average work load

[TBCTT]

To anyone that is going through the grad programs or has gone through them already, what was the work load like?  Were you able to have hobbies / free time at all?  I hear people saying that life gets put on hold during graduate school and you can kiss goodbye to any fun you might want to have.  How true is that really?

 

The programs I would be applying to are International affairs / international economics at SAIS, UDenver, TAMU, and Georgetown

[ArtsyGirl]

It ultimately depends on the individual instructors and the amount of work they give you combined with your own time management.  I have been through a grad program in another field and had plenty of time for other things, but now that I am switching to something more challenging, I will likely spend more time preparing for classes.  I read on old syllabus for a course I will have to take and it basically said to allot at least 6 hours of time outside of class per week for that particular course.  

[Howie]

How many classes per semester is a full load in your respective programs?

[leon32]

What I've found is that it depends on what part of the semester it is.  When it is around midterms and finals, the couple of weeks before that will be taken over by school work.  Other parts of the semester it depends on what kind of classes you take and how you manage your time, but you should have a manageable amount of free time, and be able to squeeze in some stuff like a part time job or internship if you want. Be careful of trying to do too much, though.

[TBCTT]

What I've found is that it depends on what part of the semester it is.  When it is around midterms and finals, the couple of weeks before that will be taken over by school work.  Other parts of the semester it depends on what kind of classes you take and how you manage your time, but you should have a manageable amount of free time, and be able to squeeze in some stuff like a part time job or internship if you want. Be careful of trying to do too much, though.

 

This makes sense actually.  I was under the assumption that grad school meant goodbye hobbies, social life, and anything not school related.