Quarter system difficulty

We toured NU two years ago and the students we talked to said they were taking 4 courses/quarter and some engineering students said 3 courses/quarter when taking courses like thermo.

Note: most students on a semester system start college in the fall earlier than quarter system colleges but will have a bigger break during the holidays, up to 4-5 weeks. On the quarter system you get about 2.5 weeks.

I have done both and prefer the quarter system as you take more classes for a shorter period of time however it’s also nice to get a long break during the holidays for a part-time job, travels, and the semester ends by early to mid-May.

At Northwestern, 5 courses per quarter is the norm if all are 3 credit courses. NU offers courses from one credit to 5 credits. 15 hours per quarter is expected. Engineering students often take fewer courses due to the workload.

I’m in Weinberg at NU. Most classes are 1 credit and most students take 4 classes per quarter. 5 classes are allowed but considered an overload.

Classes at Northwestern University are not “one credit”; most are “one unit”.

45 units are required in order to be eligible for a degree. Typically one would spend 12 quarters over 4 years at Northwestern University. Some courses are a “half unit”. They get converted to hours in certain situations such as when one transfers or sometimes when one applies to graduate or professional schools.

Normal course load is 4 units per semester, but engineers sometimes take three courses. (My son always took 5 courses as a triple major.)

Many students double major, triple major or graduate with one major & two minors. My son took 5 courses per term & graduated as a triple major. He also worked at an on campus job.

Looks like each Northwestern unit would be 4 quarter hours = 2+2/3 semester hours when transferring courses in or out (45 Northwestern units = 180 quarter hours = 120 semester hours).

Meaning that normal course load is equivalent to 16 quarter hours at other quarter system schools. Taking only three courses would be equivalent to 12 quarter hours at other quarter system schools, and that is the minimum to be “full time” for financial aid purposes.

Credits, units of credit… my point was the norm is 4 classes at a time.

@soontobecolleger: Yes, you are correct. Sorry, but I forgot that my son triple majored & needed to take a heavier course load.

Both he & I went to law schools on the quarter system where 5 courses were required in order to graduate on time.

Again, you are correct. It has been almost a decade since he was at Northwestern.