Workload comparison?

[Gneiss1]

During the past two years of undergrad I took on a fairly heavy workload and have managed to grow accustomed to it and balance things. I took 18-23 credits most semesters, worked a part-time job, and have a family. While that wasn't preferable, I figure the sooner I can finish my education the sooner I'll have more time to dedicate to the family without worrrying about finances. Also, I balanced my workwork so that I took a mix of a few major classes and the rest easier classes so it didn't really feel like a heavy load.

I would like to continue a good pace without burning out. I have a research assistantship which will be my job, but I don't know how much time that will be requiring. I begin this summer and I will meet with my advisor in a few weeks so I suppose I will find out more then.

As far as courses go how would the workload of a graduate level course compare to an upper level undergrad course (for a first year grad student)? What is a "normal" load to take on to balance your time?

[TakeruK]

For me, I am working way less than I did in undergrad. In undergrad, I spent 18-20 hours a week in classes, worked one evening a week at a tutorial centre, volunteered 2 nights a week with a youth group, took Friday night and half of either Saturday or Sunday off. The rest of the time was homework and undergrad thesis.

Now in grad school, I work regular hours, about 9 to 5 and I don't usually work on weekends, except when I am taking classes and have homework. I always try to never work when I'm home with my wife in the evening -- I do chores, cook dinner, spend time with her etc. However, in the last few months, I've been working ~3-5 hours on the weekend because I'm near the end of my MSc.

Overall, I work about ~45 hours per week on research and related TA activities (i.e. what I'm "paid" to do). For coursework, it adds an average of 10-20 hours per week on top of that, depending on the time of year. But my school has a relativity low course requirement for masters students -- we have to complete 4 half-year courses in 2 years. But since the profs know this, they really pile on the assignments. In general, I would say my graduate courseload is equal to about 60% of my undergraduate courseload.

And for stress comparison, I feel that in undergrad, my stress / pressure level varies wildly between beginning of term vs. end of term, while as a grad student, I feel that the workload is very constant. There is slightly higher workload at a big final (but it's only 1 or 2 exams, not 5 at once!) and at conference deadlines.

Because I am living with my wife, who moved across the country with me for my school, I avoid burning out by not taking my work home with me (unless really necessary for deadlines) so once I leave the office, I turn off "research mode" until I get back in the next morning! Also, when it's time to go home, I go home -- my simulations will still be there tomorrow morning. Ironically, this is not true in the last 2 weeks due to a very upcoming deadline, but that's my general philosophy.

Edited April 29, 2012 by TakeruK

[Gneiss1]

For me, I am working way less than I did in undergrad. In undergrad, I spent 18-20 hours a week in classes, worked one evening a week at a tutorial centre, volunteered 2 nights a week with a youth group, took Friday night and half of either Saturday or Sunday off. The rest of the time was homework and undergrad thesis.

Now in grad school, I work regular hours, about 9 to 5 and I don't usually work on weekends, except when I am taking classes and have homework. I always try to never work when I'm home with my wife in the evening -- I do chores, cook dinner, spend time with her etc. However, in the last few months, I've been working ~3-5 hours on the weekend because I'm near the end of my MSc.

Overall, I work about ~45 hours per week on research and related TA activities (i.e. what I'm "paid" to do). For coursework, it adds an average of 10-20 hours per week on top of that, depending on the time of year. But my school has a relativity low course requirement for masters students -- we have to complete 4 half-year courses in 2 years. But since the profs know this, they really pile on the assignments. In general, I would say my graduate courseload is equal to about 60% of my undergraduate courseload.

And for stress comparison, I feel that in undergrad, my stress / pressure level varies wildly between beginning of term vs. end of term, while as a grad student, I feel that the workload is very constant. There is slightly higher workload at a big final (but it's only 1 or 2 exams, not 5 at once!) and at conference deadlines.

Because I am living with my wife, who moved across the country with me for my school, I avoid burning out by not taking my work home with me (unless really necessary for deadlines) so once I leave the office, I turn off "research mode" until I get back in the next morning! Also, when it's time to go home, I go home -- my simulations will still be there tomorrow morning. Ironically, this is not true in the last 2 weeks due to a very upcoming deadline, but that's my general philosophy.

That was very helpful, thank you! You also aren't far from my field so I imagine that is a pretty comparable idea of how things will go for me. I appreciate it:)

[Dal PhDer]

I feel the opposite..a bit.

To be honest, I don't know what I did in my UG aside from drinking, slacking off, sleeping in, and the occasional paper/test. To me, my UG was filled with lots of work (I remember me being at school..but not sure what I did - i blame it on the hangover), but a lot of free time.

For my Masters I worked full-time and went to school full-time. Course work to me felt like a lot more- more reading, more synthesizing the material, more presentations/teaching, and lots more discussion- plus working on a thesis proposal, thesis, and then defence on top of that. I didn't get burnt out (as my job was related to my thesis), but it was a lot of work and my social life wasn't as busy as my UG.

For my PhD I work part-time as an RA(20hrs) and then a TA, and I find that I am ALWAYS saying "I HAVE SO MUCH WORK TO DO!!! AHHHHH!!"....I don't think workload really mattered, it's more that my motivation and desire to put everything into my work has changed.

