<p>Just wanted to get some opinions on semester vs quarter. My CCC is semester and I am most likely transferring to a school that will be on quarter. part of me is happy because semesters seem to go on forever sometimes, on the other hand i have heard that the quarter system can be really hard. what are your opinions on semester vs quarter?</p>
<p>I prefer the quarter system because I learn better when I have to learn in short periods of time rather than during a long period over a semester. But I’ve never been in a quarter system so I can’t say for certain.</p>
<p>My school has it’s own sort of semi-trimester system (14-week semesters rather than 16-week, allows for a whole 14-week period in the summer to take essentially a 3rd semesters worth of classes). The only problem is that it doesn’t have many classes available in the summer.</p>
<p>My school is on the quarter system. I like the quarter system for several reasons: It allows you to take fewer classes at a time (most people are only taking three MAYBE four classes), if you hate a class, you are only stuck with it for ten/eleven weeks, and you don’t have schoolwork over spring vacation and the summer break seems a LOT longer than most.</p>
<p>The bad side? You do move at a faster rate and you get out later than everyone else, therefore it makes it harder for you to compete with semester students for internships and summer jobs.</p>
<p>I would hate the quarter system…it’s way too high school (as in – that’s how my middle and high school were, and I think it’s obnoxious as all else).</p>
<p>I have a friend who goes to school on the quarter system. It seems like she’s in school ALL of the time.</p>
<p>To me the downside is that you don’t get that summer break to do things like work. A lot of students only want to work during the summer, and when you only have a few weeks for break that’s really hard. I would also feel rushed to do everything I wanted during my break- like work, volunteer, maybe travel, or even just relaxing. School starts over again way too soon.</p>
<p>I had the semester system in undergrad and the quarter system in grad school. Personally, I hated the quarter system. Taking four math/science classes at once just didn’t provide the chance to actually do the reading I needed to fully understand the material. It felt like every night was triage. Whenever professors would miss a class due to a conference or whatever it would be a huge inconvenience since you were losing a huge chunk of the class but were still going to be held responsible for the material</p>
<p>Semesters allow for occasional downtime in which you can catch up, and maybe even get ahead a little. Having to learn material over a 16+ week period also makes you learn it for the long term instead of just cramming for the midterm coming up next week.</p>
<p>I’m on the semester system; my friend is on the quarter. I’m with October47 - it seems like she’s in school ALL the time (she just got out on June 8th for summer, while I was out on April 25th.) Plus, she went to school later in the year, but wasn’t off for Christmas break at the same time, didn’t have Spring break at the same time, etc…so it was difficult.</p>
<p>Plus, she complained about how she had to take 3 quarters of German in a row, even though it only counted as one class (she says a lot of classes require you to do that, at least at her school). Classes are also longer on average. However, my boyfriend went to OSU and loved quarters, because he didn’t have work over Spring break.</p>
<p>As for me, I enjoy semester alright. It’s nice to have the breaks you get, and the semesters go by quickly once they get rolling. I feel like the work is well-paced, sometimes even a little slow - but it’s ok, because it gives you more leeway, and teachers don’t seem as stressed. However, the semesters do require more classes - 4 to 6 - and that can be hard to keep up with. The classes may be shorter, but then again, you have a larger possibility of having a whole bunch of tests at once.</p>
<p>Everyone that I know that’s on the quarter system seems to love it…but I don’t know why, seems like they get shorter breaks at weird times. Two of the big schools that I know that are on quarters (OSU and RIT) are converting to semesters in the next 5 years.</p>
<p>Semester schools have 32 weeks of school, quarter schools have 33. omgz no breaks</p>
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<p>I had a professor last quarter that said he thought the quarter system was better for grad school because it didn’t matter if the students were going to have to do a lot of out of class reading.</p>
<p>I don’t know WHAT you guys are talking about. Short summer breaks? I got off on the 10th and won’t be back to SEPTEMBER 22nd. Also, we get nine or so days of spring vacation and a month of winter vacation. Many students use summer breaks to work. Though we get out later than most, we don’t come back to almost October.</p>
<p>ThePrincessBride/ThisCouldBeHeaven - I think what most were (or at least what I was) getting at was that, though your breaks are close to being as long (your summer is 104 days vs mine at 121, which isn’t a big deal), the timing of them is what’s not great. </p>
<p>For instance, though you have a long winter break, many quarter breaks start as semester breaks are ending, something my quarter friend complained about. It’s a long time stuck at home with no other friends around. As for summer break, you’re at a disadvantage for jobs and internships against semester students, who get out and start applying around a month+ earlier. The extra month at the end is handy, but can be a hard selling point unless you start looking for jobs in September (not counting the jobs that have random openings after the high schoolers/semester students have filled up the usual summer openings). But obviously, both quarter and semester students DO find jobs.</p>
<p>Plus, to those of us in semester system, the fact that our friends in quarter system don’t have the same breaks makes it seem like they are “always at school.” Just because they have a month off in December doesn’t mean much if we never get to see them besides the one week our breaks overlap. </p>
<p>I’m not trying to say that semesters rule quarters or anything because honestly, both are great - they’re just two sides to the same coin. Most people tend to prefer the one they have.</p>
<p>I went through both the semester and quarter system in college. Both have pros and cons. Most students don’t care too much one way or another. But some do better in one due to learning style and studying habits.</p>
<p>The people I know on the quarter system get :</p>
<p>2 weeks off in December/January…so not even a month!
1 week at Thanksgiving, 1 week for Spring Break
3 1/2 months for summer.</p>
<p>I get:</p>
<p>1 month off in Dec/Jan
5 days for Thanksgiving
1 1/2 weeks for spring break
5 days for Easter
3 1/2 months for summer</p>
<p>Yeah…I would say my friends get shafted!</p>
<p>^So it looks like your school has 31 weeks, while your friends have 34. Other quarter schools are shorter; other semester schools are longer. If this is an issue for any prospective students, they should look at the academic calendar at each school.</p>
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<p>Yeah, it seemed like people on here noticed that quarter schools end a month later, but when they’re back in school they don’t notice that the quarter schools still have another month of break.</p>
<p>Tenth of when? I’ve been off since May 4 and don’t go back until August 30.</p>
<p>^^ MONTH?? Yeah…my friends on the quarter system start 1 WEEK after I do!</p>
<p>I’m starting the quarter system next year as a fresh…I don’t have to be there until September 15th and then classes start the 20th. It’s kind of ridiculous, even the HS is starting before me. But then we have winter break from like December 10th or whatever to Jan 3rd. And then a two week spring break in late March/April and then school ends early June. It’s no big deal and I actually like the idea that breaks come right after final exams for a class.
If you guys really wanna complain about being shafted, listen to this…the only summer vacation I have left in my life is this one and the one between freshman and sophomore year. After that, my school includes that “4th quarter” and we have a summer term as well. Although, tbh, I don’t mind…once you get a job, unless you’re in education, you’re probably not gonna have 2 1/2 months vacation anyway.</p>
<p>Hmm, people I know on quarters only have two weeks for winter…I get about 3-1/2 weeks on semesters. Guess it really depends on the school.</p>
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<p>Maybe it depends on your field. A lot of my friends had research related travel they were required to do, and missing a week of classes on the quarter system is way worse than missing a week on the semester system. Especially when you have to miss 2+ weeks a quarter.</p>