Starbucks-how long is too long?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
D

Dr 14220

Junior Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2005
Messages
92
Reaction score
2
Ok so lately I've started studying at Starbucks......but after about an hour and a half, I start feeling a little funny about being there for so long just studying....so i leave even though i really didnt want to yet

so.....what do you guys think is the max amount of time that someone can study in a coffee shop per day before it starts seeming sorta weird????
Members don't see this ad.
 
Dr 14220 said:
Ok so lately I've started studying at Starbucks......but after about an hour and a half, I start feeling a little funny about being there for so long just studying....so i leave even though i really didnt want to yet

so.....what do you guys think is the max amount of time that someone can study in a coffee shop per day before it starts seeming sorta weird????
Click to expand...

I used to work at starbucks, and it wasn't unusual for people to stay for hours on end who were studying (we were near the university). Don't feel like you have to leave. 🙂
 
Don't feel bad. Just keep your empty cup as proof you are a real customer. Or, if you feel bad after a few hours... just order something a second drink/snack....something really tiny and cheap to "refresh" your customer status.

I'm sure if you are nice to the staff when you order your drink... they won't mind you staying as long as you would like.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
We have a Starbucks in our Student Union and its not uncommon for people to stay there for hours on end.
 
When I was studying for the MCAT I would sit in my local Starbucks for hours on end...but no matter how long I was there, the guy who was studying for Step 1 was always there longer than me. So I didn't feel too bad!
 
Last night I was in a coffee shop (a local one that is set up for college students) for 3 hours. As long as you are working I don't think any one cares; everyone knows that coffee shops are popular spots for accidemics. Now, if the Starbucks is in the middle of downtown's financial disctrict with no college in walking distance, I probably would not stay too long 'cause that might be out of the norm.
 
I couldn't study in Starbucks...I can only listen to only so many orders of grande mocha latte double-shot super-duper frappucino extra hot before going insane.

And there is always that place called the library. 😀
 
Until they kick you out, I imagine.
 
If they didn't want you to hang out for a while they wouldn't put in couches and comfy chairs.
 
Haha this is the perfect thread for me!! I study ALL THE TIME at Starbucks because of the internet access. When I was studying for the MCAT I studied at various places (Peets, Starbucks, independent shops, Coffee Bean) and often stayed there for 5-7 hours. Nobody has ever said anything negative, and I have even gotten a few free drinks from people who feel bad for me! (Mostly managers and creepy older men....but hey I'll take it! Buying starbucks everyday gets expensive) Plus, you know you've found a good shop if they bring around samples a lot. That will keep you energized. Hm...maybe I know too much about this topic 😳
 
totally don't feel guilty. go to a starbucks next to a med school and you will see many people stay there for HOURS on end. they'll buy the house coffee (free refills) and keep heading back up to the counter as needed.

i did this all the time in grad school. most of the time my hunger is the limiting factor in the amount of time that i stay. after 5-6 hours, i usually need a break to go home to eat.
 
nina7123 said:
Haha this is the perfect thread for me!! I study ALL THE TIME at Starbucks because of the internet access. When I was studying for the MCAT I studied at various places (Peets, Starbucks, independent shops, Coffee Bean) and often stayed there for 5-7 hours. Nobody has ever said anything negative, and I have even gotten a few free drinks from people who feel bad for me! (Mostly managers and creepy older men....but hey I'll take it! Buying starbucks everyday gets expensive) Plus, you know you've found a good shop if they bring around samples a lot. That will keep you energized. Hm...maybe I know too much about this topic 😳
Click to expand...

yea, i've made friends with the managers before too. :laugh:
 
why would near minimum wage employees care how many hours you spend sitting in their establishment? As long as you aren't being a jackass and harassing other customers you are good to go. I find it odd how people have adopted this store as a place to study, to me it is like studying in KFC, but I don't drink coffee so maybe that is the point I am missing.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Jolie South said:
totally don't feel guilty. go to a starbucks next to a med school and you will see many people stay there for HOURS on end. they'll buy the house coffee (free refills) and keep heading back up to the counter as needed.
Click to expand...

How did I not know about this free refill policy? 👍
 
redrumi said:
why would near minimum wage employees care how many hours you spend sitting in their establishment? As long as you aren't being a jackass and harassing other customers you are good to go. I find it odd how people have adopted this store as a place to study, to me it is like studying in KFC, but I don't drink coffee so maybe that is the point I am missing.
Click to expand...

There was an Arby's near my campus that was a big study hang out. They had free Wi-Fi and free refills on coffee that wasn't too bad. Plus they served phenomenal cinnamon rolls.
 
