<p>Pros and cons?</p>
<p>Check out this old thread on the same topic:</p>
<p>I like the Quarter System because I can concentrate more on any given class (more time spent in one class a week) but it also moves along at a fast enough pace to stay interesting. </p>
<p>I also like choosing classes more often - it's easier for me to plan out my schedule when I choose classes three times a year rather than two. And it makes it easy to deal with prereqs. The schedule also makes a lot of sense: Autumn Quarter, winter break, Winter Quarter, spring break, Spring Quarter, summer break. I always have finals before a break and don't need to worry about classes over any kind of long vacation.</p>
<p>I prefer semesters. More time to absorb material...more forgiving if you mess up on an exam or need to miss a class.</p>
<p>Also, one less time needed to register and buy books.
Semesters have a longer winter break - nice around the holidays. You're done with everything before Christmas and then you can relax and enjoy the break instead of going back to finals.</p>
<p>However, quarters have the advantage of getting done with a crappy class more quickly.</p>
<p>The Quarter system is definitely more intense. I mean you start the class and before you know it your taking your midterms (which at least in school are usually 2 per class!) and in a blink of an eye its finals time again. That said it does let you concentrate on fewer subjects than the semester system and it usually gives you the chance of taking more classes then the semester system. Trust me it can get tiring and sometimes you wish you were like everyone else in the semester system but at the end of the day most student (begrudgingly) appreciate it.</p>
<p>Quarter system is sort of sucking now that everyone else has or is starting school and I'm left at home. :(</p>
<p>^you think so now. Just wait until you're at Stanford with practically a midterm every week from the third or fourth week onwards watching your friends on semester schools have whole weeks with very little to do. I'm not saying that the quarter system is necessarily harder but that it tends to disperse your workload more evenly which may be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.</p>
<p>Yeah, Semesters are absolutely more forgiving. Quarters are rough if you fall behind - you're pretty much out of luck. If you take a little while to get into the rhythm of the class, quarters are bad for you.</p>
<p>if you hate a class it is over A LOT faster in a quarter system</p>