Are College Students REALLY so tired!!??

[emilybee]

They don't get enough sleep. There is a reason on weekends (when they don't have to be up for sports, SATs, ACTs, etc., ) they sleep until 2. My son (Sr. in hs) has to be up at 6 to be at school by 7 (he has to drive 15 miles through downtown traffic to get to his school) isn't done until 5 - then back home through rush hour traffic, then homework, apps, and they need some down time, too, so an hour or so just chilling out and it's midnight before he gets to sleep.

[oldfort]

D1 has her regular job on campus, another job as head TA for a course, dance and sorority. Her plate is very full, but she likes to take few hours nap in the afternoon. I have only heard her complaining about being tired after studying for an exam or paper. But this summer after her finance internship, she was exhausted. While she visited with us for a week, she slept 14 hours everyday. She thought work was much harder than school. She was mentally on every minute while at work, there was no down time to hang out with friends for half an hour.

[Craigriver]

Ok, I'm a non-traditional student, and I'm almost 60. I attended university years ago. I'm now attending full-time to complete a degree. I can attest that students generally works very hard and attend classes where they are expected to absorb and retain information. Next they are expected to put that information into a cogent form to demonstrate what they have learned.

I just completed three classes today, one, two, three. I have taken a nap as soon as possible afterward. Brainwork is exhausting work. I'm convinced that there is rest needed, but also physical workouts are needed to keep a proper mental and physical fitness.

Bravo to the students with disabilities, they must work very hard to accomplish great things, grades, academic awards, etc. (I'm completing a degree, due to undiagnosed disabilities from years ago) Also, I have kids my fellow students' age. Trust me if they are tired it is generally because they are working very hard.

My mom is 83 and she wonders why I can't come to visit entire weekends. I understand what the kids are saying, they have to get their schoolwork completed. Parents should be proud of their students for taking such a responsible path!

[Classof2015]

In college, I was happy to get 4-5 hours sleep. I became really good at naps. I could sleep standing up. You don't realize how much you take for granted being able to sleep when you feel like it. Your parents' home is usually pretty quiet after 10 pm. Not so with a dorm. I plan on telling S that if he's rooming with a kid who's pre-med, or an athlete, his room will be empty and quiet in the afternoon when they're at labs or practice -- good time to catch some Zs.

I remember getting a job in the computer lab from 2 am -8 am. I sought out the padded Wang computer manuals (this was way before the internet) and rested my head on them for a few hours.

[sylvan8798]

^At one point, I had a rule that if I were still up at 5 am, I wouldn't bother going to bed because it was too hard to get up at 6:30 and commute to school. For a time I probably pulled at least one all-nighter a week.

[cobrat]

Not me, but I'm probably one of the weird exceptions. Despite pulling a heavy academic load, working part-time, and participating in ECs...I actually had MORE free time to sleep, hang with friends, or relax in undergrad than I did in high school. That combined with the fact I had no problems getting by on less than 5 hours of sleep on average and had pop-punk music on my walkman to further energize me in the mornings meant I was usually reasonably rested in the mornings.

My parents are completely clueless about how exhausting my schedule is and they make it into an argument whenever they speak to me. They cannot comprehend why it would be problematic for me to take entire weekends off on a whim and refuse to accept that I have still have extensive academic responsibilities after classes end for the day-- or *gasp* even on the weekend. The joys of being a first-gen college student.

They sounded like an aunt who despite having attended a topflight college in the ROC(Taiwan) and got a Masters in the US, felt her weekend dinner socials should take priority over everything else...including her kids' graduate studies. When I declined joining her because I took my undergrad seriously, she felt I was "taking college too seriously".

Considering her kids ended up getting booted from grad programs because those dinner parties took too much time away from their studies...seems like I made the right decision.

It's also a reason why I am aghast when my Prof/TA friends recount how some undergrads and their families seem to prioritize family vacations/parties during the school year over class attendance/exams/papers/projects.

IMO, if such family stuff is so important, the student would be much better off arranging a gap year/leave of absence for the duration of those family events or even reconsidering college until they are ready to give it a higher prioritization.

