How much do/did you read in college?

Well I was a language major. So I had to read the requred reading of fail the classes. So the vast majority I did.

Less than enough, more than required.

For me it definitely fell into the “highly variable” category. Some profs tended teach and lecture from the text, and base the test on the text only. Others would test on their own lectures and use the text as a supplement. And an infinite amount of variation between.

I tried to read just about everything. I think I might have read 75%, skimmed 20%, and blown off 5%.

Highly dependent on class. At most I skimmed intro level texts, the material seems to be identical to what is taught in lecture, and going to class everyday, taking notes, and studying my notes was a better use of my time. In foreign language classes or literature classes reading everything was essential. In upper level classes in general I was more likely to read, but if I found the text repetitive with the lecture I would often not read it. Classes in which the text was complimentary to but different from the lecture I would usually read everything. Grad level classes I read most everything, but there were times when I had to be selective and use careful skimming.

Varied in the extreme, some classes I didn’t really attend, I just skimmed others notes and read the book(s), passed the tests, and wrote the papers. Other professors would quote from the book as if nothing else existed but then when tests and papers rolled around managed to focus on what wasn’t there or on conclusions drawn from it, so in those instances it was more of a reference. All in all I probably read about 40–50% of what was “assigned”. Interestingly I did keep all my text books, and even found myself referencing some of them more after college, go figure.

Very variable.
There are some profs who seem to assign reading just in case you need an excuse not to relax or have a life, and there are some who assign only interesting stuff that’s what you absolutely need to know.
Personally, I like to do good work in school but I’m not an over achiever. I read what’s necessary and interesting to me, unless I found the subject fascinating, then I would read everything just for fun.

For my courses, I’m usually assigned to read the entire text book. I start out doing great, but then I’ll miss a day or two of reading and I get so behind. Skimming doesn’t usually work for me, because I need to read it all to know whats going on…lucky for me, I’m a fast reader and comprehension has always been my strong suit. I just have to keep up with it.

I’m super jealous of my mother. She can skim something, and get it all right away and then gets straight A’s.

I also feel, as you start to dive into the courses specifically for your major, you better be paying attention to everything. I can’t just skim a human anatomy book and call it a day. I have to know everything.

Also, if something from lecture didn’t make sense to me, or my notes weren’t clear about it when I was studying, I would go to the book for that specific topic.

Variable. My undergrad was in English Lit. I read all of the literature thoroughly, but I tended to skim through critical readings of the text.

@casheroo… anatomy is best not learned by a text anyway LOL

@juniper .. there is just no way around reading the literature part of stuff in a major like that.

As little as I could, sad to admit. My enjoyment of reading came after college.

@sleepdoc True. I learn anatomy best by cutting into a cadaver. Not what you’re thinking ;)

I “cheated”; I majored in literature, so most of my reading was reading. However, I did also take sociology, history and art history classes and did most of the reading for them too. What can I say? It was a women’s college.

@janbb… how is that cheating?

I read everything including the books my roommate had for HER English Major. I took outdoor night labs (astronomy), History of Art (Darkness at noon slide shows) and an extra French course my junior year. What can I say? It was a women’s college.

@casheroo… uhhh .. I am a doctor .. lived through 2 anatomy classes. There wasn’t much of the other fake anatomy study that helped in those.

@gailcalled…. hehehe that would classify as a nerd

@sleepdoc A joke – by majoring in lit. I got to read things I would have enjoyed reading anyway.

@gailcalled Do I hear an echo?

@sleepdoc: The college I attended avoided stereotyping. Otherwise, all 1700 women would have been labelled “nerds,” whatever that means. I consider myself fortunate to have had a wonderful education and to be able to continue it voluntarily.

@janbb: I can’t think of a better person to steal material from.

@sleepdoc I didn’t have an anatomy course, but I learned a lot about it in college~!

@gailcalled Sew, you’re stealing my material now?

@janbb… I would call that smart .. decreasing your work load
@gailcalled…. sorry attended a “state” school obviously less refined and not as good of an education LOL

@sleepdoc: Ah, but you can dissect a frog and carve a turkey, I bet.

@janbb: Darn it. I’ll mend my ways.

@gailcalled… never dissected a frog… turkey carving .. that was taught in college .. must have skipped class that day

I’m in college at the moment. I very very rarely even see a textbook as I’m doing computer science. Everything is electronic.

