<p>some students do like the increased course selection of the quarter/trimester system.
Carleton I believe has trimesters ( perhaps they aren't called quarters if no summer session is offered?) </p>
<p>At Reed fall semester is broken up quite a bit, fall break and winter break, which can either give you more time to get your work done or more time to get off track.
(don't get me started on public school with all the holidays, teacher work days, early dismissal, late arrival it is a wonder they remember their locker combination let alone their classwork)
Quarter schools seem to have breaks in between quarters. I prefer quarters actually as I like to know by the break I am done with the class, but some students probably prefer knowing that they have breaks scheduled when they can get some rest or get ahead/caught up.
It really depends with instructor what test schedule is, for instance the class my daughter is taking now, doesn't have labs or graded homework/papers, but has tests every week ( along with a final)
as with everything it seems mileage may vary</p>