Every student has their own way of studying, a fact which becomes abundantly clear by the time midterms roll around. But can it be possible that your own study habits can reveal a deeper aspect of your own personality? Here’s a list of the average times it takes for students to study for a midterm (yes, one midterm) and what they say about you.
20+ Hours
First off, I seriously envy your focus and dedication, but another part of me fears you. Like who even has the time? For one test??? You’re probably the kind of person who takes notes with color coded highlighters and makes flash cards for the material way before your professor announces any exams. Working your hardest to be the best you can be and all that stuff. You know what, I feel bad for starting off kinda judgey. You’re out here making the most out of your time at college for your future and I respect that. I hope you have enough time between all your studying to read this article and know that I support you.
15-19 Hours
Look at you, effectively getting your 25-35 hours in. Good for you! Living a balanced college lifestyle where you can have time to get good grades and enjoy the other things college life has to offer. You’re probably a fairly organized person, good at stuff like prioritizing and time management. Got a cute planner and a nice, well decorated room? Yeah. Must be nice.
10-14 Hours
Your study habits are probably pretty average. It wouldn’t hurt you to get more work in, but hey, you do enough to make you satisfied. You’ve probably figured out some sort of system or study strategy that is most effective for you, meaning that you know how much time you should set aside for studying. Sometimes you overcompensate and completely kill it, and others you overestimate yourself and don’t do as well as you’d hope. But hey, that’s just how life is sometimes.
4-9 Hours
Okay, so maybe you don’t have as much time as you’d like to study. You could work a lot, have a pretty active social life, or you’re just really bad with procrastinating – no judgment, me too. Hopefully your professor posted a comprehensive study guide, or someone in your class comes in clutch with a Quizlet. If you hunker down and really focus, I’m sure everything will be fine. After all, it’s not like this is the first time you’ve done this, right?
1-3 Hours
You’re feeling pretty good about this test – probably have been taking nice notes in class, or maybe it’s a subject that you’re already pretty comfortable with. Maybe you reviewed the material as you learned it like you’re supposed to, instead of cramming all in your brain less than a week before the test. Or you spent all the time you should’ve been studying watching dog videos or goofing off on Instagram, leaving you a frantic mess the night before the test as you realize that you know nothing. Good luck!
<1 Hour
This can mean one of two things: either you’re some sort of super genius that can retain information the instant you’re exposed to it, or you’re a student who has lost all hope. You know that there is nothing that you can do to avoid your inevitable doom. But with your dismal fate comes a silver lining. You are free to laugh in the face of ruin, spending your days without a care while your classmates foolishly cling on to feeble hope that they might not fail.
Hopefully you now have an idea of what kind of studier you are, and can play towards your strengths and weaknesses. Or you can keep on sticking to your same old patterns, like me. Good luck to all of us!