how many hours in a day can you study?

[stranded247]

Recently I've been studying for exams, which i hate but generally I've always studied for about 5-6 hours a day. To be honest I think my studying was only effective for about 3 and a half hours of these 5-6 hour days. I generally tend to make notecards or read stuff and write things over and over again. But I was talking to some people I know who always get A's in exams and they never seem to do as much studying as me. They all said to me they do three hours a day usually. That doesn't seem enough to me considering you have to go over a whole two years worth of work in a couple of weeks. I was wondering those of you that are familiar with the cruddy exam system that society drags us through, how many hours did you do? I'm especially interested if you were an A grade student because I am a perfectionist and want A's.

[ostego]

i take it from your age and timing that you're talking about GCSEs. I've been doing some GCSEs recently, i've done about 3 hours of revision, at most on some days and the nights before, and i have felt confident i know the answers with just that.

 

I write down notes, usually, if its science, from the "double science revision books" the ones which have those silly quotes on the back like "keep refrigerated" on the back.

 

But i feel that 3 hours of notes for each subject (computer) is sufficient for me, and i can then refer back to them before the exams.

[hosswhispra]

I'm especially interested if you were an A grade student because I am a perfectionist and want A's.

 

I wasn't one of those naturals that easily earned A's...that's for sure.

 

When I went to get my doctorate I was a perfectionist and achieved almost all A's (GPA was 3.9 on a 4.0 scale). I busted my butt for those grades. On weekends, I lived in the library and would study with tons of breaks 10-14 hours. During the week nights I studied approximately 2-5 hours a night.

 

Forget final exam week! I did more studying than sleeping and eating.

 

P.S. I was a slacker in high school....the 'smart' kids intrigued me...while they were studying and involved in school activities, I was skipping school and riding the "A" train in to a racetrack in Queens, NY to hang with the degenerates who taught me the school of life.

[stranded247]

No sadly I'm not doing my GCSE's although I should be I'm actually in year 10 because I was put down a year in year 4 cos i was ill for three-four months of skl I've done some of my science GCSE and I took my french GCSE this year though.

But yeah I need the right tactics cos I have mock GCSE's in November and I need to get 5 A's if I want to go the sixth form I like cos my school sucks. But I'm gonna try the three hour a day thing, wait do you mean for each subject you only ever revise three hours? You go over the subject again right? And by three hours for each subject do you mean you only do three hours in the whole day? It pisses me off how so many people lie about how much they study to either look super intelligent naturally or just cool. So i never know the whole truth.

[Batya33]

While studying for major exams in graduate school I would study 10-12 hours per day - I think the most was 15 a few times.

[stranded247]

I wasn't one of those naturals that easily earned A's...that's for sure.

 

When I went to get my doctorate I was a perfectionist and achieved almost all A's (GPA was 3.9 on a 4.0 scale). I busted my butt for those grades. On weekends, I lived in the library and would study with tons of breaks 10-14 hours. During the week nights I studied approximately 2-5 hours a night.

 

Forget final exam week! I did more studying than sleeping and eating.

 

P.S. I was a slacker in high school....the 'smart' kids intrigued me...while they were studying and involved in school activities, I was skipping school and riding the "A" train in to a racetrack in Queens, NY to hang with the degenerates who taught me the school of life.

 

JESUS CHRIST! sorry for the language but 10-14 hours ugh that sounds like hell to me!! Jeez all these exams are so depressing to me, it especially sucks when I have such high ambitions like wanting to go to oxford univercity, if I dont get in it would be such a blow ( i know some people will read this and think get a life!). But do you really have to do that much studying in order to get A's? Is it possible to be successful without too much pain or should i just try get used to this?

[herenow]

When studying for some major exams that I wanted the highest possible scores in because they would open the door for me to attend the university of my choice, I would spend every waking moment that I was not in class studying, for several weeks before the exam. That means about 8-10 hours a day towards the end as the exams approached, since I was in school in class for about 7 hours a day.

 

I would study during lunch breaks, study between classes, study in the car or bus if I was a passenger. I had copies of similar exams going back ten years, and I made a big chart showing every single past problem, and whether I could answer it correctly on my own or if I needed to peek to solve it or if I had no clue how to solve it. I figured out exactly what my strengths were and what types of problems to spend my time and energy learning how to do better. It paid off; I got top scores and I got into the university I wanted.

