<p>Yesterday my husband and I stopped by Hanover, New Hampshire, (home of Dartmouth College) and had breakfast at Lou's, one of our college-town favorites. We were surprised to see the buzz of student activity on campus because, traditionally, Dartmouth's fall term has started later in September. So we got the inside scoop from our longtime Lou's waitress, Becky, who is probably as good a source of Big Green information as anyone in the admission office. ;)</p>
<p>Becky told us that this is the first year of a new Dartmouth calendar that will allow the fall term to end on November 21st, the day before Thanksgiving break begins. The winter term won't start until January 7th. This will save some families a bundle of airfare dough. Under the previous system, the fall term ended just a few days AFTER Thanksgiving, which meant that students who went home for the holiday had to head back to Hanover and then home again, with barely enough time to unpack in between. The Dartmouth faculty also insisted that the amendment would bring more continuity to the term, with students finishing finals before leaving campus.</p>
<p>When I mentioned the change to my 15-year-old son last night, he was definitely excited about the prospect of a college that offers this atypical schedule (although he was admittedly more excited about the maple doughnut we'd brought him from Lou's). Of course, Dartmouth students won't have most of January off, as do the undergrads at many of their peer institutions, but, even so, my son was intrigued by the short sprint from Labor Day to Turkey Day that is followed by a major vacation.</p>
<p>His enthusiasm made me wonder how often calendar considerations come into play when students choose colleges. I've heard of teenagers who have crossed Dartmouth off the list because of the requisite sophomore summer term (which I actually like), but there must be some who prioritize one college over others because of the way the school year is set up. </p>
<p>I like this scheduling idea! Both of my children leaned decided to attend a college with a 4-1-4 schedule. The winter term allowed for a study abroad option.</p>
<p>Student athletes who are as serious about academics as they are about athletics may want to consider the school’s calendar in relation to the season of their sports. A term which overlaps with the sport’s season would be more likely to have scheduling and workload constraints than a term during the off season.</p>
<p>For example, a football player at a semester system school would have to handle both football and school for half of the academic year (fall semester), while one at a quarter system school would have to handle both football and school for only a third of the academic year (fall quarter).</p>
<p>ECmotherx2–The “J-term” in January was introduced my junior year of college, many eons ago, and I thought it was heaven. But a good question for prospective students to ask re 4-1-4 terms: What, if anything, are students required to do during the short winter term? Some colleges insist that the student must take a class or do an internship or study abroad, etc. … at least SOMETHING worthwhile (and that must be documented) … during one or even all of the student’s four winter terms. Other colleges leave it up to the student to decide how to use the time.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus-Very good point. Similarly, I advised a competitive swimmer a couple years ago who also wanted to study abroad. We found that the quarter system at Drexel, and a couple other places she was considering, allowed both without conflict.</p>
<p>My son really loved Colorado College for its calendar, but ended up choosing a better-fit school. But he considered both quarter and semester schools, and the calendars made no difference to him.</p>
<p>My son avoided the U of California schools that run on the quarter system. Their semesters move very quickly, giving little time to correct a low grade. It also means going through the hassle and transition of registration 3x a year instead of the usual 2.</p>
<p>I have had two people complain to me about Princeton calendar where the finals are after the winter holidays. I don’t know how much it contributed to their decision to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>I love Bates’ 4-4-1 schedule. Exams before Christmas, and the short term in the late spring makes it possible to do research, an internship, or study abroad that can then extend into the summer.</p>
<p>The college calendar is one of many factors that should be assessed in choosing a school. My D didn’t love the trimester system at one of her top choices, but in the end there were a number of factors and not just the calendar that led her to apply ED elsewhere. I don’t think she would have made a decision based solely on a school calendar.</p>
<p>For my D the trimester was out, even though she was told that she wouldn’t be at school for the coldest part of the year (not true). The J-term one she almost went to required taking a course for at least two of the four years. She really didn’t like the super short vacation that would be for the other two. She wound up ~1350 miles south of both of them at a traditional semester school.</p>
