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It was painfully obvious that nearly nobody wanted to take 8:00 AM classes when I was in college. There were two friends of mine who took the same 8:00 AM math

It was painfully obvious that nearly nobody wanted to take 8:00 AM classes when I was in college. There were two friends of mine who took the same 8:00 AM math class one semester, and they never met in lecture, except on quiz days. Even the early birds I knew didn't quite like the morning classes, because they then had to rush towards lecture halls first thing in the morning, rather than strolling leisurely to the library, eating breakfast, or jogging and taking a shower, which I suspect is what many early birds most enjoy about being an early bird. The problem is that there are seminars and stuff that occur at at like 7 or 8 pm, so university life almost necessarily extends late (after lecture, dinner, assignments, projects) in the evening at least on some days. This is further exacerbated by the fact that given how many group assignments there are, individual student rarely have total control over their own schedule. Even if you carefully choose your classes, avoid all late-night sessions, don't party, plan your life, it's still incredibly hard to sleep before 11pm consistently.

giantg2 4y ago
"it's still incredibly hard to sleep before 11pm consistently." I didn't really have that problem. I had one semester that was really had where I would stay up late to do solo projects and coursework. The rest of time it was easy to go to sleep before 11pm. I think the only times that I didn't would have been due to partying, but usually not on a school night.
- asdff 4y ago
  For some majors that 1 semester you had is the entire program.
  - giantg2 4y ago
    Not that I saw. I was in computer science. I knew people in education, business, math, physics, etc. The reason my semester was hard was due to a poor professor and taking advanced classes as a freshman (several 300 levels, including math, which I struggle with). I do know doctors in residency and others that have rough schedules, but that's not undergrad.
  - froggit 4y ago
    As an MIS undergrad student I had "that 1 semester" where I would work myself delirious. It was not a good time. However that was followed by 3 years of taking the minimum number of hours per semester to maintain scholarship and carefully selected schedules that never again required me to be in a classroom before 2pm. At first, I was actually surprised by how much faster it was to do schoolwork when not crushed under sleep debt. It turned out only having scheduled classes when I was actually awake made things a lot easier.
matwood 4y ago
> Even the early birds I knew didn't quite like the morning classes, because they then had to rush towards lecture halls first thing in the morning, rather than strolling leisurely to the library, eating breakfast, or jogging and taking a shower, which I suspect is what many early birds most enjoy about being an early bird. As an early bird, spot on. I don't like being late or being rushed. I also like surfing with the sun coming up or working out first thing in the morning.
regularfry 4y ago
When I was at university the lectures started at 9, and everyone knew that not a soul was going to be there for the Monday 9am session, including the lecturer.
Arrath 4y ago
> It was painfully obvious that nearly nobody wanted to take 8:00 AM classes when I was in college. Too right. I, and a number of classmates, got screwed one year by our college when enrollment was a good deal lower than forecast. I had wisely enrolled in a 9AM math class but there was a whole spread of classes by one professor that were under-enrolled so they combined them all into one class. At 7AM. It was supreme bullshit.
comfypotato 4y ago
This isn’t accurate. I’m currently a student and haven’t been awake past 9 on a weeknight my entire degree. (With a few exceptions, obviously.) I’m an extreme case of loving the mornings, but still. Also, as you said, I hate early morning classes. I like feeling productive in the morning, and sitting in an 8:30 lecture is the bane of my existence.
NoNameHaveI 4y ago
The curious thing about the earliest classes is that they are the ones that tend to fill first. Why? Because its easy for people who handle enrollments. Hmmm. Section 1 at 7 am? Section 2 at 8am? Section 6 at 1pm? Let's enroll you in section 1 before it fills up so that way we can get you in other classes later. In fact, there are records systems that do this automatically. Input what classes are needed, and get enrolled in the earliest one. EVERY time. Not really smart. When I was teaching community college full time, I noticed that the early afternoon students were usually the brightest and most attentive. Most young people really hit their stride in evening classes and could easily go past 10pm. But working adults who came from work usually packed up and left when lab started. They understandably just didn't have the energy.
- lanterk 4y ago
  I don't know how its for other Unis, but YorkU (Toronto) has the Visual Schedule builder that lets you see the schedule and select the section based on the time. ...that said, they have the other extreme of classes ending at 10PM...

giantg2 4y ago

"it's still incredibly hard to sleep before 11pm consistently." I didn't really have that problem. I had one semester that was really had where I would stay up late to do solo projects and coursework. The rest of time it was easy to go to sleep before 11pm. I think the only times that I didn't would have been due to partying, but usually not on a school night.

asdff 4y ago
For some majors that 1 semester you had is the entire program.
- giantg2 4y ago
  Not that I saw. I was in computer science. I knew people in education, business, math, physics, etc. The reason my semester was hard was due to a poor professor and taking advanced classes as a freshman (several 300 levels, including math, which I struggle with). I do know doctors in residency and others that have rough schedules, but that's not undergrad.
- froggit 4y ago
  As an MIS undergrad student I had "that 1 semester" where I would work myself delirious. It was not a good time. However that was followed by 3 years of taking the minimum number of hours per semester to maintain scholarship and carefully selected schedules that never again required me to be in a classroom before 2pm. At first, I was actually surprised by how much faster it was to do schoolwork when not crushed under sleep debt. It turned out only having scheduled classes when I was actually awake made things a lot easier.

matwood 4y ago

> Even the early birds I knew didn't quite like the morning classes, because they then had to rush towards lecture halls first thing in the morning, rather than strolling leisurely to the library, eating breakfast, or jogging and taking a shower, which I suspect is what many early birds most enjoy about being an early bird. As an early bird, spot on. I don't like being late or being rushed. I also like surfing with the sun coming up or working out first thing in the morning.

regularfry 4y ago

When I was at university the lectures started at 9, and everyone knew that not a soul was going to be there for the Monday 9am session, including the lecturer.

Arrath 4y ago

> It was painfully obvious that nearly nobody wanted to take 8:00 AM classes when I was in college. Too right. I, and a number of classmates, got screwed one year by our college when enrollment was a good deal lower than forecast. I had wisely enrolled in a 9AM math class but there was a whole spread of classes by one professor that were under-enrolled so they combined them all into one class. At 7AM. It was supreme bullshit.

comfypotato 4y ago

This isn’t accurate. I’m currently a student and haven’t been awake past 9 on a weeknight my entire degree. (With a few exceptions, obviously.) I’m an extreme case of loving the mornings, but still. Also, as you said, I hate early morning classes. I like feeling productive in the morning, and sitting in an 8:30 lecture is the bane of my existence.

NoNameHaveI 4y ago

The curious thing about the earliest classes is that they are the ones that tend to fill first. Why? Because its easy for people who handle enrollments. Hmmm. Section 1 at 7 am? Section 2 at 8am? Section 6 at 1pm? Let's enroll you in section 1 before it fills up so that way we can get you in other classes later. In fact, there are records systems that do this automatically. Input what classes are needed, and get enrolled in the earliest one. EVERY time. Not really smart. When I was teaching community college full time, I noticed that the early afternoon students were usually the brightest and most attentive. Most young people really hit their stride in evening classes and could easily go past 10pm. But working adults who came from work usually packed up and left when lab started. They understandably just didn't have the energy.

lanterk 4y ago
I don't know how its for other Unis, but YorkU (Toronto) has the Visual Schedule builder that lets you see the schedule and select the section based on the time. ...that said, they have the other extreme of classes ending at 10PM...