<p>Northwestern has a strange system of 4 quarters, with one summer quarter, rather than 2 semesters like most other schools. That makes 3 normal academic quarters. I looked on the website and school doesnt start until mid/late September and doesnt end till mid June.
To current NU students or anyone familiar with NU's quarter system, I have a few questions:</p>
<p>Why does school start and end a month after all other schools? Cant they still have 3 trimesters with everything shifted a month before to fit better with everyone else? Do you like/dislike this system and why? Have you felt like it interfered with spending time with family/friends? All the breaks wouldn't match up well, and it seems like in late August/early September everyone will be in school and NU students are just doing nothing or something.</p>
<p>I really love Northwestern and would love to go there, but this whole different academic schedule thing just might keep me away... so if anyonce can clear this up for me it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!</p>
<p>It is not a trimester, there are three separate regular quarters (fall, winter and spring) that most students attend and do something during summer outside of school.</p>
<p>Many schools follow the quarter system and to name a few - Chicago, Stanford, UCLA, University of Washington. Most of them start mid September and end mid June.</p>
<p>I think they start in mid September so that winter break (December) is then at the end of a quarter. The March break is also in between the winter and spring quarters. It is nice because during breaks, you are actually on break, unlike semesters when the March break is in the middle of the semester.</p>
<p>Are either of you NU students, or go to a school with this system?
In general, do you (or anyone) prefer this academic calendar as opposed to the traditional 2 semesters?</p>
<p>I attended NU and while many of my classmates were very frustrated with the quarter system, I actually found it to have advantages, namely the opportunity to take more classes than I could no a semester system.</p>
<p>The unusual schedule can sometimes make it difficult to coordinate meetings with friends from other schools, since the breaks often are at different times. You can be slightly early/late for summer internship programs as well, although this is usually not an issue. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most notable aspect of the quarter system is the speed and intensity of the academics. While on the semester system, students will be taking midterm/final exams twice a year, you on the quarter system will be taking exams three times per year. It is far more costly to fall behind in coursework on the quarter system than the semester system.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the schedule is a minor issue and should not be a primary reason to apply or not apply to NU.</p>
<p>I have twins, one at NU and one on the more traditional semester system. I like how S’s breaks all occur when he’s done with finals. I also like how the quarter system gives you much more chance to try new classes in different depts. I don’t really think it’s or make or break issue.</p>
<p>Because the school wants winter break to line up with the holidays. Due to some calendar issue with the Jewish religious calendar, the academic year has been starting later than usual–in the past, classes have started around September 20th.</p>
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<p>They could have, but then you would be taking winter classes during the holidays. Or doing homework over the holidays. Uh, no thanks. When I’m on break, I’m on break. Work/life separation is key, mate.</p>
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<p>It’s good. Can take more classes, fit more stuff into my schedule, and still have time for friends, clubs, whatever. Midterms are constant, though, so that sort of sucks.</p>
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<p>Nope. We find time to hang out together. If you really want to see them, you find ways to see them.</p>
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<p>Yup. It’s a problem. Get a job with a temp agency or something for the last month, or see if you can’t get your internship extended.</p>
<p>I have twins, one at NU and one at a college with semesters. They still overlap for the December/January break for 2 1/2-3 weeks. The NU student finishes winter quarter in mid-late March and has a “real” break for a week. The semester twin has a break in the middle of the spring semester in March, but is always needing to do work during that week.</p>
<p>As others have said, NU ramps up academically very quickly each quarter, so that’s something you have to get used to. It took my NU student a while. :)</p>
<p>Personally, my high school runs off of our own “quarter” system where we have 8 classes a year with 4 each semester that are entirely different. Maybe that’s why I’m not deterred by NU’s quarter system because it’s essentially what I’ve been doing all along. Having said that, I really appreciate it because it has allowed be to take a lot more courses than are possible on the semester track. I definitely don’t think it should be a deterrent from NU whatsoever. Theoretically, if you are going to NU, you have already been deemed a highly successful student, so you should be more than capable of completing the course work a little bit faster anyways.</p>
<p>Also, what part of the country are you from? I’m from California and almost all of the west coast schools that I am applying to run on the quarter system. It seems like the traditional semester format is much more prominent on the east coast.</p>
<p>Im from texas, and I’d never heard of this system until a few years ago when my sisters friend enrolled at NU. I like Northwestern a lot and I really hope I get in, but this quarter system definitely seems like a minus to me. I like the idea of being able to take more classes, but doesnt that mean everything is essentially rushed/harder?</p>
<p>Yes, quarter system in general is very rushed and goes very rapidly which can have a major impact on your grades if you are not paying attention from day 1.</p>
<p>The standard schedule works like this - 1st mid term - 3-4 weeks in, second 6-7 weeks in and finals in week 10. Some of the beginner classes may have 3 mid terms in which case you will see exams in 3rd, 6th and 8th and 10th week.</p>
<p>Now that i think about it, isn’t it basically just a test every three weeks or so? In high school you have a test every few weeks so is this much different? or are there tests and quizzes in between too?</p>
<p>My concern would be with getting jobs/internships over the summer. I would think that would be challenging since most other college kids have a jump on that. Has anyone seen that as an issue?</p>
<p>College and high school have no comparison, no matter what system you are on. </p>
<p>Just think in the following terms - AP Bio/physics/Chemistry class + additional material not in the AP class covered in a semester or a quarter.</p>
<p>The quarter system is pretty typical on the Western part of the USA, especially in California. It’s also common in the Chicago area, but also found in the midwest:</p>
<p>in California:
Stanford
University of California system: UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Davis etc all have the quarter system.<br>
CalState San Luis Obispo
Cal State Poly Pomona
Cal State U Los Angeles
Cal State U San Bernadino
Santa Clara University</p>
<p>And some schools in Oregon, Colorado, Utah and other western states</p>
<p>In the Chicago area:
DePaul
Northwestern
U Chicago
Illinois Institute of Art
Rush University</p>
<p>And some other schools in midwestern states, like Ohio, Michigan, etc</p>
<p>You’ll see the Quarter system in some other areas, but it is rare.</p>
<p>Regarding internships: If a company is going to recruit at Northwestern, they are well aware of the Quarter System and are happy to work around those periods to get the best interns. </p>
<p>If you are from California, most internships work around the UC system because of the huge number of students (four year and community colleges) getting out of school at the end of June and working past Labor Day.</p>
<p>Depending on your courseload, you can expect an exam every 2-3 weeks, yeah.</p>
<p>For perspective on the pace, we will typically cover 1-3 textbook chapter sections (i.e. sections 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3) in a natural science or math lecture, and 1-2 chapters for a social science or humanities course.</p>
<p>Internships are not an issue. UCS puts a lot of work into getting a lot of good companies onto campus to meet with students, and NU is a target school for a lot of excellent companies. The application process starts in the December-January timeframe. If the late end to the school year puts you at a disadvantage, then you’ve started far too late to get a good position for the summer.</p>