I’d love to hear from parents/kids with their thoughts/experiences/positives/negatives with the quarter system versus semester system for kids with ADHD/EF issues. My instinct says semester over quarter, but would love to hear other perspectives.
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I think it depends. I did both in college. And one of my kids did semesters and the other did quarters.
Quarters:
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About 10 weeks or so each. Missing classes or not keeping up with assignments can really be a problem with so few weeks. Students really must stay on top of things.
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The good news is if you are not totally enamored with a course or instructor, it’s over with in ten or so weeks.
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For year long courses, you actually have three quarters of the course…and for some students, this division works very well.
Semesters:
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Courses are longer in duration but you still should not slack off at all. But then this is advice for any college student.
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Courses last longer and this is fine if you like the course and instructor.
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For a year long course, you would have two semesters of a course.
I did both…and really found no appreciable difference between the two. But time management was very important for those quarter courses.
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For many with executive functioning challenges, the frequent “re-sets” of the new quarter are helpful. Likewise, they may benefit from having fewer classes per quarter - it’s just less to keep track of.
It can be hard if you start to slip behind to catch up, but honestly, if you get behind – through bad time management, illness, etc. – it’s hard in either system.
Just as a thought experiment, look at Colorado College or Cornell College (iowa) to see how a block schedule resonates. It’s always a trade off between having to focus more on one class vs fewer distracrions/obligations to manage.
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I can’t answer your question- but I CAN answer the question you didn’t ask- can a kid be successful in college with ADHD/EF issues? And the answer is yes- but parents AND the kid need to be brutally honest about how much scaffolding and support the kid has been getting-- at school and at home- and how realistic it is that these supports can continue in college.
Regardless of quarter/semester, kids who are not ready to “own” their schedule, the need to balance sleep, eating, laundry, classwork; kids who are much more interested in their social lives than academics, are likely to struggle. College dorms-- there is ALWAYS someone around who wants to order a pizza, play cards or a video game, watch a movie, find the food trucks before they call it quits for the night. College classes- most won’t take attendance. If you show up, you’ll learn something. If you sleep through them- you won’t. And you will be behind. Professors- most won’t bother with the whole “extra credit because you’re really trying” narrative.
The kids I’ve watched crash and burn (so many, so many) typically go off to college ready to be independent-- but they’ve never woken up on time- ever. Mom drags them out of bed, dad drives them to school because they’ve missed the bus. They’ve never had responsibility for household chores (because staying on track academically has been the family’s priority) so the mysteries of laundry are a challenge. And if the parents or an EF coach has been responsible for monitoring the calendar- what’s due when-- this is something a kid is likely to flounder with tremendously because unlike in HS where often the work gets broken up into pieces (small assignments due frequently), a college class might have a midterm and a final. period. You don’t understand the reading? Take the initiative and show up at office hours- but the professors isn’t going to send you an invitation and say “you looked confused last week, can I help?”
I don’t want to be negative- many ADHD kids with EF make a BEAUTIFUL transition. But I’ve observed that the family really needs to step back in a major way- not just with academics, but with adding appropriate household chores (kid makes dinner every Sunday night which includes preparing the shopping list by Friday and full clean up?) to help teach the sequencing skills which are important in college.
So as a “thought experiment” as Gardenstate points out above-- what does your kid’s week look like now, and how much of it is facilitated or made possible by family members???
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And by accommodations at school. Or with a case manager at school who helps?
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Thanks @blossom @thumper1 and @gardenstategal for the thoughtful responses.
This whole thing is a “thought experiment” isn’t it? We have no idea how it’s all gonna play out with S24 going to any college, but initially I’m just trying to figure out if there is a “better” path, quarter vs. semester or whether to simply rule out the quarter system colleges/unis.
