<p>In college, which do you prefer: Quarter or Semester calenders? What are the pros and cons of each? Thank-you!</p>
<p>Quarter system </p>
<p>Pro: Classes you don’t like end fast!
Con: Classes you do like end fast…. (Usually around 8-10 weeks) </p>
<p>Pro: You can take a wide variety of classes/subjects
Con: Some classes may not be as in-depth as you would like </p>
<p>Pro/Con: You often get out of school well after the semester schools- this could affect possible jobs/internships.</p>
<p>Thank you for that!</p>
<p>Pro: Fewer classes at once, but more classes over the course of a year (three or four a quarter, four or five a semester)... GREAT for athletes/actors who are superbusy during one particular season.
Con: Each class more intense, missing a day of class is missing A LOT, classes tend to be paced faster.</p>
<p>And I feel like enough schools operate on quarter system... among the top schools, NU/Chicago/Dartmouth/Stanford/Harvard/Caltech all begin and end within a week of each other. Other schools with trimester or quarter system include Union and Carleton.</p>
<p>I actually have dealt with the quarter system at one of the schools listed. I think it is absolutely terrible to be bluntly honest. You feel like you have midterms like two weeks after the quarter starts. Your teachers will even tell you that you are rushing through material that really should be taught over a semester. You have more exams, more papers, and just more work. I think it leads to more stress. And think about it like this, you have 3 terms to deal with, not just two. I would say, go with a semester school if you can. And I happened to choose my quarter school over some very comparable semester schools. If I could do that again, I would choose another school.</p>
<p>That's what I figured. Oh..btw, what is a 4-1-4 calendar?</p>
<p>"You feel like you have midterms like two weeks after the quarter starts."</p>
<p>-That's actually sometimes the case...</p>
<p>A 4-1-4 calendar is like two semesters with a one-month "short course" in the winter. One of our local community colleges has it. During the one month you take only one course, and it's usually a little different than the regular curriculum. You also have the option of taking the month off or going for a short course abroad. This is done sometimes when the school is located in the snow country.</p>
<p>I have done both semester and quarter system. I much prefer semester for all the reasons Columbiahopeful lists, plus I like getting out in May rather than June, and I hate waiting until the end of September to start. I have recommended that my son only look at semester schools, but since all the UC's except Berkeley are quarter he may not have a choice if he decides to go public.</p>
<p>The 4-1-4 is very interesting. I'm guessing not many schools use it. According to CollegeBoard, Hofstra (A college I'm seriously taking into consideration) is on that calendar. Does anyone have experience with this calendar? Thanks!</p>
<p>I think Middlebury does it too (4-1-4).</p>
<p>I haven't attended a quarter school but three close friends of mine do, and the cons are mainly the schedule relative to everyone else. School generally starts pretty late (the schools that I know start very late Sept) and get out late as well (sometime in mid-June). This would be OKAY...except that most everyone else has different schedules so it throws it off as far as spending time with family who may also be attending college elsewhere and mostly, with other friends when visiting back home. One quarter school I know of also has a super-short winter break. The other big complaint I hear is that it always feels like you're testing and the stress/pressure of these tests does not bode well for many who can't deal with the idea of an upcoming exam all the time.</p>
<p>So basically the cons of quarter I know of are:
1. Coordinating summers
2. More stress of midterms/finals..a whole other set to deal with.</p>
<p>John Hopkins and MIT both have 414 schedules.</p>
<p>I prefer quarters, because I'm a geek and want to be able to take more classes.</p>