The more advanced I got into my major, the more required reading became necessary, and lengthy. At one point I had an average of around 350 textbook pages a day required reading (that was from several classes combined). At that point, I had to really learn how to skim the textbooks for the most relevant info. Some classes required more in-depth reading, and for some I could probably have skipped it altogether and been fine. It’s just one of those things you sort of need to get a feel for.

Towards the end, I hardly even touched the books. It didn’t seem to affect my grades any.

I am meant to, I am meant to read alot.

But I have to say that I read very little of that which is set for me.

However, I do read alot by myself. I tend to read the majority of papers published in my field and read alot around my subject anyway.

I did a semester of Human Bio and now I am doing 2 semesters of Anatomy and Physiology. I got through Human Bio with reading as little as possible, but I am finding it almost impossible to do that in A&P! I’m reading every night pretty much.

@sjmc1989 .. that can be rough!

@sleepdoc It is, but I enjoy anatomy so it helps.

@sjmc1989… I liked it too!

This quarter I have a lot to read. A couple chapters a week in my history textbook, a couple chapters in my language textbook, couple in my music theory textbook, and of course, my psych textbook.

However, I find that I don’t really need to read every word of the language book and the music book. Much of the information I already know and much of it is simply extra that isn’t required for the test. Doesn’t mean I won’t read it (especially the language book which I find extremely interesting), but sometimes if I find I’m not caught up on reading, I know what I can skip.

Ever since I learned to read, I have read everything I could get my hands on, every waking moment of the day, and college was no exception. Like @gailcalled I not only read all my own assignments, but I also read all the work my husband brought home for his English major, while he was finishing up his degree.

I used to devour my textbooks, and then ask the instructor if there was any additional material available.

I one class there was no text. We brought recorders, and took notes. Mine were kickin.

In another class there were student notes. Memorized those.

In another class I was enthralled. I got the top score while still twitching orgasmically. Went off to pursue research in that subject.

I liked it when there was a book. In organic chem, by the end of the year there were only 2 survivors. I read the book like a bible. (and I got caught trying to make TNT – but didn’t get expelled, fortunately)

It’s important to have fun in college. If you blow something up, it’s not my fault.

I’d say of required reading, ~98%.

As a student of English and Japanese I kind of have to read everything that’s assigned. The only time I might not read assigned work is when I’ve already read it and I need to focus my efforts on something else that’s either new or more complicated.

I try to stay away from my roommates’ texts, though. They’re all studying science and business and that stuff tends to go over my head.

What can I say? I’m not very bright.

There is no way I could survive day to day reading everything assigned to me. It’s a good 40–50 pages of reading per class. Now multiply that by four classes… daily. Most of the stuff is easy reading meaning it’s easy to understand in one reading, but still, that’s a CRAP LOAD (very technical term there) of material to go through every night. So, no, I usually don’t read everything assigned to me.
After the first few days of class I can tell which classes I really have to read for and which classes I can understand by skimming the material and participating in lectures. Typically there will be one or two classes where I actually have to read all of the assigned reading. The others go over material in class again and more in depth.

This whole thing is actually one of my biggest pet peeves about college (as I was telling @J0E the other day). Every quarter I get these assigned books and readers and I think “If I took the time to read all of this, I bet I could teach myself most of the material.” And yes, I really think I could.

Typically I did 3 hours of reading for every hour of lecture time. That was as an undergraduate. In graduate school it was more like 6 hours of reading for each hour of seminar plus a great deal of writing. I hope this is helpful to you.

@Allie I think the main goal of college is for you to teach yourself. You go to class to receive the assignments and perhaps ask questions, but the actual learning takes place outside the classroom.

@YARNLADY

Well, it depends on the class. Some of the more difficult courses I’ve taken included reading that I found pretty incomprehensible, even after several attempts at it. In that situation most of my learning occurs in the classroom with the careful guidance of an instructor. Of course, I’m talking about pretty small classes here. In the big lecture hall classes it’s probably true that the student needs to heavily on his reading. (So many professors just blow through Powerpoints these days, at least in the bigger classes, and it’s not always helpful.)

@YARNLADY Yeah, I know. It just peeves me that I’m paying $10K+ a year to teach myself. /rant

teaching yourself is where it’s headed. At the highest levels you will not only teach yourself, you will discover new things and teach the world.

At first i scan, read the whole text, point key words, highlight, and summarize.

I am in journalism and literature. Did quite a few readings but made sure i had fun in between.

Don’t worry – you will all need re-educating after The US is annexed.