<p>I just got accepted to UCLA from City College of San Francisco so I will be going from the semester system to the quarter system.</p>
<p>What is the difference between the semester system and the quarter system?</p>
<p>How many classes do you take at one time?</p>
<p>I am not looking at specific majors or anything but here is the averages..</p>
<p>usually you need 45 quarter units to be in sophmore standing, 90 to be in junior standing, and so forth.</p>
<p>to be considered a full-time student is 12 units/quarter. So you can maybe say that you need about 15 units/ quarter to graduate on time...again not looking into specific majors that might require more...</p>
<p>good question as I mentioned this in the UC thread already. </p>
<p>Also, maybe someone from a UC can tell us how finals/midterms are. </p>
<p>Is there stuff on them you never talked about in lecture?</p>
<p>Do TA's help you, like let you know what to study? I mean you have more contact with them since there are only at most 20 per discussion session right?</p>
<p>Are the finals cumulative?</p>
<p>Semester: 2, 15 week terms
Quarter: 3, 10 week terms</p>
<p>Semester: start earlier and end earlier (august - may)
Quarter: start later and end later (october - june) [UCLA started on sept 28 this year]</p>
<p>Semester: 4-5 classes per term
Quarter: 3-4 classes per term</p>
<p>mylifeisover23 - To be considered full time is to take 12 units/quarter? That is the same as at my community college except full time for us is 12 units/semester.</p>
<p>Most classes at community college are 3 units... are quarter classes 3 units?</p>
<p>at my CC, quarter classes were usually 4 units and classes like calc or english were 5 units. There were some classes that were 6 units too i think, but i never took any of those.</p>
<p>I see. Calc for my CC on the semester system was 4 units, and classes like Astronomy, Econ, American History were 3 units.</p>
<p>Quarters...some people love them and some people think that they're the worst thing to ever happen since the creation of cancer and sinus headaches.</p>
<p>I, for one, am numb to the differences since I've been doing quarters for so long.</p>
<p>However, I can say this much: they have their strengths. Plenty of top schools use them, as well (UCs, Dartmouth, Chicago). Most of my finals were cumulative, but that was pretty okay since it was only 10 weeks of info instead of 15. Furthermore, I find that quarters keep me on my toes and constantly studying, which means fewer "OMGOMGOMG late study sessions before finals."</p>
<p>But there is the issue that by the time you're in gear for most things, you're wrapping up with finals. That, and they can make some internships harder to get.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>oh and another thing: during spring break, a lot of my friends at semester schools had work to do, whereas us quarter people were free to do whatever during breaks.</p>
<p>thanks UCLAri</p>
<p>one thing i hear is how science/engineers love quarters, is because some courses it is expected that some students are going to have to repeat. so, they are less behind than semesters.</p>
<p>biggest advantage also: content for quarter summer schools is ALOT less intense than summer school at semester schools.</p>
<p>also, it helps if you have little sibilings who are in k-12, because your school schedule is aligned with theirs, start september, end in june.</p>
<p>I plan to take very few classes my first quarter at UCLA just to adjust.. so is 10 units a good number to start with?</p>
<p>10 units is far too few. 13-14 is a good easy first quarter.</p>
<p>ya trust me Quarter system is WAY BETTER!
I have done both, Quarter at Univerisity of Washington and semster at a california CC.</p>
<p>Semesters are too long and quarters fly by and keep you on your toes.
Oh UCLAri is right 13-14 is perfect for first quarter.</p>