Many students mistakenly imagine that they are free of homework when they start college. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case at all. In reality, college students do spend a considerable amount of time doing homework.
So, how much time are you expected to devote to such assignments? And, what can you expect in the way of homework? These questions and more will be answered below:
How Many Hours a Week Will Be Spent on Homework?
In college, there is a greater shift towards independent studying. Due to this, students spend less time in the classroom and instead have to learn and understand their course material via studying, assignments, and other avenues.
As a result, a rule of thumb for homework has been developed for academia. It is estimated that for each college credit that you take you are meant to spend two to three hours on homework each week.
Most college courses are worth about three credits each. As such, you are required to do six to nine hours of homework for each of your courses. If you are a full-time student, then you will be taking 15 credits per semester. Thus, you will be dedicating between 30 and 45 hours to homework.
It is important to remember that while this may be a rule of thumb, it certainly isn’t the norm for every student. This is because each and every course is different. Therefore, your lecturer for one course may assign you more or less homework than a professor of another course.
There is also the fact that the workload can shift during the beginning and towards the end of the semester. Since you are still finding your feet at the start of a semester, most professors will assign you less work. However, the workload will have increased quite a bit towards the end.
Do You Have to Do Homework on the Weekends?
College is often portrayed as a time of parties and other social events. Thus, most students are curious whether they will be required to complete homework on their weekends or if this will be dedicated to more relaxing activities.
The reality is that it can be virtually impossible to finish all of your homework during the work week. As such, the load will carry on into your weekends as well. The good news, though, is that you will not have to spend the entire weekend studying.
Now, the exact amount of homework that you will have to do on the weekend will depend on how much you get done during the week. According to the above calculations, you will have to do between 4 to 6 hours a day each week – including weekends.
If you have been maintaining this schedule, then you only have to do between 4 and 6 hours of homework for each day of the weekend. In case you haven’t been able to keep up during the week, though, you will have to make up for this on the weekend.
What Kind of Assignments Do You Get?
It is important to understand what homework is like in college. In many ways, it can be quite different to what you received in high school. Keep in mind that, in college, your homework is meant to help you expand on what you learned in the classroom.
Therefore, you can expect to do quite a lot of reading, regardless of the course that you are taking. The exact kind of homework will also depend on the subject matter that you are dealing with. For instance, if you are taking a form of mathematics, chemistry, or physics, then there will occasionally be problem sets for you to do.
You may also have to complete research projects, write essays, or even create multimedia presentations. In some cases, your homework may require to respond to discussion posts and to have debates with other students in your class.
Managing Homework in College
All of this information may seem rather overwhelming. Don’t worry, though, as it is possible for you to manage this workload while still maintaining a social life. The key here is to stay organized and on top of what is happening in your class.
Fortunately for students, most course syllabi contain information on readings, assignments, and projects, along with their due date. Make a note of this from the first of your class for all of your courses. You will then have an easier time trying to figure out how to fit all this work in at a reasonable pace.
It is also a good idea to set goals and deadlines for yourself. Not every assignment is going to take the same amount of time. So, depending on the work assigned you will have an idea of how long you are going to need to devote to it. Set yourself a deadline to ensure that it is out of the way, giving you time to start on the next assignment.
Last, but not least, make sure to focus on your studies during the allocated time. Cut out distractions and work in a place that you know that you will not be disturbed. By taking this measure, you can guarantee that your work will get done within the timeframe that you have set for yourself. In turn, you will remain on schedule.
As you can see, there is quite a bit of homework to manage in college. This includes reading, assignments, projects, and more. With a little bit of planning and discipline, though, you will be able to tackle it all.
