If you are getting ready to pick your classes for the upcoming spring semester, you might want to get used to waking up earlier to have more success.
As dreadful as that may sound, studies have come out that prove that an 8 a.m. class might be worth getting up for.
A pair of psychology professors at New York’s St. Lawrence University found a slight drop in student’s grade point average for each hour a class starts later according to usatodayeducate.com.
Pamela Thacher, the co-author of the study told The New York Times, “For every hour of class that you have later, you get about a .02 difference, so three hours of difference between class start times will result in a .06 difference in grades.”
This study proves only a slight advantage, but a number of students preferred the earlier start times.
“I prefer earlier classes just because I like to get in and out and not have to wait later in the day to start my classes,” said Mike Lafferty, 19, a sports management major from Chalfont.
“I do better in my earlier classes probably because by the time my later classes come, I am drained,” Vince Pulli, 20, a business major from Warrington said. “I think it’s better to get your school day started earlier otherwise you just won’t want to go in later,” “It seems like it is one of those things where if you are going to go to school, you just need to suck it up and get your day started earlier which makes it easier for many people.”
As is tradition for studies like these, there are some critics out there who believe that it just differs on if you can enjoy the mornings and can wake up easier.
“It all depends on the type of student, if they are a morning person they probably do better, but if they are not then the study may not be true to them,” said Ed Walsh, 19, a business major from Richboro.
Some may agree with Walsh due to the fact that there are many people who may have to work late at night or just have problems falling asleep.
“Personally, my first class is my hardest because I am just trying not to fall asleep,” Walsh added.
The study also mentioned how if students take earlier classes, they will get a better night’s sleep since they wouldn’t have time to go out as late and would stay sober.
“The real piece that we found is that those who are up later are drinking more and discovering their inner demons,” said Thacher in a Rueters Report on moneycontrol.com
Due to the fact that the average student is in their late teens or early twenties, the majority of the students may be more “night owls” than morning people.
“I do much better around 10 a.m. because any earlier I am not fully awake,” said Richie Ciarlante, 20, a health education major from Doylestown.
In today’s society, the younger generation tends to have more trouble falling asleep early at night then later so many students may disagree with this study.
Similar to many of these studies, there are flaws due to the fact that there may have been either bias in the students that took part in the study, or they just did not ask enough people. Regardless, it is something to think about for the upcoming semester. If you find yourself actually doing much better in your earlier classes, well it is safe to say that you should start getting to bed earlier at night because you have an early morning ahead of you.