<p>I was the one would would only consider semesters-more time to procrastinate.</p>
<p>Sally, I agree that students should utilize the 4-1-4 schedule as it is intended. My S and D’s college required the student to complete a formal course on or off campus, (abroad) or an internship with reports and presentation. The college also set up and highly encouraged participation in about 70 different service oriented spring break trips in the US and abroad at a VERY low cost to the students. This was all very attractive in the decision factor.</p>
<p>My son eventually decided against Union College because it ran on this same trimester schedule. While the idea of being home from Thanksgiving thru Christmas was intriguing (easy to get a holiday job!), the idea of a 3rd trimester that lasted until mid-June was a big turnoff, especially when considering a summer job or internship. When will Dartmouth finish the year?</p>
<p>My daughter is at a true 4-1-4 school, Elon. Fall semester starts the week before Labor Day and ends around Dec 12. Spring semester begins in early February, and runs through mid-May. January term starts Jan 3rd, and goes for 3 weeks. Students take 4 courses in the fall, 4 in the spring, and can take one in January (but are not required to do so). In order to graduate on time (with no AP credits) students need to take 4 courses every fall and spring, and attend two January sessions. </p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of students attend January (aka Winter) term - well over 90% of freshmen return to campus for it. Elon also runs about 2 dozen winter term study abroad classes, 3 weeks abroad led by a professor, and they are extremely popular. Winter term on campus is “free” - you pay more for fall semester than spring semester, both for tuition and room/board, because you’re paying for winter term whether you attend or not.</p>
<p>Elon encourages students to use Winter term to broaden their horizons and take something outside their major. On campus they offer regular classes, but also offer unusual classes specifically designed to take advantage of the 3 hour/day, 5 day/week class schedule in January (eg film-based classes, or “The Business of NASCAR” which included field trips). When we toured Colby with my son they also had a true January term, where they encouraged kids to take something unique. We were told that Blacksmithing and EMT training were both popular options.</p>
<p>Elon also has “fake break,” the week between winter term and spring term. Most boys and half the girls leave campus (it’s a great time for an off-season, low priced vacation to someplace warm!) but the sororities have recruitment during fake break. It works well because recruitment doesn’t interfere with academics. The girls have been at school long enough to decide if they’re interested in a sorority or not, and if they decide to pledge they still have 3 1/2 years of membership.</p>
<p>The only downside is having to be back at campus by Jan 3.</p>
<p>Interesting . . . Union and Dartmouth are on almost exactly the same schedule, but Dartmouth manages to finish up the Spring term a week earlier than Union!</p>
<p>What’s the “standard” for semester schedules? I found some that start mid-late September and end in June, and others that start in late August and end in early May.</p>
<p>I have been crossing any school that goes into June (so quarter or trimester system) off my list. My summer plans start in mid-late May each year, so having school go until June wouldn’t end well. Unfortunately, that crosses off every in-state school except one.</p>
<p>Assuming you are talking about US colleges, they will all have some time off for major holidays like Thanksgiving & Christmas. Not sure why the number of days off should have any bearing on your choice of college. If their calendar changes once you start going there, does that mean you would transfer to a different college? Otherwise I think it more likely that the student would adapt to the schedule that college has.</p>
<p>Once at college, you may get a summer job or be offered an internship but you really won’t know that when selecting your college. What you did in h.s. during the summer shouldn’t be a deciding factor in picking a college.</p>
<p>Where you live in relation to where the college is located should be a consideration in your college selection. If you live on the east coast and the college is in California, for example, you need to consider the cost of travel to/from school. Other considerations might be how often you intend to travel home.</p>
<p>One big problem with quarter system is the spring term going well into June. This precludes lots of summer ineternships that start mid to late May.</p>
<p>D did not apply to Princeton for 2 reasons: 1) they don’t start til very late --mid Sept (almost a month later than many) so they finish much later and your friends are on a completely different schedule and 2) midterm exams after the holidays just ruins the break.</p>