<p>My D's school uses the quarter system. She thinks it's good because students get to take more courses (you need 180 credits to graduate). The only drawback is that every other week, she had an exam/project or midterm. She took 45 credits last year.
I am thinking it may not be good for my next child, who tends to do things at the last minute.
Someone told me I am over thinking. Maybe I have the very contagious CC syndrome. :)
What do you think?</p>
<p>We did rule it out for one of mine. We were intrigued with the school, but just felt the quarter system might be a little too intense for this student. We may have been wrong, but student is doing very well at a traditional 2-semester school, so no complaints.</p>
<p>One of my kids went to a semester school for undergrad and quarter school for grad. He said you get used to what it is.</p>
<p>The other kid goes where there are quarters. She say the biggest plus is that if you don’t like a course, it’s only 10 weeks until it’s over.</p>
<p>I went to a school on semesters and transfered to quarter back when the dinos roamed. Personally, I thought the semester courses dragged and the quarter courses just perked along. I preferred quarters.</p>
<p>Our D’s high school was on a trimester system, which is basically a quarter system. Her college is on the quarter system. While on campus for the Admitted Student Weekend, I did hear students that were concerned about the pace of a quarter system. One of the existing students said that you absolutely can’t get behind on your work because the term is so short.
My thought is this: if your student is prone to putting things off, they will do it no matter how long the term is.</p>
<p>I have a student at a quarter school, and I think it has some significant disadvantages that have made themselves evident: frequency of exams, summer calendar starting and ending late impacting jobs and internship availability, as well as social life with other college students.</p>
<p>I say trust your instincts, but trust the h.s. student’s instincts too.</p>
<p>There really are pros and cons to both. My daughter is headed off to a quarter system university having only experienced semester systems her whole school career. Yes, I am worried about her adjustment to the pace, however I’m hopeful that her hs prepared her by having a tough college prep curriculum. </p>
<p>One strong positive w/quarter system is that you can be done with a class that you may not be fond of in just ten weeks. You know you won’t have to suffer through 16 weeks of a nightmare class. One big negative is that you’re totally messed up if you get ill with anything more serious that a cold. Getting something like mono would probably mean a medical withdrawal and one quarter behind. Whether a campus was on quarter/semester system was definately one part of the equation we kept in mind while going through the college process.</p>
<p>there is another issue. My son will enter a school with a quarter system this fall as a freshman. Their spring quarter does not end until mid June. Turns out many good internship positions for college students, especially those run by prestigious corporate entities as part of a formal institutional program (not individual executives getting the interns s/he wants), start at the beginning of June, and in most cases, they have a set schedule for all interns because they go through group training/orientation etc. </p>
<p>For instance, New York Federal Reserve Bank clearly says: such and such date in late May. S1 is an intern now at a Wall Street firm, and their internship program started at June 1 since all other interns are college kids. They made an exception for him to start on the first Monday after he graduated from HS and turned 18. But that was a special accommodation. I doubt most institutions are as flexible.</p>
<p>This will be problem comes next summer for him.</p>
<p>Another angle on the calendar…DD was a lifeguard at summer programs that didn’t start until mid June. Her friends on the semester system sat around for a month waiting for the job to start. DD just arrived home and began working. At the end of the summer, she was still needed through Labor Day…but most everyone else was GONE. She made out like a bandit with hours and good choices of them once the rest of the students left.</p>
<p>So…it depends on the summer job. For my DD the lifeguard…the quarter system was actually better.</p>
<p>The pace moves fairly fast, so some kids have a hard time adjusting. The schools usually warn the kids right off the bat that for many of them, their study habits from high school won’t cut it. The quarter system hasn’t been bad for my son because he was coming from a high school with block scheduling (only 4 classes at a time that finishes a year’s worth of material in 2 quarters). </p>
<p>The trade-off for the faster pace is less classes to deal with at any given time. (S usually has 4 classes a quarter, each one 4 credits; isn’t the usual load for the semester system 5 classes, each one 3 credits?)</p>
<p>If your child does end up preferring a school with the quarter system, it’s definitely worth a discussion with him or her about the pros and cons.</p>
<p>The advantages/disadvantages of the quarter system may depend on where you live.</p>
<p>In California, where it is common, it may be an advantage. A lot of your friends would be home when you are, and local businesses are probably accommodating in terms of scheduling summer jobs and internships.</p>
<p>In the east, a student at a quarter system school is at a disadvantage, in my opinion. Most summer employers (except for the lifeguard-type situation) are geared to students on the semester system, and most of your friends would not have the same breaks you do. Being stuck home alone for almost a month at the end of the summer when all your friends have gone back to college is boring.</p>
<p>Maybe if child #2 didn’t have a helicopter parent, took responsibility for their own work and faced the consequences of procrastinating then they could adjust to any system.</p>
<p>And, there is the block system where you take a series (8 in a year) of classes each lasting 3-1/2 weeks. Classes meet 5 days a week for 3 hours-3-1/2 hours daily.</p>
<p>If you can handle the pace, it is a dream come true.</p>
<p>I suppose a positive twist for procrastinators is that quarter classes will take them less time to understand the consequences of waiting until the last minute.</p>
<p>As for the block plan. I love it and wish it had been around when I was at school. I think they teach the subjects a little differently. Less memorization and more theory and deeper discussions.</p>
<p>My kids’ U’s are both on the quarter system. </p>
<p>The negatives I’ve heard are the fast pace and the later start/end compared to non-quarter schools.</p>
<p>The positives I’ve heard are the fast pace (doesn’t drag at all), the ability to tell yourself it’s only 10 weeks to get yourself through the tough courses, the alignment with major break periods (Winter, Spring, Summer) which means no need to study for finals or write papers while home for a holiday break, and the ability to sometimes schedule certain classes better since there may be 3 offerings of the course in the year (depending on the course). After the first year or two the later start/end doesn’t seem to matter that much (more of their friends will be from the same school). </p>
<p>In the end, I think both of my kids were fine with the quarter system. Neither had any issues getting internships or job offers.</p>
<p>Back in high school I had block schedules and loved it. 4 classes a day with each class getting 90 minutes.</p>
<p>In undergrad I had semesters and thought it was good. You had enough time to juggle classes, homework, projects, and activities and there was enough room for you to fall behind a little in one thing if you get heavily involved in another.</p>
<p>In grad school I’ve had quarters and haven’t found one redeeming feature. Only having to deal with that class you don’t like for 10 weeks doesn’t mean a whole lot when you’re dropping 20 hours a week on the assignment instead of 12.</p>
<p>My S ruled all schools on the quarter or trimester system out of consideration. In addition to depending on the student’s preferences, the advisability of the quarter system may also depend on the major.</p>
<p>Thank you for responding. Some of you gave me new angles to consider.</p>
<p>Our local public Us which used the quarter system are moving away from it. One of the reasons is Christmas break. It works well for semesters and not too well for quarters.</p>
<p>Our school is on the quarter system, tho they are thinking of switching to a semester or trimester system. I like the quarter system personally. A plus is that we are pretty much out the entire month of December.</p>
<p>From the way my kids describe summer school, this seems to be much worse than even the quarter system in terms of pace and frequency of exams. But S1 has two part time jobs near campus and felt that taking a summer course or two would simplify getting a double major.</p>