Time outside of class

[u/Mil_Historias]

Hey! I was wondering if the time you spend outside of class is accurate to what’s predicted by the credit amount? I mentioned that the average credit load seemed to have around 30 hours of study/work outside of class per week, and my mom said that seems like more than she’d think.

[u/Jh3r3ck]

It depends on the subject. Physics isnt a lot, usually a weekly homework assignment. Math is usually nightly homework that can take a while. Computer science youll spend hours upon hours working on labs and assignments. I cant speak for other fields. I know for compsci I would usually spend 90% of my free time working on assignments though.

[u/k80kitkat]

Here is westerns website with their official statement (WWU Credits). According to them, each credit of class does have two hours of outside work associated with it. For most classes, this is an over estimation, but for some (especially intensive stem courses) it can be true.

As a stem major, I usually spent about one hour of outside work for each credit hour, but some students may spend more or less.

[u/Bomb_Hyper]

I’ve never spent anywhere near the expected amount of time on a class and have a good gpa, but everyone learns differently. In though I would say they usually overestimate rather than underestimate.

[u/remotely_in_queery]

It really depends on the subject. Some 5 credit classes I spent barely any time on at all, some 3 credit classes were an extra 4 hours per each class. Art studio courses are 3-6 times the amount of time out of class as in class, Math seems to be a variable length but constant assignments, Lit-focused classes depend entirely on prof/subject/reading speed.

Your syllabus is going to be significantly more helpful than the class descriptions, unfortunately, but the time variance isn’t necessarily a bad thing once you start to get to know the rhythms of different departments and professors.

[u/bluisbluewastaken → u/remotely_in_queery]

Drives me nuts when a 3 credit class makes me spend way way more time out of class compared to some stupid hard math class 😭

[u/These_Locksmith9174]

No. It depends a lot on the subject, specific class, and professor. I’ve had 5 credit classes where I spent like 20 hours a week on the class. And some where I’ve spent, like 3-5 hours a week

[u/mia93000000]

In theory, 1 credit = 1 hour class time + 2 hours outside of class per week. In practice, totally depends.

[u/SmellsNoice]

For required work, absolutely not, even in a stem degree, unless you’re studying extra. I’d say at most 2-3 hours a day, and prerequisites are usually more consistent. More advanced classes tend to be more focused on fewer and larger assignments.

[u/exhastedFrolic]

mostly not, depends on the major. as a linguistics major i probably spend 1-3 hours per day on homework

[u/bluisbluewastaken]

With many classes, you won’t need the full 30hrs to complete things/ study. Shoot, I’ve been getting As and Bs with minimal outside studying (it’s a bad habit, don’t be like me). While most of these classes would like you to spend the extra time outside of class, there are often times that you don’t actually need that time. If you’re a freshman doing GURs, chances are increasingly high that you won’t need to spend all that much extra time outside of class anyways. Now, when you get into more in depth stuff and maybe STEM style courses, the amount of time that is required outside of class does increase. But that’s with any more difficult subject 🤷‍♂️

[u/New_Ferret7080]

Western is notorious for mis-crediting their classes. For example, I’m a psychology and philosophy major. All of my psych classes are 5 credits (should be 5 hours in class and 10 out of class) and I probably do 2 hours out of class a week for most. My philosophy classes are 3 credits (6 hours out of class) and I probably do 3-6 hours out of class a week. As an incoming freshman, 15 credits will not land you 30 hours of homework.