How Much Should You Really Study in College?

 Quick Summary

• There is no single correct number of study hours for college—your workload depends on many factors.

• Your major, college, classes, credit load, and exam schedule all affect how much time you will need to study.

• Finding a study method that works for you can make studying more effective and less stressful.

• Good professors, strong study habits, and prior knowledge can reduce the time needed to learn difficult material.

• The goal is not just to spend hours studying, but to truly understand and retain the material.

There Isn’t One Fixed Answer

If you are asking how many hours you should study in college, you may not know all the details of college yet. More likely, you are trying to understand what to expect when college starts and how much time college students should spend studying each week. Unfortunately, there is no single right answer for how much you should really study in college. The answer depends on many variables, including your major, your class load, your professors, and your exam schedule, which I will list and expand upon below.

My Early Struggle With Studying in College

Before we get to the question of study time, I wanted to bring up some personal experiences regarding studying. At the beginning, when I was learning to study, it was a pain to take time out of my day to sit down and try to learn what I needed to. Since in high school the teachers were more proactive in helping you learn, college felt different. In college I was told I needed to read the textbook and take notes. However, I simply found myself not understanding a thing when I tried to do this. Luckily for me, I was in college in the 21^st century, so I learned from YouTube and other sources. Later in my college career, I got better at skimming textbooks. I never fully read a chapter. The effort of reading the textbook never paid off for me.

How Studying Became More Effective—and More Enjoyable

I used textbooks all the time for practice problems, which helped quite a lot in deepening my understanding of subjects. Later, I started to actually enjoy studying even if it was a subject in which I was not interested. I made studying an experience rather than a chore. I learned to enjoy studying because it allowed me to have some alone time. I was far less likely to get bothered by people. Studying almost felt like meditation in some sense. Studying turned from something I hated to do into something I enjoyed.

Too Much Studying Can Backfire

I did sometimes dread studying due to the workload. As everyone knows, too much of a good thing can have negative effects. Personally, I found that if I ended up studying too much, I would burn out and become more antisocial. Also, it felt like I was getting less mechanically inclined too. Honestly, study time was one of the points in college that I tend to reflect on, and yes, it may be a little over-romanticized, especially when I think more deeply about my time spent in college.

Find a Study Method That Fits You

My main point is that you should find what works for you when you study and make sure you get some enjoyment from it; otherwise, you will dread the time spent studying. You can experiment to see what methods work best for you. What the teacher suggests may not always be the best method for you. When it comes down to it, at some point in college, understanding the material that has been presented to you will feel like a full-time job.

What Affects How Much You Need to Study?

·       Your chosen major

·       The college you plan to attend.

·       The types of classes you are taking.

·       The number of credits you are taking.

·       The quality of your professors’ teaching

·       Your ability to learn new material.

·       Your current knowledge of your major

·       The grades you want to achieve.

·       The timing of your exams

Your Major Shapes Your Workload

Choosing your major has the biggest effect on how much you need to study, in my opinion. Not all majors are created equal. Some are more project-heavy, which then requires less study time but more time working on projects. Even from one engineering major to another, the amount of study time can differ. Also, some majors just do not need to cover as much material compared to others, or the content is not as rigorous. It is important to look up your major beforehand to see what kind of workload you should expect.

Your College Also Changes the Difficulty Level

In conjunction with choosing a major, you also have another choice: choosing your college. Granted, you also have to get accepted to a college, so this narrows down your choices some. Regardless, not all colleges are the same. Some are more difficult than others. Some colleges are known to have a better program for a given major as well. So do your research and understand what the colleges bring to the table.

Some Classes Demand Much More Time Than Others

In your major, you will have to take an array of different classes, some of which require more effort than others. For example, Calculus II will likely take more of your time in terms of studying to learn the content than, for instance, your cost estimating class. Not all classes are the same. Even if the college says a given class is worth the same number of credits as another class, it is good to understand this so you can plan for semesters that will be more difficult.

Your Credit Load Affects Your Weekly Study Time

Speaking of credits and semesters, the amount of credits and types of classes you are taking in a semester plays a huge role in how much time you will need to spend studying. If the classes are easier and you are taking fewer credits, then you will likely need to study less. Your course load can be dependent upon your major and the amount of college credit you bring with you going into college.

