Several of the colleges we have visited have an optional month-long term in which students take one intensive class, or sometimes studies something wacky. I have seen these referred to as January Term or Maymester, depending on where they fall in the year.
I’m interested to know what experiences people have had with these short intervals. Also, which schools you have encountered that use them. It seems like a great idea to me.
Samford University has Jan Term but I never took a class during that term because I couldn’t afford the extra tuition. They had a flat tuition rate for full time students(12-18 hours) so I tried to pack as much as possible into fall and spring semesters.
Elon University has a 4-1-4 schedule.
James Madison University had a maymester.
St. Olaf has a J-term. I think my St. Olaf alum niece liked the J. The University of Redlands has a May term. My older daughter, who is a Redlands alum, loved May term (and practically everything else about the school).
My alma mater (King College, now King University) had a January term. We were required to take 2 of them. I don’t think they cost extra tuition, but I’m guessing resident students may have had to pay room and board. It’s been over 30 years, so my memory is hazy. Interestingly, our younger son is likely to attend a college with a J-term (McDaniel College). Tuition is free for one of them. The latest info I have has a small tuition and cost for meals; room is free. Both schools had courses professors wanted to teach that might not fit into a normal semester. I complained at the time, but needed the hours since I had to take 130 hours to graduate.
St. Mary’s in Moraga has a Jan term, and CU Boulder has a May-mester. My daughter’s friend at Boulder did a 3 week trip to Africa through their LLC dorm, and LOVED IT.
Rollins College has Jan term. I usually took a class on campus but one year went to Italy for a month. Great experience.
Middlebury Winter Term (required for freshman)
Colby J Plan
Bates Short Term April/May
Colorado College 1/2 block January
MIT has a J term
Centre College has a Jan Term. Birmingham Southern has a Jan Term.
Williams has “Winter Study” in January. One required course, graded pass/fail. Sometimes they are off-campus “travel courses”.
RISD has a wintersession for students to be able to take classes outside of their major. Not sure if it is required.
My daughter is at Bates, where at least two “short terms” in May are required to graduate. So far, she absolutely loved her first one as a freshman. Most kids enjoy them. Things are more relaxed, and the classes tend to be a little less ordinary.
I went to Bates and absolutely loved Short Term (the mini term at the end of the year instead of in January). My brother attended another LAC, and while he enjoyed his Jan term IMO the courses he took (ballroom dancing, bartending) seemed like a bit of a waste.
What I loved about Short term is that it happens at a time of year when there are a ton of possible options. Students are required to do two, and can do three without extra cost. The placement at the end of the year means that Short Term can bleed into a summer internship or travel. Professors can do short on-campus courses in topics not suitable for a full term regular course. The nicer weather also made ST trips more pleasant and productive.
My ST’s were:
-A psychology Short Term at the main state mental hospital. We worked in the wards and lived on the grounds 4 days a week and returned to campus for a day of discussions and classwork. On the weekends we were free to hang out with friends or go to the beach.
-An on campus course in the 60’s team taught by 4 teachers-one each from the music, politic science, history and English departments.
-A non-Short Term spring in which I got a jump on the job market, worked for the first three months of my break and earned the money to travel in Europe for the rest of the summer.
-A trip to China to study Chinese arts. This was in the 80’s before China was generally open to tourists. The course was team taught by two professors. Some of my classmates stayed in China to study or travel for the summer.
I graduated from college a long time ago but my kids seem to have had similar experiences. Last summer one of my kids shadowed a nurse and research health care issues. I believe that experience helped them land a job working directly with a health care practitioner this summer.
Obviously I’m a big fan of Bates’ Short Term (to the point of obnoxiousness!) but I do think it’s a unique opportunity.
Oberlin has a winter term - both students and faculty teach or have experiential things. I translated Chinese poetry once, volunteered with Greenpeace in Boston for one and took Indonesian for another.
Johns Hopkins has January intersession with several opportunities for Baltimore community
service work. Freshman daughter loved it, quieter campus, interesting courses and of course, opportunity to be with college friends.
Bennington has a work-away term in midwinter
Southwestern in Georgetown TX has a May Term. Only a few classes are offered but DS took forensic science during May term. It counted as a lab science credit. The course was only offered in May term because the professor would use two classrooms — one that the students would meet in and the other where she set up the “murder scene”! 
They had to use the clues and solve the murder. It sounded quite fun and got the lab science out of the way.
Winter Study at Williams is a favorite time of year for many students. Some take travel courses or do internships, but for those who stay on campus, you take one course pass-fail or you can do an independent study. It is a fun time to explore a topic outside your main areas of interest and take an intellectual risk, since it is pass-fail and low-stakes.
In addition to your official class, it is just a fun time with your friends. It is less intense than the rest of the year, so there is a lot of socialization, people go skiing or on other outings, and students offer quirky ‘courses’ for one another. These are not the official courses you take during the day from faculty; they are additional fun activities, like extracurricular clubs, that you do usually at night, organized/taught by fellow students (like jitterbugging).
Definitely the most relaxing time of the school year at Williams!