Hey, Tala!

The amount of leisure time varies, but it is certainly available. As with all schools, it depends on the individual--how much time you study, how much you get involved with extracurricular activities, etc.  But I've found that I have plenty of down time, especially on weekends.  People tend to be pretty relaxed and don't really feel a need to work 100% of the time.  Its not unusual for me to walk into my room some afternoon and see two or three people sitting around, playing Call of Duty or just hanging out.  But, like I said before, it really depends on the individual and how you allot your time.  Just know that if there is a will to have free time, there is a way to make it happen.

I've always had plenty of leisure time (maybe too much sometimes!).  But I quickly learned that I don't do well on little sleep and my work is better if I do it over time (and early in the evening) as opposed to one marathon all-night session.  So, I think it depends on how you like to do your work and budget your time.  But also keep in mind that in college you're in class for much less time during the day than you are in high school -- that absolutely helps!

I can really relate to Dominique's response here - some classes are harder than others and will naturally cut down on your leisure time, but in the end it's your decision how much leisure time you give yourself.  Last year, I felt like I had more leisure time than I did in high school.  However, going into sophomore year was a little different because one of my courses (biochem) covers a ton of material, and at the beginning of the semester I felt like no matter how much I studied, I would never know all of it.  You learn pretty quickly how to manage classes like these so that you allot yourself enough leisure time and still study enough to do well in class.

To sum up, you are the one who decides your own schedule in college, so if you feel like you need leisure time, you can certainly give yourself a break.  You are not, by any means, going to fail out of a class by taking a few hours for yourself.  Also, remember that you'll be living with your friends.  Having your friends constantly surrounding you definitely helps to balance out the workload and make life less stressful.

Leisure and free time really varies with each student - how many classes you are taking, how many extracirriculars you are involved in, how you balance your time, etc. But as Lauren said, it's NOTHING like high school at all! You certainly have a lot more free time. I've found that it's beneficial to use some of my free time to study, catch up, review; even if I don't have homework. I prefer to spend a lot of my time during the week to do work and study so I can free up my time on the weekends. I usually spend my Saturdays and Sundays sleeping and doing nothing at all!! It's great :)

One of my favorite things about Hopkins is how the administration really wants you to have a balanced life, which means having leisure time. As people have mentioned before me (because it is really important!!), it is essential that you learn time management. If you stay on top of your schoolwork and deadlines, you will have ample amounts of time to get involved in different activities and to just hang out with friends.

One of the main differences between high school and college is that, aside from classes, your day is structured entirely by you. This semester, I got out of class by noon on MWF, and had the rest of the day to do whatever I liked. Because I like to stay busy, I would always have one or two meetings to go to, and I would structure my study time and leisure time around that. Some days, I could have a completely jam-packed schedule and wouldn't see my friends at all, and other days, I could just hang out with my floormates watching silly YouTube videos for hours. It's completely up to you to prioritize and manage your time. But one last thing to keep in mind is that college is a social atmosphere, so it's not like you have to choose one or the other. I go to the library with my friends all the time, and we study and take coffee breaks together. You'll find that your day isn't strictly sectioned off into only academics or only leisure time.

As with any top-tier university, you will learn to put in the work. It is also important to remember that college is different than high school and even if you are able to absorb all the information the professor teaches in lecture, that is not all the information you'll need to know. Putting in time outside of class is absolutely essential.

As far as Hopkins goes, part of how much leisure time you get depends on how challenging your classes are, and part of it also depends on how productive you can be. If you learn to dole out the work you need to do outside of class throughout the week, you will be a happier person and can also spread out time you have to relax. I personally find it challenging to work all at once for an extended period of time, so being in the library for 6 hours on a Sunday writing a paper due Monday is not productive for me. The first few weeks at college are a great time to adjust and figure out how your work will fit into your social life.

Above anything, just remember to tailor your work schedule to your personality and to work smart. If you do that, you'll be able to hang out with your friends when you want to and get good grades. In short, you will be a happy college student. :)

Honestly, the challenge in college is not wasting the gigantic amount of free time that is unavoidable with a collegiate class schedule. Use it well, and you'll have more leisure time than you'll know what to do with.