How much studying?

[Brill]

This is a question for those of you already in pharmacy school. Since school is about to start here in a few weeks, I'm trying to get a better idea of what the day-to-day life is going to be like. How much time do y'all spend studying? A few hours every night? Cramming the last few days before the test?

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[Ivorymist]

This really depends on how well you want to do in school. Assuming that you want to do well and get good grades, then expect to study around 8-12 hrs a week for the first year.

At the school I'm at the 2nd year gets exponentially harder and it's not uncommon to have students study 20-25+ hrs a week (I studied more than I ever had during my 2nd year). There's a whole lot of material to be learned and you'd sink if you fall behind. During the 2nd year my typical day consisted of going to class from 8-12 (or until 2 if I have lab), eat lunch, nap, study for two+ hours, dinner, and then either do some leisurely activity or study some more if necessary at night.

It's not too bad, you just gotta pace yourself.

That being said, if you want to just pass, that's not too hard to do. It's fathomable that you can go out almost every night (which some students here do), make straight C's and move on.

 

[Brill]

How much is that relative to the amount of studying you did during undergrad?

 

[Ivorymist]

Sorry Brill, I fell asleep after that post...LOL

For the first year of pharm school I studied only a bit more than I did for undergrad. For the 2nd year though I studied at least 2x more if not more than that.

I think the main difference is that I study ALMOST everyday in pharm school whereas in undergrad I often just wait until two nights before a test to cram.

 

[LSUMED2006]

I found for me cramming was the best solution, but that is generally the exception. Many people, if they don't study every day, will begin studying say 2 weeks before an exam. We were told repeatedly by the dean of the pharmaceutical sciences department and OMC professor (hands down the most amazing teacher I have EVER had anywhere) that he could guarantee any student a C provided he/she studied 3 hours for every hour of lecture.

It all boils down to personal preference and study/retention abilities. If you study 2 hours a day, you will almost assuredly have a huge advantage over the majority of your class.