Study time

I have often repeated to my son what I had heard while in college: 2 hours of study time per week for each credit taken. 17 credits=34 hours (aprox) of studying. Yesterday he sent me a link to the "typical" day at the USNA that showed 6 hours of daily classes and 3 1/2 hours of study time per day.
http://www.usna.edu/schedule.htm
His question (and mine): are the classes structured differently at the USNA so that the 2:1 "rule" doesn't actually apply, or are the remaining 15 hours of study time applied on Saturdays and Sundays? Or (quite possibly) has my fatherly wisdom/advice about 2:1 study time missed the mark (once again)? Obviously Mids manage to make it through and graduate and I realize these numbers are all approximates but it does seem as though there are not many hours allocated for studying during the week compared to the class load. Any thoughts?

First of all, I don't think USNA's courses are structured differently -- they are hard and you do need to put in a fair amount of time outside of class.

That said, the amount of studying required differs for each individual and each class. For example, I frequently found myself putting in more than the 2:1 ratio for calc and physics and less time for other courses (Nav Arc came relatively easy to me).

How do you find the time . . . use you "free periods," time between sports/p-rades and dinner (most non-varsity athletes will have an hour or so), use study hour and catch up on the rest over the WE. You don't have six hours of class every day, especially not as a plebe. You're carrying 16-17 credit hours + an hour of chem lab. That means that, out of the 30 class periods during the week, you only are in class for 17-18 of those. (That will change as you get more senior and carry 19+ credit hrs per semester). Granted, you have to do other things in your free time (get uniforms pressed, haircuts, Midstore necessities, etc.) but, you still have some of that time free for studying.

It's also critical to learn to study efficiently. Lots of mids managed to get through h.s. with bad study habits. USNA has a lot of resources to help people manage their time, study efficiently, etc.

usna1985 said:

You don't have six hours of class every day, especially not as a plebe. You're carrying 16-17 credit hours + an hour of chem lab. That means that, out of the 30 class periods during the week, you only are in class for 17-18 of those.

Click to expand...

Ahhhh! That helps clear up the confusion. Even though the link above shows 6 hours of class a day for Mids, they do not actually attend class 6 hours per day (30 hours per week). It is actually "only" the usual hours associated with 16-17 credits (and labs). Thanks.

85 has it right. USNA credits are based on Carnegie units and academic "hours" just like those of any other ACCREDITED higher education institution. Therefore, in-class time for a # hour course is subject to external requirements and review.

That noted, the real rub for many Mids is when 1 or 2 hour courses taught by overly-impassioned profs, many of whom may have written the text materials, turn that 1 hour course into a 4 or 5 hour course. Not uncommon as most are in the professional group of requirements.

Even though typical Plebes "only" carry 16-18 academic credit hours, they also have "pro knowledge," which is essentially an extra 1 hour class, for which they have tests every week. They of course have "other duties as assigned," so quite a few have serious issues until they learn to make good use of the short gaps they have during the day, in addition to the designated study hours. "Make every minute count" was the mantra my Mid used (and still uses) to get everything done.

Just out of curiosity: What is a "Pro Knowledge" class about?

aglages said:

Just out of curiosity: What is a "Pro Knowledge" class about?

Click to expand...

It varies a lot from week to week. Sometimes it will be military technical information (e.g., spent weekend visit time helping DD memorize the structure of Marine Expeditionary Forces). At least one time at the start of a semester, though, it was memorizing the Ac year chain of command and all "stripers" for that semester, including varsity team captains. In general, they are required to memorize pages of info. They won't really appreciate why they're doing it until summer cruise, when they'll realize, "Oh, THAT'S what a (fill in the pro knowledge item) is!"

Thanks 2012mom! Thank God it's not me memorizing "pages of info". I can barely remember my name and PIN numbers.

aglages said:

Thanks 2012mom! Thank God it's not me memorizing "pages of info". I can barely remember my name and PIN numbers.

Click to expand...

I call it 20/20 disease........................... if it didn't happen 20 years or 20 seconds ago, I can't remember it.

ossie ...I like this! And would "borrow" it ...if I could only remember it. What's this have to do with eyesight?

Actually 20/20 disease is a manifestation of CRS Syndrome
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Can't Remember Sh**

20/20 disease...too true.
The good news is that once we stumble upon this thread again we can laugh as hard as the first time we read and forgot it.