<p>which system do you prefer? the quarter system or the semester system?</p>
<p>Semesters are cool because you have to take less courses, but they suck because you feel like it never ends sometimes. Quarter system sucks because you usually don't get done until mid-June and is a tad more expensive. The only good thing I can think about the quarter system is that you end a term right before spring break.</p>
<p>Semesters.
1. Less finals
2. More in depth, room for better understanding
3. Start early (when summer gets boring)
4. End early (when school gets too stressful)
5. Finals before winter vacation</p>
<p>-saving.the.day</p>
<p>the quarter system just flies by, and IMHO you end up spending so much time cramming for exams or rushing to turn in assignments that you don't have the chance to reflect on the material and <em>learn</em> it. You're just pushing facts into your head so you can spit them back out on a test, but at the end of the whirlwind that is the quarter system little has really sunk in.</p>
<p>Look at it this way. Today is Tuesday Nov. 9th. How far back does the week of halloween seem? It only feels like a few days ago, but had you been enrolled in a quarter system and started classes on the monday of the week that had halloween, this week many of your classes would be having midterms since its the 3rd week of the quarter. How much would you have really learned and absorbed by now? For most people they can only cram for those midterms, and the material which was scarcely digested to begin with quickly evaporates and is replaced by the things you need to learn for the <em>next</em> set of tests just around the corner. Add in the homework you're busy doing and a few papers you don't really have time to research and write carefully, and the quarter system is a recipe for shallow learning.</p>
<p>Its worth noting that the flagship of the UC system, Berkeley, switched away from a quarter system back to a semester system a few years back, and there are discussions at many of the other UC schools to revert.</p>
<p>While the quarter system is stressful, I still recommend it.
I was able to get classes I despised out of the way without feeling pressured to take them as soon as possible or later in college. People who have easier schedules won't feel the crunch than people who have a big workload. It's all about prioritizing your classes (choosing them wisely) in the quarter system.</p>
<p>could it be safe to say that the quarter system is for fast learners and the semester system is for slow learners?</p>
<p>perhaps, then you could say the quarter system is more fit for those who cant handle as much information.</p>
<p>I love the semester system. You have less finals and midterms than a quarter system, and you have more time to settle into your classes and focus. I love starting school in August and getting out in May, knowing some of my friends are stressing out in school for another whole month. :) One thing that is nice about the quarter system is that if you hate your class, it's relatively short.</p>
<p>If you transfer from a semester to a quarter system, that would make you behind right?</p>
<p>nope, your exactly where your suppose to be.</p>
<p>Well I think the quarter system is better. Also in both you have hour final before winter break, so disregad what that person said about not having your finals before winter break in the quarter system. The quarter system gives you more freedom to take classes that you want. It gives you more options sine your not tied down into one class for so long.</p>
<p>I am on the quarter system.</p>
<p>I tend to prefer it to the semester system for several reasons, the foremost being that it gives a lot more room for exploration. I am able to take 9-16 classes a year (average load to overtime), which gives me a lot of room to try a class because I don't have to worry about filling EVERY single slot with something "meaty" (major or GE-required). If I get bored with a course, well, it's only 10 weeks from start to finish -- no big deal there. </p>
<p>I would say the quarter system is "better" for people who a) learn quickly; b) get bored quickly; c) want to explore things more (especially if you aren't committed to a major -- but even if you are, it gives you more time to do stuff you were interested in but maybe don't want for a major/minor); d) enjoy mixing things up every 10 weeks (new people, new classrooms, new lecturers -- s'all fun :P); e) test well.</p>
<p>E especially. If your classes have multiple midterms, it's very easy to feel as if you're constantly studying. I started in late September, and my first midterm was in mid-October; my second is this week. The final is in about 4 weeks. If you don't absorb material quickly, it's easy to get overwhelmed. For example, my boyfriend's myth class has 3 midterms and a final -- that's nearly a test every other week! (Exception to e: if you have a series class which splits up a general subject into multiple quarters (introductory chemistry and math, for example), it might even be better for someone who DOESN'T test well, because then the overall material is graded on a smaller scale, so that you have a grade for every 2-3 chapters instead of every 4-5.)</p>
<p>I will take exception to MrTrojanMan suggesting that the quarter system dilutes classes, however. More often than not (in my experience), the quarter class either has as much information as a semester class would, or, in the case of a series, covers the same amount of material in the same amount of time (that is, a 2 semester series = 3 quarter series). In that case, it even helps by breaking up the grades (which works unless you have a particular section in, say, chem, that the next quarter is entirely devoted to covering ^^;).</p>
<p>... The end result of the rambling is that quarters rock -- for some people (like me). As with everything, it depends on who you ask. ;)</p>