<p>the quarter system is for fast learners while the semester system is for "slower" learners</p>
<p>true or false</p>
<p>The quarter system is better for slackers who like cramming. You can cram 10 weeks of material, but 16 weeks is very hard to do.</p>
<p>im_blue,
i heard that they do the same amount of work in a trimester as they do in a semester (how is it possible, I don't know). my cousin told me, so i was jw</p>
<p>Do people on trimesters/quarter systems meet more often for class than semester classes meet?</p>
<p>you guys have all kinds of crazy misconceptions...(must all be headed towards semester schools).</p>
<p>alright, first: Either one should be fine for either kind of learner.</p>
<p>Second: Thats probobly true but more in the fact that its easier to cram 5 weeks of midterms rather than 8.</p>
<p>Third: Its not the same as in a semester...think about it. It is the "same" (in quotes becaue there is no way to measure it since the schools are different) amount covered in one full school year. In a quarter system that is divided into three parts while in a semester it is in two parts. </p>
<p>and finally, No, they dont have to meet more often. Some people might and some schools might schedule more class meetings (but the same is true for semesters). One bonus of quarters/trimesters is that you can take MORE classes though each will be a little less in depth.</p>
<p>For some people, the semester system is a bit more laid back as you don't have tests every other week.</p>
<p>And I want the quarter system so I can take a wider variety of courses... if you've got a unit-heavy major, that gets to be pretty important.</p>
<p>the quarter system is like running a 100-yard dash, the semester system is more like going out for a jog. </p>
<p>10 weeks is just so short! And its not <em>really</em> 10 weeks, its more like 8 of instruction. The 1st week is getting organized, buying books, etc. The last week is dead week. And you're always studying for tests, etc. Think back to the 4th of July. Does it seem that far back? Now if you were in school on the quarter system that started then, you'd have tests in some of your classes next week (week 3) and the rest of them the week after that. How much can you really have learned between the 4th and today?</p>
<p>You could learn plenty, I would think that most people in high school are used to units taking that much time and having a test every couple of weeks.</p>
<p>im_blue is right in that you can cram more for the final in the quarter system then the semester. </p>
<p>For math and physics sequences there isn't much of a difference where I am since they tend to be year long sequences so the classes flow into each and you'd cover the exact same material in the year with a quarter or semester since they both have the same amount of time.</p>
<p>thats not true about how some people say that two semester classes are equal to thee-quarter system classes.</p>
<p>take calculus for example. almost anywhere you go in the semester system, there is calculus 1, 2, and 3. but also in the quarter system there is calculus 1, 2 and 3. three classes each but in the quarter system you finish calculus a half year earlier.</p>
<p>Quarter system keeps you in classes until mid-June, while quarter system you are basically done by the end of April/early May. The one thing that rules about the quarter system is that between Winter Quarter and Spring Quarter you have Spring Break, while in the semester system the spring semester is interrupted by the break, which may disrupt a routine.</p>
<p>You do realize that your example has three semester classes not two.</p>
<p>That's what he's saying. With the quarter system, you take Calc I, II and III in one year, whereas with the semester system, you would need one and a half years to finish the same sequence.</p>
<p>The example doesnt work because it doesnt specify what is covered in the calc classes. I highly doubt that they are putting 3 semesters worth of calc into one school year. I know that in my school, calc is done in several year long series. You cover about the same stuff that you would in the semester equivalent.</p>
<p>I know of one school that uses tirmesters. There, they are are just as many weeks as semesters somewere else (I think 16 or 17 weeks) but they just don't have summer break and a month break between fall and spring. Not sure about spring break and such, but who cares. So you can still do 3 full trimesters in a year and that is the equivalent credits and course work as 1.5 years at a semester school. After two years that's the equivelant credit as 3 years elsewere.</p>
<p>For some reason most students don't take advantage of it though, they do two trimesters and still take the summer off.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The example doesnt work because it doesnt specify what is covered in the calc classes. I highly doubt that they are putting 3 semesters worth of calc into one school year.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>uhhh... yes, the example works because in both schools they are teaching calculus.</p>
<p>and in both schools they can put whatever they want into the classes hence why I mentioned that at my school its not Calc 1, 2, 3 but rather different series of classes that go for a year. They arent going to cram an extra semester into there (well thats kind what the TOP level one does) or else nobody would survive the class. It takes the same amount of time to complete the sequence as it does on a semester system, just when you are done with it, you keep going into other math because you are in a new year-long sequence if you chose to continue.</p>
<p>Do other schools really have separate semesters for differential and integral calculus?</p>
<p>At my school we do differential/integral in one semester and multivariable in the second.</p>
<p>MIT is one of the only schools that teaches differential and integral calculus in one semester and multivariable in the second. The vast vast majority of colleges teach it as Calculus I (differential), Calculus II (integral), and Calculus III (multivariable and vector). The quarter system often works like this: Calculus I (differential), Calculus II (integral), Calculus III (multivariable differential), and Calculus IV (multivariable integral) with vectors and/or sequences and series thrown into either III or IV.</p>