Semester Clarity

How should I split my available study time across my courses?

Give each course a priority weight (higher means more relative time) and, optionally, a locked minimum you always want to spend on it regardless of weight. This is a heuristic for splitting your own time, not a prediction of what any specific split will earn you.

Any positive number; only the ratio between courses matters (try 1-5)

Need your next decision? Workload Forecast

How we calculated this

Any locked minimum hours are set aside first; the remaining hours are split across courses in proportion to their priority weight, then rounded to the nearest quarter hour so the total still matches your available hours exactly. Using the example values above (weights 2, 1, 1 and 8 available hours, no locked minimums), the split is 4, 2, and 2 hours.

If every course is given the same weight, hours split evenly; if every weight is left at 0, this also splits evenly, on the reasoning that "no stated priority" should not be treated as "no time needed."

Limitations

This is a time-splitting heuristic based on the weights you provide, not a prediction of how that time will affect your grades. A weight is whatever you decide it should reflect (difficulty, how soon something is due, how confident you feel); this tool does not judge whether your weights are the right ones.

Common mistakes

A common error is setting locked minimums that add up to more than your available hours, which this tool rejects outright since there is no way to honor an over-committed schedule. Another is confusing "priority weight" with actual hours; a weight of 2 does not mean 2 hours, it means twice the relative share of whatever residual time remains after locked minimums, compared to a course weighted 1.

Frequently asked

What should I use as a weight?
Whatever reflects your own priority: how difficult the material is, how soon it is due, or how confident you feel. Higher weight simply means a larger relative share of your available time.
Why use a locked minimum instead of just a higher weight?
A locked minimum guarantees an exact floor regardless of how the other weights compare; a weight only guarantees a relative share, which could still be a small number of hours if total available time is short.
What if my locked minimums exactly use up all my available hours?
Then every course gets exactly its locked minimum and nothing more, since there is no residual time left to distribute by weight.
Does this account for how much time I actually need, versus want?
No; it only distributes the total hours you say you have according to the priorities you enter. How many hours you should actually set aside in the first place is a separate judgment call.

Next decision

To see which specific week is heaviest based on real due dates, see Workload Forecast.

For how a standing-rule target connects to an actual weekly study plan, read Meeting Academic Standing Rules and Planning Your Study Time.