Too much free time

Any clubs or societies To join?

Reply 2

username1221160

19

Voluntary work? Get involved in a university society? Take up an individual hobby/new sport? Buy some chickens?

Or just enjoy that you can mess about doing nothing for extended periods because it won't be that way later on in your degree.

Reply 3

FanaticEV

12

Get a part. Time job. Make yourself some money

Reply 4

JAndrade1

8

I've got similar issues. I just made more friends, got a boyfriend, joined a sports society. So you could try these out. Or start working out. Maybe throw a flat party to get to know your building better.

I live away (outside the UK) so I know it's hard. Good luck.

Reply 5

The Joker ~

16

Original post by FanaticEV

Get a part. Time job. Make yourself some money

Get a wife, find a home.. no no make one and yeah 2 kids would be good!!

Quick!!! Do NOT lose time!!

Reply 6

Tiger Rag

22

Are you studying enough? You're expected to do a lot of independent study as a uni student.

Reply 7

Original post by Frostyjoe

I have just looked at my timetable and I only have ten hours of time.

That's about what I'd expect at uni. On my undergrad, we did six units a year, taught over two terms. We had two hours of lectures/seminars/practicals for each module per week - a maximum of twelve hours a week.

The remainder of your time is supposed to be spent in independent study - usually reading academic journals and books. You should have been given reading lists - if not, you need to ask for them. You won't get good marks in coursework or exams, just by regurgitating what you've been told in lectures. This is an opportunity to get into good uni-level study habits., rather than continuing the way you worked at school/college.

I would suspect that I would normally study but this is a foundation science year so I spent alot of time doing nothing because I don't need to study for hours.

There must be a reason why you're doing a foundation year and couldn't go straight into a degree. You need to be spending your non-contact hours, plugging gaps in your knowledge.

Not really sure what I can do?

More of the independent study expected of you.

Is this normal to have so much free time?

It's perfectly normal to have that amount of non-contact time, but it isn't intended to be "free" time.

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Tiger Rag

Are you studying enough? You're expected to do a lot of independent study as a uni student.

I got 70% in my exams. As I said its a foundation year so only so much studying.

Reply 9

Original post by Frostyjoe

I got 70% in my exams. As I said its a foundation year so only so much studying.

Unless you've read every book in the library relevant to your modules, and every paper in every academic journal, then there really isn't a limit to the studying you can do. You can decide that you won't do it, or that you can't be bothered, or you don't see the point, but it's absolutely not true to say that you don't need to study much simply because you're doing a foundation year. That's a limit being applied by you and nobody else.

Besides, think of the jump you can get on building a knowledge base for your first full uni year. You could get yourself a real advantage over the next few months.

After six years of uni study, the one thing I learned is that there is no such thing as "enough reading", whether you're a foundation year student or a PhD researcher. You'll always be playing catch-up with publications. Even uni lecturers struggle to keep their knowledge current.

Reply 10

Vanny17

19

Original post by Klix88

Unless you've read every book in the library relevant to your modules, and every paper in every academic journal, then there really isn't a limit to the studying you can do. You can decide that you won't do it, or that you can't be bothered, or you don't see the point, but it's absolutely not true to say that you don't need to study much simply because you're doing a foundation year. That's a limit being applied by you and nobody else.

Besides, think of the jump you can get on building a knowledge base for your first full uni year. You could get yourself a real advantage over the next few months.

After six years of uni study, the one thing I learned is that there is no such thing as "enough reading", whether you're a foundation year student or a PhD researcher. You'll always be playing catch-up with publications. Even uni lecturers struggle to keep their knowledge current.

This.

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Reply 11

OP

But it's a foundation degree and we start new topics after christmas so even in the first week I can't sit and study 24/7. It's not like I actually have tonnes of work to do.

Reply 12

Original post by Frostyjoe

But it's a foundation degree and we start new topics after christmas so even in the first week I can't sit and study 24/7. It's not like I actually have tonnes of work to do.

At uni, the bulk of your work won't be set for you - this isn't like school/college any more and you're expected to take the initiative more.

Having said that, nobody's expecting you to study 24/7. Your original post was that you weren't doing anything academic other than ten contact hours a week and didn't know how to fill your free time. You can do more studying without going to the other extreme. You need to learn to set up and manage your own study regime - you can certainly do more without overloading yourself. If you do ten contact hours and ten hours of independent reading a week, that's still only twenty hours a week and much less than a standard working week in, say, an office job. That way, watching YouTube and walking might be more of a relaxing novelty than just boring.

Other than that, it's just obvious stuff like joining uni societies, taking up new hobbies, finding other online activities than YouTube or getting a part-time job. How you fill your actual leisure time isn't something we can really advise on, as it depends on your personal interests. You're at uni; there are as many opportunities out there, as you're prepared to look for and participate in.

Reply 13

OP

The reason i'm doing a foundation year is because I only got C's in my GCSE's and my school wouldn't let me do science A levels.

It's not because i'm rubbish at them. I just got rubbish GCSE results.

Reply 14

Original post by Frostyjoe

The reason i'm doing a foundation year is because I only got C's in my GCSE's and my school wouldn't let me do science A levels.

It's not because i'm rubbish at them. I just got rubbish GCSE results.

It's not about you being "rubbish" by any means. Obviously you're well up to the studying, otherwise you wouldn't be on your course at all. It's just that studying at uni level should consist of more than sitting in lectures.

But as I said, there are plenty of leisure opportunities available to you as well. You need to expand your horizons beyond YouTube and walking.

Reply 15

Here's a list of societies where you are. Have a scan and see if any appeal?

http://www.ueastudent.com/groups#club-society#all

Reply 16

OP

Original post by Klix88

It's not about you being "rubbish" by any means. Obviously you're well up to the studying, otherwise you wouldn't be on your course at all. It's just that studying at uni level should consist of more than sitting in lectures.

But as I said, there are plenty of leisure opportunities available to you as well. You need to expand your horizons beyond YouTube and walking.

Hi. It's just because alot of people have negative opinions about foundation years.

I wanted to point that we are just as capable of people with A levels.

Reply 17

Original post by Frostyjoe

Hi. It's just because alot of people have negative opinions about foundation years.

I wanted to point that we are just as capable of people with A levels.

Just to clarify - I wasn't suggesting that you study more because you're not capable. It's just that studying is how you learn more about your subject. Even clever people have to study at uni if they want good results. The great thing is that the more you study, the cleverer you get :smile:

Reply 18

FanaticEV

12

Original post by The Jocker

Get a wife, find a home.. no no make one and yeah 2 kids would be good!!

Quick!!! Do NOT lose time!!

He isnt losing time, he has so much free time

Dikhed

Reply 19

Magdatrix >_<