<p>So most schools have semesters yet OSU has quarters which makes things a bit confusin for me.</p>
<li>How long is each quarter?</li>
<li>are there final exams for each quarter or are there semester exams?</li>
<li>Is winter break and spring break at the same time as all colleges?</li>
<li>when signing up for classes…do you sign up for classes each quarter? are all classes a quarter? how does that work?</li>
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<ol>
<li>How long is each quarter? <each quarter="" is="" 10="" weeks="" long=""></each></li>
<li>are there final exams for each quarter or are there semester exams? <Yup. There is a finals week at the end of each quarter.</li>
<li>Is winter break and spring break at the same time as all colleges? <breaks for="" quarter="" schools="" never="" match="" up="" with="" semester="" breaks="" anywhere="" else.=""></breaks></li>
<li>when signing up for classes..do you sign up for classes each quarter? are all classes a quarter? how does that work? <Yup. You sign up for classes each quarter. Classes run for 10 weeks and the typical class meets 5 hours a week - every day, three days/week, twice/week, whatever for an appropriate amount of time.</li>
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<p>Most of the kids I know at OSU like the pace of the quarter system. My opinions vary - I can see pros and cons to it. They have talked about changing to semesters, but I wouldn't hold my breath.</p>
<p>There are pros/cons to the quarter system. On the one hand, you can take a variety of classes in a given school year because there are 3 (or 4 quarters, if you count summer quarter) rather than 2 semesters. Also on the plus side, if you are growing weary or tired of a certain class, it is over in 10 weeks (rather than a 16 week semester class).</p>
<p>On the con side...the quarter goes by fast and furious. The material comes at a rapid pace and once a student gets behind, it can be difficult to catch up. Because there are also midterms and finals associated with each quarter, in a 10 week class you may feel like you are studying for either a midterm or a final around the clock.</p>
<p>My son is a first quarter freshman and he couldn't believe how stressful it was...particularly with difficult classes. But he made it through...dean's list to boot.</p>
<p>Also on the negative side depending on where you live...we are OOS (Illinois) and the only schools on quarters here are Northwestern, DePaul and UChicago...so most of his HS friends are not home with him for the same breaks.</p>
<p>For high school seniors, one of the oddest things about going to OSU is that fall quarter at OSU starts WEEKS later than fall semester at most places, so your friends will leave for college sometime around Aug 22 and you will leave for college around Sept 15. At our HS, there are always enough kids headed for OSU that you see them (last year's seniors) visiting the first few HS football games, for old times sake. Those last three weeks of summer the soon-to-be freshmen get fidgity.</p>
<p>At the Family Weekend "Breakfast with President Gee" event, someone asked about quarters versus semesters. President Gee's answer was something like: OSU is one of the few schools still on the quarter system. Either the semester schools are all wrong, or perhaps we need to re-evaluate. We do know that it puts our students at a disadvantage for internships and summer jobs.</p>
<p>My D was miserable last fall when her friends were busy starting school and she was sitting around. She came home last Thursday and most of her friends here are just finishing finals today or tomorrow.</p>
<p>I think there are plusses and minuses to the quarter system. What I am SURE of is this... it will be a mess if/when they switch.</p>
<p>How long are the breaks between quarters?
and the fact that i wont get to see my hs friends during breaks just sucks :(</p>
<p>The Winter break is just under a month. I am sure you and your friends will find a way. The Spring Break is 10-14 days depending on when your last final is.</p>
<p>There are many different spring breaks across the country. </p>
<p>Here is a link to a giant OSU calendar. <a href="http://www.ureg.ohio-state.edu/ourweb/more/Content/bigcal.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ureg.ohio-state.edu/ourweb/more/Content/bigcal.html</a></p>