Might be doing an exchange to UMD

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

Hey guys,
I’m thinking about doing a semester exchange over to UMD in late 2019. What I would like to know is whether you guys do 2 or 3 semesters (trimesters) over there. From reading the academic calender, I can see that there are 3 semesters with an added 1 extra short semester (winter term, I’m assuming for courses people have failed or if they want to catch up). Can someone confirm whether there are 2 half year semesters or if UMD follows the trimester format. Also, since I am part of the business school, how many subjects do full-time students tend to do in a term/semester?

This is the website I used:
https://www.provost.umd.edu/calendar/17.html

Thanks guys!

2

The vast majority of students will attend 2 semesters- you’re right in assuming the trimester is for those who want to catch up, but it is also offered for students who want to get ahead. Typically during the month between the two semesters, campus will virtually clear out. Also, most students take ~15 credit hours a semester, so approx. 5 classes.

3

Can you please clarify this for me. From reading the site, I see that there are 4 semesters in total (3 normal semesters and a winter term for people who want to catch up).

fall semester: aug 28 - dec 20
winter term (catch up sem): jan 2 - jan 22
spring semester: jan 24 - may 21
summer term: may 29 - aug 17

those dates are from the 2017/18 academic calender.

My questions are:

  • what’s the difference between term and semester (as you can see from above there is fall semester, summer term)?
  • which of the 4 terms/semesters do people normally attend. As in, which semester’s have the highest enrollment?
  • am I right to assume that the winter term is the catch up (or get ahead) sem or am I wrong?
4

@NiceGarry both the summer term and winter term are pretty much catch up terms. Summer term is from the end of May to mid-August, but is broken up into two parts. So each is about 5-7 weeks where two classes can be taken in each. Terms and Semester kind of have the same meaning, but terms are used more for the winter and spring since they aren’t really a normal semester being that it’s faster pace and shorter. Most people attend the fall and spring.