<p>How does Michigan's trimester year work? Are they in school longer than other universities?</p>
<p>Word on the street is that there's a chunck of time between September and December with the usual holiday breaks between (Thanksgiving?). Then there's a 2-3 week December/January break (so relatively short in comparison to many other universities), then out for the summer at the beginning of May!</p>
<p>We're in school a bit shorter than most other schools (in the Big-Ten at least.) Our vacations/breaks suck. Fall break is a 4 day weekend, thanksgiving is too, christmas is sizeable, and spring break is only a week at the end of february. I'm pretty sure the last day of exams in spring is April 28th. The "trimester" thing comes in with the spring/summer term, which is shorter, but more condensed I guess you could say. From what I gather you take the same types of classes from Fall and Winter but you have them more often or for longer periods of time in the week, and it wraps up early in the summer.</p>
<p>I LOVE Michigan's schedule! It doesn't actually run on trimesters--in fact, there are four semesters. Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer. Like a regular two-semester school that has a summer term, our summer term is just split into two, spring and summer. Compared to other schools, our breaks are a little weird... we get out for December break a week or so later than most schools, and go back to school after break probably about two weeks earlier than most. Our December break is typically 2-3 weeks. I think it's the perfect length--just long enough that you have a chance to relax, go on vacation, and catch up with home friends, but not so long that you miss being at school and forget the routine of classes so that it's hard to get back into the swing of things. We also end winter term earlier than pretty much every other school, giving Michigan students an edge on the job market because we can start earlier. And we've got a four-month summer!</p>