A very dumb question but please answer !

<p>So I am an international student. Can you please tell me about the academic calender of colleges in USA. How many sessions per year do they have? Like when do summer/spring/fall/winter session starts? In which session do most people apply and get admitted? When should I apply?</p>

<p>Most colleges operate on a semester program where students take 4 or 5 classes at a time for two semesters per year, one beginning in fall and one beginning in January. Some operate on a trimester or quarter basis and others have two shorter semesters with a one month or six week short term and a very few schools have a block program where students take just one class at a time for about 3 weeks each. Regardless of which calendar they use, at all selective US colleges incoming freshman are applying right now to begin in fall 2014 (classes start in August or early Sept, 2014). </p>

<p>By now (mid November) many applicants are already well down the road to completing their applications for selective colleges. Application deadlines for fall term vary depending on the school and the type of decision requested (early, regular, rolling). Some application deadlines have already passed, but many are in January or even February. </p>

<p>Some colleges allow first year students to begin in the winter or spring term (starting in January), but this is not favored by most applicants because it does not align well with typical high school graduation schedules and it is more difficult to integrate socially when there are few other new students.</p>

<p>It varies from school to school. You should look it up for specific schools you are interested in.</p>