Good Professors Can Save You Hours

In addition to class loading, the quality of your professors' lectures has a great impact on how well you learn and how easily you can find the topic you need to learn. If your professor is organized, it will be easier to find and go into more depth on subjects you need to learn for an exam. If the professor is not organized, you will spend more time searching for what you need to understand, and only after that can you really begin studying.

Clear Teaching Makes Complex Material Easier to Learn

The way professors convey topics and concepts in class also helps you spend less time studying. If the professor does a good job explaining a complex concept, they may help you cut the study time on that topic in half, if not more. You may even be lucky enough to complete the homework without searching for more understanding.

Your Learning Style Matters More Than You Think

I spoke about this slightly earlier in the article, but your ability to learn new material and the methods that you apply have an impact on how much you need to study. If you are not naturally good at learning new material but understands how you should learn it, then you would need to study less than someone who does not have either ability. The same goes in the other direction: someone who understands quickly and knows what they need to apply to learn the topic quickly and effectively. If you know which one you are, you will need to consider how this will add to or subtract from the time you need in order to learn the topic.

Your Starting Knowledge Can Give You a Head Start

In addition, your baseline knowledge of your major can have a great impact on how much time you need to spend studying. Simply put, if you know more, then you probably need to study less. If you know less, then you probably need to study more. This is totally fine, and I would not think you should avoid choosing a major simply because you do not have a good technical baseline. However, this is something that you should consider, especially when you first start out pursuing your major. Also, your technical knowledge will only go up the more you study, and your courses will get easier because you practice studying and start to learn how the courses work.

The Grades You Want Influence How Much You Study

The grades you want in college depend on how much you study. The more you study, the more likely your grades will go up. If you do not want high grades, then you would need to study less. Keep in mind that sometimes going from a C to a B is easier than going from a B to an A. This is because you must make fewer mistakes on the exam. You cannot miss any big point problems; otherwise, you are sunk. With a C to a B, there is more room for improvement, and you do not need to be as exact because partial credit helps.

Your Exam Schedule Can Change Everything

Another reason for a change in the amount of study time you need to set aside is how your exam schedule falls. Sometimes your exams will all land in the same week, even though it is not finals week. Your exams could also be very spread out compared to other times. It all depends on how your professors end up scheduling your exams. Sometimes you get lucky, and other times you get unlucky. I will say it is much harder to study for multiple exams compared to one, simply because something will have to give while you are studying. You cannot have it all, unfortunately, since you have a lack of time due to the large influx of workload.

So What’s a Realistic Weekly Average?

Now, after explaining most of the possible reasons for studying more or less during your time in college, you are still probably wondering what the average amount of study time per week is. Well, all I have to go off of for an average is myself and comparing myself to others in my major. I was majoring in Civil Engineering, and with two exams in about one and a half weeks, I would study about 12 to 18 hours a week for the exams. I liked to learn the content sooner rather than later, and I was on the slightly higher end compared to most people in my major as a reference point. So, taking the true average person, I would put the number at 10 to 14 hours a week in that same situation. Earlier in my college career, it was much higher, and later it was lower.

Focus on Mastery, Not Just Hours Logged

Keep in mind that if you want good grades, you will need to study until you have a full understanding of the concepts, and should not necessarily be focused on the time. Although time is a helpful measuring stick to estimate if you have studied enough, it is easy to lose sight of what you are trying to do while studying. You are trying to fully learn the material and be able to recall it later during the exam. It is easy to get off course and study a topic for too long. You need to learn the topic and understand it, then once you do, move to the next one.

Final Thoughts on College Study Time

Overall, I hope you have a better understanding of how many hours you should study in college and what college study time can really look like. The time spent studying will change throughout your college career, with the amount of time you need to study dependent on many of the topics I outlined earlier. So, how much should you really study in college? In my experience, there is no single answer because college study hours depend on your major, your classes, your goals, and how efficiently you learn. Ironically, the process of studying is itself a learning process, and the more practice you get at it, the faster you will be able to learn topics. At least that is what I have experienced. So keep building your skills and do not get discouraged if you end up having to study for extended hours to finally understand the concepts that have been presented to you in your classes. If you need help with time management or want to learn my study process, I have other blog posts on these topics.

Final Note and Extra Resources

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