If you are a CS student in today’s cutting-edge technological and digital era, congratulations on having already secured a place for you in the future’s highest-paying jobs, with an absolute power to secure your future. But, as the saying goes, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and your responsibility here is to the course itself. While, on average, a student in other courses spends about 17 hours per week on studies, a CS student must spend comparatively more because it requires extreme concentration and analytical proficiency, which is a difficult nut to crack. With disciplines requiring a lot of time and concentration, such as Assembly language, computer architecture, programming, calculus, and so on, you’ll need to devote at least 18 hours per week to mastering the material and standing out among your peers. Lets check “How Many Hours A Day Should A CS Student Study?”
Why Is Computer Science Time Consuming?
According to Datareportal, the average American spends roughly 7 hours per day in front of a screen, and computer science students are working their tails off to keep those screens up to date.
Computer and IT fields are growing at an enormous rate, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, they will have 11% growth in the 10 years of 2019-2029. With technology flourishing at a high rate, CS is expected to become more and more challenging.
CS has several subjects, each demanding more time and concentration than the other, here are some of them:
Programming languages
Data structure
Algorithms
Object-Oriented Programming
Computer Architecture
Database Management
Computer Networks and SQL
While the course is tough with better management you can easily handle all these courses while still having some leisure time.
How To Manage Time In CS Majors?
No matter how hard a course is with better management strategies, almost everything gets easy. CS majors being highly analytical and detail-oriented, need at least 5-6 hours of focused study a day. Here are some tips which can make you score better while consuming less time:
More focus on Programming: Programming is the core of Computer Science, so give it most of your time, and practice it again and again till you ace it.
Read textbooks: It may sound little contradictory for a student learning computers but textbooks are the best coding references you can get. So get your hands on basic programming textbooks.
Never miss any practical class: You learn from what you see, so always attend practical classes, it can help you remember important points.
Keep revising: Revising in small intervals, helps you memorize fast.
Coding: As a computer science student, your strength lies in how good your code is. So always practice coding, and most importantly know what you are coding.
Make flowcharts: Make notes while taking classes, and use flowcharts while making notes, it reduces the revising time.
Learn functional languages: As a CS student, you should know functional languages, for instance, Python and Haskell.
Video tutorials: There are so many youtube: tutorials you can refer to grasp a better understanding of topics.
Websites You Can Refer To For Resources:
Here are some websites you can visit for a better learning material:
MIT World: MIT world is a website launched by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It has lectures and demonstrations on various topics.
UC Irvine: UC Irvine offers you many courses such as Bayesian Statistical Analysis, Kernel-Based Learning, etc., for in-depth knowledge in computer science.
Wiki books: It provides you with free textbooks for any courses you take.
The Open University: The Open University provides you with free educational resources especially that for computer sciences
Harvard Extension School: With Ivy League material of computer science courses on their site for free, you can have access to the best resources.
UC Berkeley Engineering: iTunesU archives of UC Berkeley engineering possess great material for computer science students.
Academic Earth: Many renowned universities MIT, Stanford, etc. have their materials uploaded here. It is free of cost too.
Best Universities For Computer Science:
Your institution defines the quality of education you get, here is the list of universities that offer the best resources and education in computer science majors:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA
- University of California, Berkeley, CA
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
- Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
- University of Texas, Austin, TX
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA
A career In Computer Science:
With the world becoming more and more digital, computer science has made its roots in the industry. With an enormous growth rate of 24% computer Science is one of the leading fields of this era. And since people are inclining more and more towards technology, the chances of growth getting slow in this field are very low.
According to a report by Payscale in the year 2019, Computer Science graduates earn around $68000 on an average annually. Below is the list of careers you can opt-in CS field;
Hardware engineer
Computer Programmer
Software Developer
IT Architect
Software Engineering
Web Developer
Database Administrator
System Manager
Information Researcher
Health Information Technician
Video Game Developer
Web designer
Data Scientist
What Are Some Qualities Of CS Students?
Computer Science being a highly analytical major requires a few qualities from the student, these are;
Problem-solving attributes
Good command of math
Logical and analytical qualities
Thorough knowledge of computers
Organizational skills
Resilience
Knowledge of functional languages
Scientific approach
Conclusion
There are no exact amount of hours of study which can make you a genius or turn you into a loser, it depends on your learning ability and your goals. If only getting passed is your main goal, Computer Science won’t be hard for you, but to make a career in it, you’d need a high amount of perseverance and dedication.
FAQs:
- Which job in CS pays the highest?
Ans. Software development is the highest paying job in CS.
- Is 5-6 hours of study a day enough for a CS student?
Ans. It depends on the quality of learning, if you study with concentration even 5-6 hours is enough.