We’ve always had our kids have a ton of “chores” from laundry to dishes to garbage night, as well as keeping a clean room, keeping the car gassed up and helping out with parties. So on that front, he’s pretty good. He has also had jobs and extra-curriculars in the past as well as doctor’s appts to handle, and does generally a pretty good job at handling that schedule. He does get up on his own (for the most part), so that’s good. It’s mainly handling 8 courses at once (“having 8 bosses” as he says) each semester. I think that’s where he gets overwhelmed.
I went to a UC with the quarter system and felt that we were at the midterm as soon as the first week was over. I also didn’t really need to experiment with so many classes, as I knew I wanted to go to law school. In that case, I probably would have preferred the “deeper dive” that the semester system offers.
We’ve talked about the block schedule (which he has now) but with only one class at a time and he thinks he’d get bored. He thinks he’ll be good at handling only 4 classes a semester, with more free time, which I think he can be successful doing.
We’re also contemplating a gap year, if this next year is as difficult in the “getting homework done” arena as this past year. Again, it’s still a work in progress and up in the air for now, just trying to gather as much intel as possible based upon other’s experience.
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But on a quarter system like the UCs, that would be three 5 unit classes most of the time, which is even easier to keep track of, while some semester schools have five 3 unit classes rather than four 4 unit classes. My D18 on semesters had 6-8 courses every term (she was doing both a BFA and BS with lots of 1-3 unit classes), whereas my S18 on quarters only took more than 3 courses about three times in four years.
We have been through this debate with S23 (who got off the waitlist at UCSC and switched from Arizona, ie semesters to quarters). The quarter system wasn’t a major concern, what mattered most was the number of general ed courses, which is what he wants to minimize. UCSC was far better than any of his semester schools for that, and a contributing factor is that the GEs are quarter length so over more quickly. His EF coach strongly supports the idea of minimizing courses he is uninterested in, because those are the ones where he’s most likely to lose focus and do badly.
There’s no material difference between quarter and semester systems, other than
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Students who are used to semester system may need some intial adjustments to get used to quarter system for the first time, because they wouldn’t have as much time to catch up if they relax too much at the beginning of the quarter. Quarter-length courses don’t generally cover the same amount of materials at a faster pace. The materials are just split differently from semester-length courses. There’re some exceptions, however.
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Some seminar-type or standalone courses with relatively light amount of materials may be more suitable in a quarter system. Students may be able to sample/take more such courses in that system.
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Timing of summer internships may be an issue as some companies are used to only one system but not the other.
Therefore, I wouldn’t simply rule out a college based on whether it uses one system or another.
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This varies between campuses. At most UCs, the majority of quarter courses are 4-units. Foreign language, and a few courses with labs, are 5-units. Some courses are 1-3 units.
An average quarter would be four 4-unit courses (16 units/quarter). 180 units are needed to graduate. The expectation is for a student to complete 45 units/year.
Also, if looking at the UCs, each has their own criteria for applying AP/IB course credit towards GE or major requirements. UCLA and UCD do not allow students to apply AP/IB credit towards their GE requirements. At UCSD, AP/IB credit varies depending on the college you are admitted into. You won’t know your UCSD college until you are accepted.
I can tell you what I thought of the two systems. How this translates to someone else is more difficult to say.
As @thumper1 says, with the quarter system you need to keep up with your class work. You do not want to fall behind. The end of the quarter comes up more quickly than you might expect. In contrast, with the semester system things in comparison drag on a bit longer.
Personally I liked the quarter system better. For a course that you are not all that thrilled with or only have moderate interest in, it is over more quickly. For a course that you really like, you take the next course in the series the following quarter. You get to take more courses in total over the school year.
I also liked the “reset” between quarters.
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I loved the quarter system. I had a lot of hard science courses I took at the same time. My mantra was “it’s only 10 (8-12 depending) weeks. I can do this. Keep plugging…” Then a reset. Kept me sane.
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Just another point…
This also allowed a major to have requirements like “two quarters of a certain math or science” rather than a full year and so allowed another extra course to be taken.
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Semester system since it’s slower and he can get help to keep up. College is lots more material and harder. He won’t get bored. . Quarter system can be “fast” for people that can’t keep on track. What is he doing now and is he successful at that?
