03 March 2008
Before I came to college I would always hear about how much more time you have in college than in high school. I would like to contradict that statement.
If you have more time in college, it may be because you have fewer classes and do no extra curricular activities including working.
I go to BU, which has a four class system. I have class for 16 hours a week. Yes, this is less than when I was in high school and had approximately 35 hours of class a week (including lunch time and passing periods). But I also have a lot more down time where very little can actually get done. If you have a 15 minute or half an hour break by the time you find someplace to sit and get your books out to do work, you have to pack them up. In reality, it is sometimes the same with an hour break as well. If you have to walk a mile to your next class, you kill most of your half hour walking to class.
In addition to my 16 hours of class (which increases as you become an upper classman), I have 10 hours of work per week. For extra curricular activities (which in reality are a lot like specialists or electives in high school or middle school), I work with the TV station and participate in the shows for 6-7 hours a week. This does not include homework time, which often includes more work in less time.
I really wish I knew where this claim that you have more time in college comes from. I can’t see it coming from commuting colleges, because you need to consider travel time into your day. Maybe I had a lot of down time in high school, but from my observations I had been fairly active.
Personally, if a person is even remotely active at their college AND attends classes, they have less time than they did in high school. I know I do.
For people in college can you please tell me if you feel you have more or less time than you did in high school and why?
I work. I go to school. I study study and did I mention STUDY?! At times you do have more time in college, simply because you make the time yourself. You choose how you utilize your time, and for some, they will make it so that they will have more time for themselves. I wouldn't mind having some quite time to myself where I didn't have to worry about work, school, and my studies. But when you need to get that A on an exam, or if your mind is on paying off your rent, the time you need for yourself just seems to be out of the question! I've been in college since I got out of high school, and sometimes I find myself wishing I was back in high school because life then was so much more simpler. Lol.
I know how you feel. And back in high school I had a bunch of college kids tell me, and the rest of my class, they had more time in college. If you make time, you have time but you have a lot of other important concerns to deal with too just because the course work is harder.
~Jessica Mondillo
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/jmondillo
Comparatively, I do have more time, and I choose to spend that time doing other things.
Let's break it down some. In high school, I'd wake up at 7 to be in class by 8, and many times, wouldn't leave school until 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon, as a result of ONE activity after school. Which means I was in school for about 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. I was in class itself for 35 hours a week, plus the at least two hours a night I spent on homework during the week. So we'll say 45 hours of school every week. I didn't have time to have a job in high school, because I had to come home and do homework, plus watch my little sisters, and the little time I did have left went to spending time with my friends, including my boyfriend.
Now, in college, I'm in classes for about 17 hours a week. I have some huge hour and a half breaks between my classes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, so I spend that time doing homework by heading off to the library. I also spend probably an hour a night or so on homework. So, I'm doing schoolwork about 31.5 hours a week. That's 13.5 hours less than high school.
I have completely off from classes on Monday, and only one class first thing in the morning on Wednesday, so I spend 5 hours on each of those days at work, something I didn't have the luxury of in high school. My commute those two days is equivalent to the commute to and from school in one day of high school. My commute to school is 15 minutes of walking.
So, I have an extra 3 1/2 hours each week, just from the difference in classes.
Now, if we add in activities, marching band ruled my life in high school. I'd have something nearly every Saturday, football games every friday night, and practice 3 other days a week lasting from 3:30-5:30 or 6, depending on when our director would let us out.
Now, I have RHA meetings every Monday night (1 1/2 hours), and my other clubs meet every other week or so for 1 1/2 hours, say. The rest of my time, I don't have to watch my sisters, and I can do fun things, like swing dancing, or open mic night, or a multitude of other things going on around campus and the city.
So while my schedule may be fuller than it was in high school, it's doing things I want to do, studying for classes I actually want to learn, and I would have more time if I didn't choose to do more because of that free time.
~C
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You also have to add time in that you eat lunch (because that was part of your high school day). Comparitively it may seem like there is more time, but when you figure everything in the time is almost equivalent and only differs by a few hours.
~Jessica Mondillo
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/jmondillo
I did homework every day during lunch in high school.
~C
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Oh man, I miss the leisure time I had in college! And I had a full course load, ran cross country and track, worked a small job and did modeling gigs whenever I could. I was pretty busy. But now that I'm in the working world, there is NO time! Of course, i went back to school, so I am working full time and going to graduate school and maintaining a household. I miss the good old days!
But I think the difference between high school and college schedules is that in college, you have more control over your schedule than you do in high school. your activities are solely your choice, no parental interference, no teachers watching your every move for seven hours a day. It is certainly more freedom, if not more free time!
Don't stress. Enjoy it!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I actually do have more time in college. I don't have family responsibilities because I'm living in a shared apartment with other students - I don't have to babysit, eat long meals with the family and faimly friends, do many chores, etc. I'm attending college full-time but I still only have class 9-12 hours a week.... as opposed to 30-40 hours a week in high school. Also, it SEEMS like I have more free time because even when I'm going to class or doing homework, I enjoy it, because I chose that particular class.
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Please see my recent blog post, "Genocide and Student Activism": http://www.progressiveu.org/041447-genocide-and-student-activism
Personally, my theory is you feel you have more time even if in reality you do not. College is so much different than high school. In HS you do what they want you to do during the hours they choose. You have extra-currics/sports at semi-specified times. You ride the bus to events and follow their schedule.
For me, I'm doing what I love in college. I feel like I have more time because I schedule my classes in such a way wear they aren't cramped together in such an unproductive way daily. My extras occur at all hours, not just after school. I drive myself places (which is a form of down time for me) and my homework is only occasionally like doing work I don't want to do. I read scripts for class I would want to read anyways, and the other projects are usually interesting to me because they are in my field.
I work, go to school, have tons of extra currics, and do productions (usually two a semester lasting 1.5 months each) as well has have plenty of time for my social life. The reason I can do it and feel so much more open than HS is because I am in charge of how things go. I believe that is why you feel like you have more free time in college.
Think about it...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tomorrowtoday
That makes sense. I know I don't feel as stress out even though the time commitment is the same if not a little more for me in college than in high school. I guess the breaks and having more flexibility with classes makes a huge difference.
~Jessica Mondillo
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/jmondillo