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University work load....

I'm studying Economics & Development at a top 30 university and in first year. I literally have 100's of pages worth of reading to do every week, not to mention on the side revision and homework. I literally have no time to do anything else, and yet I'm still behind on readings. How do people manage to find a balance between social life/ leisure and uni work? It seems impossible....
(edited 9 years ago)

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Reply 1
I think 99% of people simply don't do all the work they're set.
Reply 2
Original post by elohssa
I think 99% of people simply don't do all the work they're set.


So it's about prioritising which work/ readings to do?
Original post by Envee
I'm studying Economics & Development at a top 30 university and in first year. I literally have 100's of pages worth of reading to do every week, not to mention on the side revision and homework. I literally have no time to do anything else, and yet I'm still behind on readings. How do people manage to find a balance between social life/ leisure and uni work? It seems impossible....


Prioritise what reading you need to do. In which seminars/tutorials are you actually using/discussing the set reading? In one of my classes we don't focus on the set reading during the seminars so I give it less attention if I am pushed for time.

I don't really have a social life at the moment but that's because I'm trying to complete one of my essays which is involving a lot of research :redface:

As for leisure, I watch TV when I'm eating... It's what I do when I'm not working :P

(not a first year btw)
Reply 4
Are you maybe labouring over the reading quite a lot? Sometimes making the effort to absolutely 100% understand every paragraph as you read it can be counter-productive.
It can help to do an initial skim-read, then once you've grasped the structure of the text, go back and establish what the main points are - this can make it easier to remember and prevents you from absorbing a bunch of irrelevant information.
Also, are you sure that you NEED to read everything you're reading? Sometimes professors put down a lot of texts as optional extras to come back to when it's time for coursework - if you're struggling, it may be a good idea to talk to your tutor - they could give you a good idea of what to prioritise.
If you are going at a brisk pace and working efficiently without any distraction, even with complicated and/or technical material still shouldn't take you THAT long to read, certainly 30 pages an hour isn't hard. You just have to dispel in your mind the myth that university is one big party!
Exactly the same for me in Accounting. We're only in for 3 days and only 1 is a "full day", so we get so much reading, questions, homework, online quizzes, find out the definition of X etc. I think the guy above said it; most people just don't do everything, they prioritise the things that will definitely come up in an exam and then the more background stuff you do after.
Reply 7
A big part of adjusting to university is learning to read properly. Reading for a degree is different to reading for leisure. I don't know how it is for economics, of course, but for my course I have to do two 2000 word essays a week, plus the work for the language component of the course, plus lectures and supervisions. For each essay there's perhaps 3 or 4 books, on average 400-500 pages each. So that would be 2000 pages a week on the essay reading alone.
You're not meant to sit and read the reading from start to finish as you might read a novel. Start by reading the introduction and conclusion to get a feel for what the author is saying and what they've found out - a nice short summary. Make use of the contents page and the index to find the relevant areas, read the introduction and conclusions of chapters before skimming the text to establish whether any of it is relevant. You can even read the first line of a paragraph and the last line of the paragraph to establish whether the paragraph seems relevant and worth reading in its entirety.
We were given a compulsory study skills session during freshers week - not your typical alcohol-fuelled freshers romp, but it outlined all of this stuff very well.
Reply 8
Original post by Envee
So it's about prioritising which work/ readings to do?



Yea, or not going for perfection.
Original post by Jamerson
A big part of adjusting to university is learning to read properly. Reading for a degree is different to reading for leisure. I don't know how it is for economics, of course, but for my course I have to do two 2000 word essays a week, plus the work for the language component of the course, plus lectures and supervisions. For each essay there's perhaps 3 or 4 books, on average 400-500 pages each. So that would be 2000 pages a week on the essay reading alone.
You're not meant to sit and read the reading from start to finish as you might read a novel. Start by reading the introduction and conclusion to get a feel for what the author is saying and what they've found out - a nice short summary. Make use of the contents page and the index to find the relevant areas, read the introduction and conclusions of chapters before skimming the text to establish whether any of it is relevant. You can even read the first line of a paragraph and the last line of the paragraph to establish whether the paragraph seems relevant and worth reading in its entirety.
We were given a compulsory study skills session during freshers week - not your typical alcohol-fuelled freshers romp, but it outlined all of this stuff very well.


You only have to read 3 or 4 books for each essay?
Original post by Envee
I'm studying Economics & Development at a top 30 university and in first year. I literally have 100's of pages worth of reading to do every week, not to mention on the side revision and homework. I literally have no time to do anything else, and yet I'm still behind on readings. How do people manage to find a balance between social life/ leisure and uni work? It seems impossible....


As others have said people don't do everything. In my case coursework is prioritized, then other reading depends on how useful it would be in the seminar and whether or not there is an exam for that module. 100% coursework and I do the bare minimum reading, Also you aren't expected to read everything on the reading list- for a seminar for example you wouldn't need to read more than 4 articles.
I suppose a couple hundred pages a week seems like a lot when you're studying a beta STEM subject.
Reply 12
Original post by KingStannis
I suppose a couple hundred pages a week seems like a lot when you're studying a beta STEM subject.


:facepalm:
Original post by jelly1000
You only have to read 3 or 4 books for each essay?


Yes. First year undergraduate 4 books 400-500 pages each is quite a lot!
Original post by jelly1000
You only have to read 3 or 4 books for each essay?


It sounds like he's at either Oxford or Cambridge; for their weekly supervision essay they don't need nearly the same amount of research or reading as a piece of assessed coursework would. What he's describing sounds about what is expected; of course for any assessed work much more would be expected.
Original post by Jamerson
Yes. First year undergraduate 4 books 400-500 pages each is quite a lot!


I didn't realise you had to read the whole thing, also I wouldn't have enough to say if I only read 4 peoples views for a 2000 word essay.
Original post by gutenberg
It sounds like he's at either Oxford or Cambridge; for their weekly supervision essay they don't need nearly the same amount of research or reading as a piece of assessed coursework would. What he's describing sounds about what is expected; of course for any assessed work much more would be expected.


Yes I guessed from the amount of work that he was at an Oxbridge uni, its just I wouldn't be able to write an essay having only 4 sources to refer to.
Reply 17
Original post by jelly1000
Yes I guessed from the amount of work that he was at an Oxbridge uni, its just I wouldn't be able to write an essay having only 4 sources to refer to.


The only people who would say "top 30 university" are people who attend a university commonly ranked 25-30.

Generally when people say "top x university" they pick the absolute lowest x they can get away with :lol:
Original post by Noble.
The only people who would say "top 30 university" are people who attend a university commonly ranked 25-30.

Generally when people say "top x university" they pick the absolute lowest x they can get away with :lol:


From ops previous posts it seems he goes to SOAS which is actually a very good University and has a great reputation.
Reply 19
Original post by SmaugTheTerrible
From ops previous posts it seems he goes to SOAS which is actually a very good University and has a great reputation.


At no point was I trying to imply the OP went to a crap university. I was merely pointing out that it would be odd for someone to state they went to a "top 30" university if it was in fact top 5/10/15/20.

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