My working schedule is normally M-F 10am - 2pm, 6pm - 12pm; Sat/Sun (I put at least 12-15 hours in)...but when you enjoy your work, it feels different.

I don't know if that helps... >.<

[Marshall]

I feel the complete opposite actually. I suppose it depends on your department, your thesis project. I took about 21 hours my last semester as an undergrad, worked 3 jobs, and was in the wonderful process of planning a wedding but it doesn't compare to the amount of time I spend working now.

I am finishing up my thesis (25 days until I defend! lol) but I spend about 12-15 hours a day in the office now that school has started. During the summer I often spent 5+ hours at my field site and then would go and spend 6-8 hours in the laboratory.

As for an RA, I don't know how much of that time you'll be working. I'm a TA now but was an RA my first year and managed to not have to do work most of the time due to my adviser having undergrads helping in his lab.

I'm hoping it will slow down next year when I start my Ph.D. lol

[Dal PhDer]

I agree with Marshall!

I was thinking a bit more about this, and I really feel my UG experience did not prepare me for Graduate school...for me, it was a completely different experience. The structure of it was different, the expectations were higher, the quality of work you're expected to put forth is greater, you'll have to balance/juggle a lot more responsibilities...it was just completely different.

I really felt that the 'type' of work I had to do, changed drastically from UG...

It might have been different and a bit more difficult...but totally worth it! And I enjoy graduate school much more than UG.

[jpedge]

I think it depends on your department, but also on where you went for undergraduate and graduate school. I have taken coursework at the undergraduate and graduate levels at several institutions- public and private, small and large. I was truly amazed at how much the difficulty of the coursework varied, even within the same discipline. I do think TakeruK makes a good point about the more consistent workload in graduate school (until you're finishing up your thesis, of course!), and I think you also have more control over how you pace yourself, especially once your coursework is done.

[TakeruK]

A great part about grad school, I think, is the ability to choose your workload. This is very evident here since different people have provided pretty different viewpoints! I know another person who chooses to work 16 hour days for a while, then does nothing for a week, and repeat.

But you definitely get out what you put in, it's just up to you to decide what your goals are / what you want out of school and then put in the required effort. I really appreciated this freedom when I also planned a wedding during my first year of MSc and took ~1 month off in total to do this since the wedding was in BC and we were living in Ontario!

Definitely agree that you have much more control over your workload when coursework is finished -- a main reason why I have so much control in the past two years is because of the low course workload. Next year, I expect to have a much higher workload (9 quarter courses and 2 research projects, with oral exams on these projects 1 year later) but then there are no more exams of any sort until I defend my PhD. So, including coursework, I am planning on a 60-70 hour work week for 2012-2013, and then 50-60 hours for the rest of the degree. When I visited, this seems to be what most of the other students had done / are doing as well, with outliers on both ends, of course.

PS: A friend of mine started logging in hours for the last year and it was cool to see how the trend varies over time. I am planning to do this for my PhD program too, as a self-diagnostic (if I'm spending many hours in the office and not getting much done, it could be a sign I'm spending too much time doing things such as writing GradCafe posts! ) But it could also help me make sure I do spend enough (or not spend too much) time at work!

Edited April 30, 2012 by TakeruK

[Eigen]

The institutional culture is something to keep in mind as well, and the mindset of your PI. Sadly, a lot of bench sciences have the 60-80 hours of research mentality, with the idea that coursework and everything else is separate.

I try to keep regular schedules, like TakeruK, so I can spend evenings with my wife, work around he house, etc. I'm past coursework and exams, so it's just research for me. I work about 50-60 hours a week, mostly 9-6 or 7, and then some weekend time.

Personal choice is also a huge thing. I prefer more moderate hours during the week, but I also consistently work on weekends, as well as a number of holidays.

[rockhopper]

Just wanted to say thanks everyone, this thread is really helpful! I feel like Frosh-Junior year I really worked hard in undergrad and I've been hit with senioritis. Hopefully I'll get a new sense of purpose the first year in grad school with a TA!

[Shari A Williams]

I think it's a bit of a leap, but again it's dependent on the factors persons have listed above, along with things like self-discipline etc. I'm finishing my Masters at the same university that I did my undergrad in (which may be the reason why I personally feel like grad school is only a little harder than undergrad). Also, even though I was going out and having fun, I still worked hard because I was considering doing my Masters at the time and I had heard from other people that a good degree gave you a better chance of getting funding. So now it's just a matter of trying to up the ante where that's concerned for grad level work.

Another reason is that you-control-your-workload thing someone above me mentioned. For me it was less of a time issue and more of an enthusiasm issue. In undergrad I spent my first two years doing a bunch of courses I had limited/no interest in because they were compulsory or because I had free credits. At this level, although I obviously have far more reading to do and it still sometimes takes me places I'm not accustomed to (had to spend a few hours getting my physics friend explain some concepts to me for my research), I am pretty much doing EXACTLY what I want to do. I've gotta say, this definitely helps me to sit down and work in the library for 6-7 hours without moving.

I'm doing an M.Phil incidentally, which would mean that I only had two full courses to do, which I got out of the way in a year. My next Master's will apparently be by thesis, but I'm anticipating more courses there...so we'll see what I say a year from now!