<p>I always hear people trying to defned the quarter system by saying that it allows you to quickly move out of a class you don't like. To me, a class I don't really like is not a huge problem compared to how rigorous it'll be at NU. Plus, people say that people at NU get a lot more done so they can possibly double major.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong --- I want to be challenged, but I don't want a repeat of high school, and especially junior year when I'd have, on average, 6 hrs of homework every night plus sports and extracurriculars. </p>
<p>I avoided U of Chicago just 'cus when I visited the school, everyone looked depressed and stressed out. Is the above defense just about the strongest support for the quarter system? For all those people who don't really want to double major, is the quarter system flexible? For instance, I'd want to major in psychology or some research-based social science while taking all my pre-med courses. </p>
<p>MOST IMPORTANTLY: do people have time to pursue internships, research, and activities; I understand there are plenty of internships out there, but they're pretty much null and void without kids that have TIME --- oh yea, what about time for FUN?</p>
<p>nvk89, your concerns are so strong and you sound so skeptical about the positives expressed in some of the posts from the dfleish link that I think semesters will work better for you. I feel stressed just reading your post! There are many, many schools equivalent to NU that operate on the semester system. Why bother with this??</p>
<p>Yeah, there's absolutely no reason to start college stressing about the quarter system when you have so many semester choices, esp. with hefty scholarships.</p>
<p>By the way, is NU considered a "Lower Ivy?" I've never heard that term; I've heard it referred to as the Ivy of the Midwest as I have heard Stanford referred to as the Ivy of the West.</p>
<p>Anyway, good luck and let us know where in the Big Ten you end up going.</p>
<p>Choose whatever you want, but really, the quarter system is such less of a deal than everyone makes it out to be. A sucky schedule is the only real impact it has. Everyone I know at Cornell is far busier with schoolwork than I am here, and the social scene here is fine: Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are all weekly "party days" and that doesn't stop people from doing things on other nights either. The idea that the quarter system consumes your life is far from the case.</p>
<p>dude, most people i know don't even do 6 hours of homework a WEEK. the worst part about the quarter system is that you will be in school while all of your friends are at home.</p>
<p>aka right now when my friends at semester schools are looking at two or three more weeks of class in some cases and i am still looking at almost another two months</p>
<p>I went to college at a quarter system school. It allowed me to take winter quarter off to travel, and then make it up with a summer session. It is much easier to have a final exam based on 10 weeks of material, rather than 1/2 a year's material. Also, it is great to be finished before each of the breaks, rather than having to worry about exams/papers over the holidays.</p>