[NJSue]

Don't underestimate the negative effect of close-quarters group living on the ability to get decent rest. 7 hours in bed does not translate to 7 hours of sleep if people are always coming in and out, or there is constant noise in the hall or the common room. I'm not advocating that colleges do this, but probably the only way to ensure rest in a group living situation is to have barracks-type rules (i.e. lights out, curfew), and in the absence of such expectations, college students just aren't going to get that much rest. It's a temporary life phase.

[lammb66]

I remember being tired in college and that was many years ago. I loved being able to take naps. Where have those days gone? I always have needed a lot of sleep and rarely get what I think I need. I exist on 7 or usually less hours of sleep a night. As a "grown-up" it is hard to sleep in, even on weekends. I have a spouse who needs very little sleep so as a result I am often falling asleep in front of the tv at night. He seems to be one of those who feels if he goes to sleep he will miss something, he is an over-achiever. I feel exhausted every day and I hate feeling like this. Even on those rare occasions I get at least 8 hours of sleep I still feel tired because I think I haven't caught up from all the previous sleep deprivation.

[frazzled1]

One of my kid's schools had a saying to the extent of "Work, friends, sleep - choose two." College is so much about learning time management skills, and obviously even many of us boomers still haven't found that elusive balance many years later. It's not hard for me to believe that college students get insufficient sleep because my own kids, who had been reliably healthy at home, all struggled with nuisance viruses at school. I've always suspected that a lack of sleep played a significant part.

[acollegestudent]

People need different amounts of sleep. I am not in college any more, but even when I get 8 hours a night, I feel... well... TIRED. I have to sleep in late on weekends and catch up, or I will get more and more tired.

[cobrat]

Originally Posted by frazzled1

One of my kid's schools had a saying to the extent of "Work, friends, sleep - choose two."

Did he/she attend one of the NYC Specialized High Schools by any chance?

People need different amounts of sleep. I am not in college any more, but even when I get 8 hours a night, I feel... well... TIRED. I have to sleep in late on weekends and catch up, or I will get more and more tired.

Agreed. I had one younger friend who needed a MINIMUM of 9.5 hours of sleep as a 19 year old college freshman.

Not only did that mean he had to turn in unusually early, it caused other college classmates to sometimes tease him as a "baby" to such an extent I had to step in to yell at them to stop acting like babies themselves in their teasing and to cut it out.

[SansSerif]

Cobrat, that's going to be my daughter. She needs an incredible amount of sleep to not feel exhausted. To the point where it affects her schoolwork, because she is too tired to do homework after 9 pm. Most of her friends seem to do fine on 7-8 hours a night, but she needs at least 9 hours and 10 would probably be better.

[Hayes69]

Yeeeeees! We are worn out all the time. Example!
I'm a Senior Music Education major. I wake up at 7am and drive an hour to go to physical therapy three days a week. From there I get drive-thru and drive back to campus for a 1 o'clock followed by a 2 o'clock followed by a 3-6 dinner at 7 then Fraternity Executive committee meetings 9-~11 THEN I start home work and practice on the 1 Trumpet 2 Piano 3 whatever methods class instrument I have. My Tuesday Thursdays are up at 9 for a 9:30 (Thursdays SGA/Greek counsel meetings at 11 means no lunch minor snacks are provided) class immediately after at 12 followed by a 1:30 which leads into a 3-5 followed by lessons that leave me with a 30 minute time slot for dinner before Martial arts 6:30-8:15 leading into a Fraternity meeting at 9-~11 and again, THEN I do homework.
IT'S ROUGH.

[ordinarylives]

Have to agree, with everybody! It's stress. It's mental exhaustion. It's plain old tired. Honestly, if the kids would take care of plain old tired, the others might well resolve themselves.

My D thinks she gets enough sleep. She doesn't. Bedtime is 11 or 12, which may actually be a bit early for a college student, and then she's got 7:30 classes. Yeah, that math is pretty straightforward. Going to bed earlier isn't an option for all the reasons listed in earlier posts. And as one of those students with long labs in the afternoon and athletic practice early evenings, naps are hard to squeeze in.

So, yes. OP, your children may easily be that tired.

[ordinarylives]

Dang it! Did not notice how old the thread was.