<p>I know that the University of Delaware and I think MIT have a 4-1-4 academic calendar. I want to know what it is and how is it different than the semestar calendar?</p>
<p>Elon U has a 4-1-4 sched. (I'm assuming its is the same at those schools)
it means you have two normal semesters (spring and fall)
there is a shorter winter break to make time for a one month mini-semester
this usually means you are only taking one class, and you take it everyday
it is kind of cool becasue you get to really focus on one subject, also I know that at Elon they have a lot of cool classes during the winter semester
also its a good time for travel abroad because you won't fall behind
hope that helps, again I don't know if it is run in the same way at those schools</p>
<p>Any more help? So since you go to school so much does this mean you have less time for like vacation and breaks and things like that. On a semester calendar they have off from before Christmas to the end of January but with a 4-1-4 would that mean you have less time off since you have to go to school in january?</p>
<p>At the University of Delware, where they do have a 4-1-4, they have a fall semester until mid-December, then they are off until the beginning of February. During that time you can either take a class, study abroad, stay at home, etc. Then they would have the spring semester. I don't know if it is the same way at other schools.</p>
<p>Are you sure? I thought the 1 in the 4-1-4 meant that you had to take a class at school like volleyball said.</p>
<p>Well, that isn't what my tour guide said when I visited in January. There were classes going on but I don't think they require you to take a class. He even said some students take that extra time just to stay at home longer.</p>
<p>Williams College does a 4-1-4 thing (I think...), and from my understanding the "Winter 1" is optional. I think at Williams, though, it is required that you do something with it at least once. Not sure on this, though.</p>
<p>At MIT, the month of January is completely free -- there's a lot of stuff happening on campus, but you don't have to do any of it if you don't want to. Many people choose to take special robotics classes, work full-time at their research positions, catch up on the phys ed requirement, or just do nothing all month.</p>
<p>Oberlin has 4-1-4 and requires students to do January term 3 out 4 years. They have traditional classes that meet every day for 4 weeks but also the opportunity to do projects, research or something way out of the ordinary. Some students this year went down to New Orleans to help with reconstruction for instance. Other students worked on a theater production. </p>
<p>My son only had 10 days off from the end of finals in December til he had to be back in Jan. He had some time off at the end of Jan. term but chose to stay on campus. He will then get a 1 week spring break and be done in mid-May.</p>
<p>I think Middlebury and Colby have 4-1-4 (or at least they used to), which is similar to how Williams' program is described above.</p>
<p>Middlebury does have a 4-1-4 schedule. Fall semester classes end before Christmas, and students have off until the first week of January. Throughout the month of January, students take one intensive class. J-Term ends at the end of January, at which point students have another two-week vacation.</p>
<p>J-Term classes are often fun and unique--not your typical college classes. Here is this year's Winter Term course list. Click on a discipline to see what courses were offered in a particular department.</p>