This book has great strategies and similar to those for people with EF /Adhd. It’s a quick read but very helpful ideas.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-become-a-straight-a-student-cal-newport/1102561432.
Also how is he with self advocating?
All kids but especially with Adhd and EF should from day 1 take advantage of all the free help colleges offer. Peer to peer help, math /science labs help, professor hours, TA breakdown groups, writing workshops.
It always amazes me that some of the best students that I know in college take advantage of all of these. He should till he can prove he doesn’t need it. My nephew with similar traits did so well he just continued all 4 years. His attitude was “why wouldn’t I go get some free help” it also became a social thing.
Depends… at some quarter system schools like UCSC, 5 unit courses are the norm, so 3 such courses per quarter are the norm. But at other quarter system schools like UCLA, 4 unit courses are most common, so 4 such courses per quarter are the norm.
Probably the biggest impact would be for students who transfer colleges from semester to quarter (e.g. most California community colleges to UCs other than UCB or UCM) or quarter to semester, where one-to-one matching of sequenced courses may be less likely, so that one may end up with only partial coverage of a needed course after transfer credit.
Quarter systems usually have a very long winter spring terms, often from first week in Jan to mid-June with just a week for spring break, and of course 2 finals weeks.
I’ve heard kids complaining about starting summer jobs after everyone else. Of course they get to work into September. My kids were both in semester schools but one started early Aug, went till Dec 10 or so (depending on finals), then started again the first week of Jan to first week of May. Other one started after labor day, went right up till Christmas, didn’t restart until ~Jan 25 , then finished end of May. Even just those 3 week shifts made it a little difficult to plan vacations and holidays, especially when they had jobs.
My oldest has ADHD and after a gap year started at a school with 7 week quarters (4 per year plus 2 optional summer terms) and he took 3 classes per quarter. For him it worked much better than high school, fewer classes to keep track of, same classes each day 4 d/wk. He is great at hyperfocus and by the 6th week he was starting to get a bit crispy, but could suck it up for the last week of the term. After 3 quarters the pandemic hit and he did last quarter online from home. He took an extra class that term because he wanted something to occupy his time besides thinking about the pandemic and it went fine.
He did exceptionally well academically and finished in 3 years (due to AP classes and overloads). His only complaint was that he didn’t feel like 7 week courses went in depth enough on the material and he wonders if 15 week semesters would have been better for that. As a parent he did so much better than he did in high school where he needed a lot of support to motivate himself to get over the finish line after about 10-12 weeks into the semester.
My kid was motivated to be done in 3 years because he knows himself enough to know that he loves learning but not within the structure and confines of a school based curriculum. His bachelor’s was “the hoop” he had to jump through to get a degree that allows him to have a paying job that supports his other interests/hobbies.
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What?
Quarter system usually has one term that starts in mid September and ends before the winter holiday break. The second quarter starts in January and ends in March, and the last quarter starts in March and ends in early June. My kid had a week off between the spring quarters…plus at least a long weekend for the Easter holiday.
Semesters…many start late August/early September and end before the winter holiday break. Second semester starts in January and ends in May.
One other advantage to the quarter system. Kids get home in time for summer jobs to begin…AND they are available to work until the second week or after of September when other college students have returned to college. My kid on the quarter system picked up a ton of extra hours between mid August and mid-September because other college students were gone…and she was still here.
Those colleges (such as WPI) that have 7-week terms are different from either quarter or semester system. A 7-week course is basically a half-semester course.
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Chiming in to say that I believe small liberal arts schools are better for adhd kids because it is harder to fall through the cracks at one (based on my adhd son).
Also, that college is often better for adhd kids because there’s not so much busywork – daily homework.
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I had to read it twice to understand what they were trying to say. I believe they were lumping winter and spring quarter together. There probably should have been a comma between winter & spring. Their point was that summer break for quarter system schools is usually mid June to late September. Summer break for semester schools is usually early May to mid August.