You see, that's the trick. They want you to stay. In other words, they want you to NOT leave. They make money off you, after all...

As they say, "No customer is the worst customer."

;-)
 
LossForWords said:
There was an Arby's near my campus that was a big study hang out. They had free Wi-Fi and free refills on coffee that wasn't too bad. Plus they served phenomenal cinnamon rolls.
Click to expand...

Free Wi-Fi, that makes a place a winner!

Starbucks doesn't have it (boo), but Panera does. Mmmm, good stuff. I spent a lot of time studying at a Panera in college, good food and people never bother you there.
 
nina7123 said:
How did I not know about this free refill policy? 👍
Click to expand...

They didn't have free refills at the Starbucks at which I would study. I spent more than my fair share of time at Panera Bread as a result (free coffee *and* free wireless 🙂 ).
 
Quix said:
They didn't have free refills at the Starbucks at which I would study. I spent more than my fair share of time at Panera Bread as a result (free coffee *and* free wireless 🙂 ).
Click to expand...

There is free coffee at Panera?? I think we should make a list of all the places there is free coffee because apparently I have been spending way more money than I need to.
 
Free refills? So not fair. 🙁
 
Personally I can't stay there for long periods of time or I start to smell like coffee beans. I'd hate to mask my intrinsic smell, a pleasant mix between cigarettes, Axe bodyspray and marijuana.
 
I don't understand why people use starbucks to study. First, the atmosphere is way too cheesy with all of the quasi-hipsters working on their arts and crafts. Second, it's not a library, and a library is much better. And third you can get a coffee and simply drink it at the library instead. I mean come on! It's a corporate chain for God's sake. Doesn't exactly foster academic excellence.
 
Pfft, screw Starbucks. A few friends and I used to go to a Chinese buffet at noon for lunch, eat, study for a few hours, eat dinner, and leave, all for $8.00. For the price of a decent (I use the word loosely) cup of coffee at Starbucks, we got two big meals, free refills, and a good atmosphere.
 
Nobody cares... I study at a starbucks for hours at end. Its right next to a Barnes and Noble and there are always 10 people there studying/reading. The people working there are quite friendly and never ever say anything about someone hogging space.

Ofcourse I do get a cup of coffee there but that's because i like it and not because I feel obligated to buy something while I'm there...

But if you are planning to go there regularly and never get anything to eat/drink then you might think of switching to a library...😛
 
calnation said:
I don't understand why people use starbucks to study. First, the atmosphere is way too cheesy with all of the quasi-hipsters working on their arts and crafts. Second, it's not a library, and a library is much better. And third you can get a coffee and simply drink it at the library instead. I mean come on! It's a corporate chain for God's sake. Doesn't exactly foster academic excellence.
Click to expand...
If it works, why change? Studying at the library can be the most academically destructive thing. At our library, the first floor is the social floor. Second floor people still talk. The top floor is quiet, but there is never any seats and you still get distracted. You don't have to be in the norm (at the library) to do well.
 
They could not care less as long as you do not keep them from goin home on time.
 
I don't think the Starbucks employees are the problem here. I think He is worried about feeling "weird" for being there too long.

It is all relative to where you live. In a college town its normal for students to study at coffee shops for hours at end (as we all experienced) but in other cities (ex, where i live now) there aren't many college students and people go to starbucks to just chat. If you feel weird studying in such a place I would recommend studying in a coffee shop inside a bookstore (Borders) it might feel a little normal there

hope that helps 🙂
 
VneZonyDostupa said:
Pfft, screw Starbucks. A few friends and I used to go to a Chinese buffet at noon for lunch, eat, study for a few hours, eat dinner, and leave, all for $8.00. For the price of a decent (I use the word loosely) cup of coffee at Starbucks, we got two big meals, free refills, and a good atmosphere.
Click to expand...

Wow. That's a fantastic idea! Golden Corral, here I come!
 
library + thermos = productivity

Most large college libraries have so many nooks and crannies that you can find somewhere that you love. I used to rotate between Chinese literature, the top floor of the science stacks, and the art/architecture library. Government publications is usually pretty quiet too if you can find a table and chair. My university actually put a coffee shop and accompanying "quiet-free zone" in the library during my last year there. Kudos if you ever have to call campus police to let you out.
 
Virgil said:
Personally I can't stay there for long periods of time or I start to smell like coffee beans. I'd hate to mask my intrinsic smell, a pleasant mix between cigarettes, Axe bodyspray and marijuana.
Click to expand...


:laugh:
 
I go to starbucks to work on secondaries. Never really had to go to study...

