Pharmacy How much should I study per day?

[Mr.Smile12]

I am a first year Pharmacy student.My classes are just about to start.I want to know how many hour per day should I study to get 3.5 CGPA.

Are you in the United States or elsewhere?

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[lord999]

Likewise, but the average for the US to make Rho Chi is 2-3 hours per contact hour of classroom instruction for the sciences and pharmacotherapy. That's 40 hours or so out of the classroom. Your performance results will vary with your efficiency and your ability.

 

[BC_89]

To give you perspective, I am enrolled in a 3-year pharmacy program that requires a minimum 90% to continue in my courses. I have class from 0800 - 1600 with the occasional opportunity of getting out an hour early once or twice a month. I take bout 2 or 3 hours to take care of family obligations (wife and two kids) and sometimes longer if I have personal appointments or meetings in school since I am in a couple of student leadership positions (nothing extraordinary but it keeps my focus off the books). When all is said and done, a typical day will have me starting my studies around 1800 - 1900 and will continue 'til about midnight or the occasional 1 in the morning depending on the material. I will squeeze in 45 minutes to 1 hour of study prep before classes start as a refresher. I would say for the most part I put in about 6-7 hours of "true" study time Monday through Friday outside of class. Again, this depends on my class appointments and obligations at home.

On the weekends, I once again attend to my family in the morning and evening, so I will put in about 4 hours before stepping away from my studies and then continue for about another 4 hours before taking another true break and put my mind on something else (watch an episode of whatever I want on Netflix or taking my kids out to play around while I get some fresh air. Some weekends will consist of 7 - 10 hours depending on the material (Sundays is around 5-6 hours sometimes less).

Exam week I take it easy two days before the day. I will do a light review for about 3 hours and put the books down. The day before my exams I will once again put in about 3 hours (more if I feel its necessary) and do some activities with family to keep my mind at ease. The weekend after an exam I do nothing. Now that I am starting my IPPE rotations, my study plans will alter as needed (My IPPE rotation consist of 8 hour days in the pharmacy every other week as of now).

In total, I'd say I put in about 47 - 52 hours on most weeks with the occasional 60 hour weeks plus about 27 - 32 weeks during exam week which is about every other week throughout each semester. Keep in mind, I only get about 3-4 weeks off from Dec - Jan and the rest of the year I am in school minus a few days off between certain semesters plus a portion of the summer working in the pharmacy Monday - Friday. It's not your typical 4 year program, but I would say the concept of my studying should put things in perspective for you. I have young classmates that can power study three or four days before an exam and party every other weekend and seem to do ok.... I am not that student so take it for what its worth.

 

[Goro]

I seriously doubt that there is any algorithm that can guarantee that x hours of studying = y GPA.

 

[lord999]

To give you perspective, I am enrolled in a 3-year pharmacy program that requires a minimum 90% to continue in my courses. I have class from 0800 - 1600 with the occasional opportunity of getting out an hour early once or twice a month. I take bout 2 or 3 hours to take care of family obligations (wife and two kids) and sometimes longer if I have personal appointments or meetings in school since I am in a couple of student leadership positions (nothing extraordinary but it keeps my focus off the books). When all is said and done, a typical day will have me starting my studies around 1800 - 1900 and will continue 'til about midnight or the occasional 1 in the morning depending on the material. I will squeeze in 45 minutes to 1 hour of study prep before classes start as a refresher. I would say for the most part I put in about 6-7 hours of "true" study time Monday through Friday outside of class. Again, this depends on my class appointments and obligations at home.

On the weekends, I once again attend to my family in the morning and evening, so I will put in about 4 hours before stepping away from my studies and then continue for about another 4 hours before taking another true break and put my mind on something else (watch an episode of whatever I want on Netflix or taking my kids out to play around while I get some fresh air. Some weekends will consist of 7 - 10 hours depending on the material (Sundays is around 5-6 hours sometimes less).

Exam week I take it easy two days before the day. I will do a light review for about 3 hours and put the books down. The day before my exams I will once again put in about 3 hours (more if I feel its necessary) and do some activities with family to keep my mind at ease. The weekend after an exam I do nothing. Now that I am starting my IPPE rotations, my study plans will alter as needed (My IPPE rotation consist of 8 hour days in the pharmacy every other week as of now).

In total, I'd say I put in about 47 - 52 hours on most weeks with the occasional 60 hour weeks plus about 27 - 32 weeks during exam week which is about every other week throughout each semester. Keep in mind, I only get about 3-4 weeks off from Dec - Jan and the rest of the year I am in school minus a few days off between certain semesters plus a portion of the summer working in the pharmacy Monday - Friday. It's not your typical 4 year program, but I would say the concept of my studying should put things in perspective for you. I have young classmates that can power study three or four days before an exam and party every other weekend and seem to do ok.... I am not that student so take it for what its worth.

I have one specific critique (not criticism) of this studying plan, which is that @BC_89 comes in with serious experience in the field, such that he can spend time studying in a year-round without uneven strength consequences. If you do not have that level of experience, you also need to budget time for it even that experience gain cuts into your studying time. If you are educated in the US, part of that study time should be doing internship work rather than book knowledge especially as you progress. If you do not spend some time working in the field as an intern, you will not retain what you have studied as you will lack the context for the didactics.