The schedule-math of being a university student

How much time should one dedicate to one’s university schedule?

Being a university student is in part preparation for a career. So a helpful method is to schedule yourself as a serious person with a career does.

On average professionals work 45 hours a week. (Early-stage professionals such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, and entrepreneurs typically work much longer.)

So imagine that your full-time-university-student schedule means a 45-hour work week. If you’re taking five courses, that means nine hours per week per course.

If each class meets with the professor for about three hours a week, the remaining six hours a week should be dedicated to reading, making notes, going over earlier notes, writing essays or otherwise doing course work.

At a minimum, in my experience, at least one hour should be devoted to preparing for each class meeting, with the other five hours reserved for post-class work.