 

Turned out, the university I got into was so difficult that I would have had to keep up that pace of studying if I wanted to maintain a good grade point average.

 

I eased up on the studying, spent my time developing as a human being, got bad grades, but came out of university a more well-rounded person than if I had had straight A's. I'm not saying not to get straight A's. I'm just saying sometimes it's worth it (like when I wanted to get into the university) and sometimes it's not (when I went to a university with unrealistic expectations of its students.)

 

It's perfectly all right to spend all the time in the world that you want to to accomplish a goal that is important to you at the time.

 

Make sure you check in with yourself from time to time to find out if you're still happy with your choices. If not, change tactics. Flexibiilty is key.

 

Good luck!

[hosswhispra]

JESUS CHRIST! sorry for the language but 10-14 hours ugh that sounds like hell to me!! Jeez all these exams are so depressing to me, it especially sucks when I have such high ambitions like wanting to go to oxford univercity, if I dont get in it would be such a blow ( i know some people will read this and think get a life!). But do you really have to do that much studying in order to get A's? Is it possible to be successful without too much pain or should i just try get used to this?

 

I tend to go gangbuster style when I am really into achieving something that I truly, truly want. If I wanted A's I had to do what I did. A's never came easy for me-but I don't mind working incessantly hard for something I truly want. Is it possible to be successful without too much pain or should you get used to it? Good question, I wish I had the answer to that one. I dont, though. Maybe someone else here will.

 

Yes, there were some obvious tradeoffs during that time in my life. I can't say I regret any of them though. Because the payoff was immense to me, I was damn determined not to fail. The story goes that during my first month at professional school, I met a boy that 'broke' my heart and I failed all my tests the first round of exams because I was thinking about him. I was in my mid 20's at the time and said, "hoss, get yourself together, girl...you have to pass" So after a lot of crying and ripping my books up, I was determined to succeed at something--so I made a goal and worked hard to achieve it successfully. If relationships did not work out, well my grades would....

 

The school I went to was extremely competitive. I am quite competitive, also. So competition, ego and sublimation fueled me.

[HyruleGuardian]

I just finished my first year of college and I barely studied at all. For my final exams all I did was briefly look over my notes. Maybe an hour a night of studying. I ended the year with a 3.9 GPA. In high school I was the same way.

 

I think that 5-6 hours is fine for some people, but way too much for others. Some can just look over things briefly and remember; while others need as much time as you do. We all have different learning styles. Spend as much time as you need to get there.

 

Just remember that there is a life outside of studying. I hate seeing people get stressed out over classes. Take a break every once and awhile.

[caro33]

I think it depends on the following:

 

(a) how much you've absorbed during the school year;

(b) how you personally best learn and remember;

© how much of that study time is genuine, quality time, and how much is sitting at the desk changing highlighter colours on your notes and daydreaming;

(d) the nature of the coursework and how it tallies with how you learn; and

(e) personal stuff, like how much rest you've had, how you have eaten, whether the time of day tallies with your body clock, how stressed you are, etc...

 

I also hated all the BS that flew around with people lying about their study - really, who cares?

 

I have to admit that while I was a B+/A student at school I was also a slacker and highly inefficient. I only really honed my own technique when at Uni, and even that was only after I failed out the first time!

 

For me, I only learn something properly if I have written the information down in my own words. I can read until the cows come home, but if I have not recycled the information into study notes, the reading is largely useless.

 

When I am efficient and have nothing else to do that day work/study-wise, I can do a good 5-6 hours a day, no more. I start late, say 11am, then do work in 2-3 hour blocks. Over time I start later and later, as when left to my own devices I am larger nocturnal. When I was in the last stages of writing up my PhD and had quit my day job, I did my best work from 8pm - 2am. (Not that that is good for your emotional or social life - I lost the ability to speak in sentences for a while ).

 

So my advice is to concentrate on what works for you, and disregard other people's opinions about the best way to study. For example, I have a friend who only remembers stuff when he writes songs about it, but that doesn't work for me (I still remember some of his 2nd year psych song about circadian rhythms "Zeitgeber Zeitgeber", but not the lyrics!).

[CreedBratton]

Well I studied alot when i was in school, but you can't study for 15 hours straight you need to take breaks like every hour, because you can't be productive just looking at a book or study materials for 15 hours. If your doing something for repetition (Math, practice exams), then you can because you have something to keep you working. To be honest, I look at a book for more than few hours without taking notes or doing problems I get really tired. I've always had a tough time with tests where you have to look at a book and read ..... I am much more of a hands on type .... I need to at least write.