Hey, 50 cent refills on cold drinks+ starbucks being practically right across the street from my house? I <3 it.
 
I think you're fine so long as there aren't a bunch of paying-customers who're trying desperately to sit down and you finished your cappuccino 3 hours ago.

I tend not to stay longer than 2 hours or so because I can't study that long without taking some kind of "movement" break.
 
At my school the Starbucks is inside the library...genius...I know several people who make that their group study spot and are there from the end of there classes at 4 to close at 12...the workers there do not care at all since hundreds of people filter in and out of the shop into the library so its not as if they are losing any business...as far as Starbucks outside of campus, I would say until they kick you out...but if Starbucks everywhere are as busy as the ones I've been to, the workers won't even have the time to notice who's been there for 6 hours...
 
Jolie South said:
totally don't feel guilty. go to a starbucks next to a med school and you will see many people stay there for HOURS on end. they'll buy the house coffee (free refills) and keep heading back up to the counter as needed.

i did this all the time in grad school. most of the time my hunger is the limiting factor in the amount of time that i stay. after 5-6 hours, i usually need a break to go home to eat.
Click to expand...

:laugh: Why when there is all that yummy food and coffee there?
 
Starbucks is sometimes filled with highschool kids who ask for a cup of water and spend the rest of the time fooling around. Thankfully there are 2-3 starbucks within a 3 block radius, and the one that's empty doesn't mind me taking my sweet time.
 
I could never do the coffee shop-study thing. Too distracting. Library was my best choice, but only from second floor on up. First floor was as distracting as the coffee shop, with all the hot a-ss on my campus....sigh...i miss those days...slim pickings in the hospital.
 
I can't study in public places. Way too much noise, too many things going on in the background. I like the silence and the comfort of my own space. It's just like using public restrooms. I mean, I'll use if I absolutely have nowhere else, but I'd prefer to do my business at my own place, you know? It's just doesn't feel the same anywhere else.
 
ive stayed at my local coffee shop for over 5 hrs. 😛
 
does anyone study at home ever or is it mostly either library or coffee shop??

i wish i could study at home but for me that is the most distracting place of all...
 
I tried studying at Panera/Caribou for the MCAT, but I found myself constantly looking up and wanting to watch people.

Generally, though, I study in the chemistry labs. No one wants to be there after class or lab, so I figured it would be perfectly silent, haha.
 
I study at home almost without exception. Studying in groups means I'm talking to people and not studying. Studying in book stores or coffee shops means I'm constantly distracted by whatever is going on around me. Same goes for the library.
 
I don't know what's up with the libraries you people go to because I've been to about 3 libraries on 3 different campuses and talking has never been a problem at either of them :scared:

I can't stand to study at Starbucks. Something about the exploitive overpriced atmosphere stifles my motivation.
 
I don't do starbucks (you have to pay for the wifi. Ugh.) But I go to a local caf&#233; that has free wifi. As long as they aren't horribly busy, I'll stay there as long as I need. If they get busy, I buy the largest size of hot tea they have (which is $1.25) once an hour or so - that way I'm not taking up space that's needed for a new paying customer, because I am that paying customer if that makes any sense at all. I think my record was sitting there for 13 hours studying for my gen chem final.

I study better at a public place where the activity around me reminds me to look away occasionally. Headphones+rhapsody+free wifi+laptop drowns out the noise with whatever music works best that particular day.
 
VneZonyDostupa said:
And it's only $20 for a cup of hot water and a semi-palatable muffin!
Click to expand...

That's why I would bring my own snacks to Starbucks...I know, I'm terrible. 😳

In college, I didn't have problems with people talking in the library; now in grad school, it's like social hour in there all the time. Color me slightly annoyed when the people in the cubicles next to me answer their cell phones 15 times during the 2 hours I'm studying.....
 
linguini said:
I couldn't study in Starbucks...I can only listen to only so many orders of grande mocha latte double-shot super-duper frappucino extra hot before going insane.
Click to expand...

Those mother****ers need to be shot. Ordering a drink which has more descriptors than can be assigned to your personality is among the gravest of crimes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Deep
Is a two-page update letter too long?
Replies
17
Views
1K
gyngyn
gyngyn
L
Realistically how long would this take me?
Replies
9
Views
938
listenerpastry
L
2026PreMed
On a long enough time horizon is Med School Admission Guaranteed ? Hypothetical Scenario I made up
Replies
17
Views
531
polymerization
P
J
are there issues with waiting too long to accept an admission?
Replies
1
Views
676
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
H
for adcoms, how long does it take you to review 1 application
Replies
10
Views
3K
Moko
Moko
Top