 3 hours class time per week but not a single person in that class needed 3 hours. Everyone needed much more because the professor was known for making rather easy labs but the most brutal tests and exams, where a mark of 40-45% was considered pretty damn good (i.e. class average). Other classes the professors are very easy, give easy work and not much reading but can last also 3 hours class time.

[TakeTheLeap]

To give you an idea....

This semester, I have one class with 9 major projects, one class with 5 major projects, one class with several projects that we'll complete in class with maybe a -little- outside work, and one class that has 2, maybe 3 projects.
And none of these projects are going to be small. To give you an idea, I can end up spending 20 hours or more just on one project. This year is going to be insane. xD

Last semester, I had one class where we always had homework. We always had to read before the next class, and she almost always quizzed our knowledge on the reading, so I knew she expected it. I had another class where we were supposed to read, but he could care less if we did or not, and he went over all of the material needed for the (open book/open notes/take home) exams in class. So, the priorities for each class were totally different.

It's really hard to say how much of a workload you'll have in each class. I couldn't handle a job while in school, but my sister can, and she's taking more credit hours and classes than I am (my 14 credits to her 19 credits). We have totally different majors and our professors have totally different priorities. My classes all weigh heavily on homework and projects because they want us to get more on-the-job experience. In class, we make sense of the homework, but you can't make sense of it if you didn't do it/read it. My sister's classes, on the other hand, are mostly lectures where things are -taught-, as well as labs to apply the knowledge taught in class, so homework isn't as much of a necessity.
My best advice would be to check with your professors. If they give out a syllabus, take a look at it and see what's going to be required, and set up a priorities list.
And remember to have FUN. College goes by SO quickly, and you should savor it.