Wasn’t sure whether to post this in College Life or College Majors …
We are accustomed to the semester system in my daughter’s high school and both my husband’s and my college experience. What are the pluses and minuses of a quarterly academic calendar vs. semester? Are there “categories” of schools that have tendencies in either direction as a group?
Is this calendar from DePaul fairly representative of a quarterly calendar? The concept of an “intersession” spanning the Thanksgiving-Christmas period was a new one for me.
http://www.depaul.edu/university-catalog/academic-handbooks/graduate/university-information/Pages/academic-calendar.aspx
Many quarter system schools do not have the December mini-term, but just start the autumn term later (e.g. late September). At those schools, the summer term allows for a normal length (10 week) quarter (hence the name quarter system).
Here are some other quarter system academic calendars:
http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/calendar/acadcal15.htm
http://www.washington.edu/students/reg/1516cal.html
https://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/academic-calendar-1516
https://www.deanza.edu/calendar/
Quarter versus semester system may affect student athletes, since it may affect how much of the academic year overlaps with the sports season. For example, a football player would find that football season overlaps with only 1/3 of the normal academic year at a quarter system school, versus 1/2 of the normal academic year at a semester system school. So a football player serious about academics may find the quarter system to be more advantageous.
I graduated from UC Davis that runs on a quarter system (actually, almost all UCs except UC Berkeley and UC Merced runs on a quarter system).
Pros:
- if you hate a certain professor, you don’t have to be stuck with them for long
- ^ same applies if you’re bored and sick of your class after a month
- you get to take more classes because each term is short.
Cons:
- because the term goes by so quickly, you might not have time to digest what you learned. This can hinder you if you’re not a fast learner.
- more stressful because you’ll have tests and quizzes almost every week (at my school, some people esp. those in certain science courses literally had MIDTERMS the day BEFORE finals)
I received diplomas from high school, college, and two separate doctorate level programs, all operating on 10 week/one week of finals quarter systems. I’m a huge, huge fan of quarter system and agree with posts above.
In addition, my experience was that one prof might give a test in both weeks 4 and 7 (and then final), whereas other profs in same quarter might only give midterm in week 5/6, then final, so it seems as if you’re always studying for some prof’s test in any one particular quarter. As it’s been awhile I don’t remember quizzes being any big deal or for that matter any deal. D’s time management skills will be put to test but if she stays on top of material, she can do well and still have plenty of time to have a full college experience. Consider minimum full time schedule first quarter to let D get comfortable with pace. Minimum full time schedule to me in quarter system meant three 4 unit courses. If D was to consider more (eg four 4 unit courses), consider taking one P/F.
However, 12 credits will put the student behind on the number needed to graduate, so they must be made up if the student wants to graduate on time and does not have credit going in (e.g. AP, college credit earned while in high school). It is not always an option to take one or more courses passed / not-passed if all of them are courses that may lead to majors.
It is the case that new frosh need to realize that college is different from high school, and the first quarter or semester can be a rough adjustment for students who are not careful with managing their time and staying on track in their courses.
My experience is courses come in one of 3 flavors (ie GE, major, and other). In a quarter system it would be the very rare student that would have to fill every quarter with nothing but GE and major reqs in order to graduate in timely manner. There will always be space to fill up one’s dance card with some “other” courses, or in case of a starting freshman, just take 3 courses of 4 units each just to get their bearings in his/her first quarter freshman year. The only problem is if the student is taking sequenced courses like bio, chem, but even then most students could work around starting with only 12 units (aka 3 courses) and still graduate in timely manner.
I go to @sweetlacecharm’s school, and here at least it’s common for freshmen to take 12-14 units their first quarter. Usually it doesn’t impact much because most people end up taking 16 or 17 unit quarters often enough later on in college to make up for the credits. And unless the classes are in sequence or offered irregularly, taking one class fewer than normal in a given quarter isn’t a huge deal as long as you’re taking at least 15 units for most quarters. Though yes, if you make a habit of taking less than 15 units for most of your quarters you’ll either need to plan on a fifth year or take summer classes, barring AP or CC credit.