 

Ive been told to study in 3-60 minute blocks then stop to eat, or see a movie, or play a game ... or whatever ..... jsut be sure not to get bogged down in whatever your doing on your breaks.

[stranded247]

I think it depends on the following:

 

(a) how much you've absorbed during the school year;

(b) how you personally best learn and remember;

© how much of that study time is genuine, quality time, and how much is sitting at the desk changing highlighter colours on your notes and daydreaming;

(d) the nature of the coursework and how it tallies with how you learn; and

(e) personal stuff, like how much rest you've had, how you have eaten, whether the time of day tallies with your body clock, how stressed you are, etc...

.

 

Okay well a) To be honest this year I have not absorbed much I've learnt far more when I was at home cramming for exams than in class, I have bad concentration and it doesn't help that I sleep well or eat lunch.

b) I think I learn best from writing out the same thing over and over and condensing things into notes.

c) Yeah I think about 2 hours of my six hours tend to be daydreaming lol

d)Coursework usually makes things stick in my mind especially when I've spent ages on it.

e) I always tend not to get enough sleep etc.

I'm guessing from all the advice you guys have put here that some people can do 2-3 hours a day and get A grades but it depends on their style while others which I think may sadly be me have to study for 10-12 hours a day to remember everything :S this is not gonna be but I'm off to study now!

[caro33]

Well good luck!

[CreedBratton]

Seriously if you get down to the night before the test (like less than 5 hours) you are pretty much done studying. And take note after note about what you study, when you write it you remember it better than when you read it.

[fragmint]

probably 4-5 hours a day but i take breaks every 120 or 90 minutes. just remember that a little bit everyday is better than a whole crap load one day. i call this the 'high school method' because thats how my high school schedule was like , i had 7 classes a day, each for about an hour so it was a little bit of everything a day.

[rocio]

For almost everything in life, there's an easy way to do things and a hard way. It sounds like you're doing things the hard way. The best approach is to learn and understand things the first time around. Throughout the year, ask lots of questions in class and always review your notes after class. Come to class prepared and awake, and focus all your energy on paying attention. (If you have trouble paying attention, try taking some meditation or yoga classes to help you with that.) Also, getting lots of sleep is extremely important for a couple reasons. For one, your brain just doesn't work as well as it could when you're tired. As well, your brain actually works while you sleep. It sifts through all the info you've taken in during the day and decides what's important enough to keep and what to get rid of. So when you wake up, your brain is alot less cluttered. Try going to bed around the same time every night and getting at least 8 hours each night. Never stay up studying all night. You can also try finding a better time to study. The mornings are supposed to be best since your mind is clear (although some people are just zombies in the morning). And be flexible. Don't keep studying if you can tell that your brain just isn't working at full capacity. Take a break. Take the day off. Go shopping. Hang out with friends. Then go back to studying when you can focus better. Another thing that can really help is staying on top of things. Don't procrastinate. Start studying for finals 2 weeks before everyone else (which means that you have to stay ahead all year long). Never let yourself sink behind. Finally, it sounds like you're doing alot of memorising. Sometimes that's necessary, but often you can save alot of time by trying to understand the material better, instead of just repeating and repeating.

 

Now, I don't know what you're studying or how competitive you need to be. But personally I never studied for more that 1 or 2 hours per day (including assignment, presentations, etc.) I never missed sleep or parties or dates. In fact, I found that if I went out partying the night before an exam, I'd often do better. It's best to remain healthy and balanced. Btw, I did my masters in economics with the top mark in my class.

[stranded247]

Well I probably am doing things the hard way but i procrastinate a lot. However I find that I sometimes don't get a lot done in two hours and other days I get quite a lot done. I have trouble sleeping in general, I will try to go to bed at 9pm and wont fall asleep till 12. Usually at night I am physically tired but have too many thoughts and worries buzzing around my head, this never happened when I was younger and life was more simple but hey. I don't stay up late studying as that has never helped me. But the exams I am taking next week are just summer exams not major exams so they are not of great importance. But next year i have GCSE's so I've decided I'm going to start revising this autumn doing half an hour every day so that I can guarantee myself A-A* grades.

[skyjuice]

Hi

 

When you are working full time. How to find time to study?