<p>Hello everyone! I am an international thinking about applying to Carleton this year. However, I am still a little concerned about the trimester system. To current students, what are the pros and cons of trimester as opposed to semster? How many classes do you take each semester? I am just worried that things may be more rushed. Thanks for helping me out!!</p>
<p>I am a parent, not a student, but I can tell you that Carleton students take 3 classes at a time. Pros: You take 9 classes a year, instead of the typical 8, so you have the opportunity to take more courses. You also have a long break from Thanksgiving until January. Cons: It can feel rushed at times, from what I hear.</p>
<p>Classes start today, so you might not get quick student responses, but I’m a parent and will add to what Pootie said.</p>
<p>Pros:
- Only three classes at a time, so easier to focus.
- Long winter break, which means fewer weeks of a Minnesota winter.
- No crazy, quickie trip back home at T’giving and then back home a couple of weeks later (though as an intl, I’m not sure you would make a quickie trip home at T’giving anyway).
- Long, winter break makes finding a seasonal job easier.</p>
<p>Cons:
- 15 weeks of material in 10, so I think it can get intense.
- Your schedule will be different from most of your friends who are on a semester schedule. Other colleges with similar schedules are UChicago and Stanford, so you won’t be alone, but that freshman year I think it was weird for ds that it felt like everyone had left and started their new lives and he was weeks behind them, still at home reading about their exploits on Facebook.</p>
<p>FYI, a couple of dorms do remain open over breaks so you can stay on campus. It’s usually not your regular dorm, but I think it’s a nice service to offer. Of course, I think there’s an additional charge. I have no stats on this, but I would imagine many intl students do this.</p>
<p>Another parent here, but also an alum. A big “pro” is that the vacations occur between terms so when you’re off you are really off. No need to truck books home and study while on “break.”
As to the intensity, I’ve heard a few kids say that they’re doing the same amount of homework as high school (they were kids taking multiple AP courses), but since it was only 3 classes there was less to juggle. Also, d said that some of her classes had LOTS more reading than her hardest hs classes, but it took the same length of time because she didn’t have to prepare “star/cornell notes.” She could just focus on engaging with the material.</p>
<p>Good point about the real breaks, bingle! I remember my son, who is a Williams grad, always rushing during breaks. Before he came home, he wanted to go back. :)</p>
<p>I don’t think it is that big a deal. Other schools run on the trimester system as well. My W and I attended Lawrence University and it operated (and still does) on the trimester system. Never thought it was a problem. Liked being able to concentrate on three classes at a time. Now the Colorado College Block system - that’s a real different deal.</p>
<p>Current student here. I’ll give you a straight-up list of the pros and cons, in my opinion, of the trimester system:</p>
<p>Pros:
-Only take three courses at a time, so allows you to be more immersed in classes while you’re in them.
-You take nine courses per year, while most schools only let you take eight.
-You can get further in a certain sequence of classes. For example, in math, if you come in after having taken through calculus 2, you can take calc 3, linear algebra, and structures in one year, whereas at most schools you wouldn’t take the third class until your sophomore year (same goes for bio, chem, physics, etc.). This is especially beneficial because I can get organic chem over with in only two trimesters (haha) and move on.
-For me, the breaks were more beneficial. I didn’t have to pay to fly home and back for Thanksgiving, and didn’t have to worry about finals after the holidays - just sat saround and relaxed. I also worked for six weeks and earned some extra money.
-I like the schedule in terms of working in studying abroad. This year, I’m going abroad in the winter, but I’ll still be able to finish the Organic chem sequence because I can take Orgo ! in the fall and Orgo II in the spring. It has downsides - fewer programs are compatible with the trimester program - but I really like studying abroad on the trimester system, because I can still take six classes and spend almost three months abroad.</p>
<p>Cons:
-Work is more intense. Learning Calc or Lin Alg in 10 weeks instead of 15 means a lot more work per class than most of my friends have at other schools. There’s probably also fewer tests, so test averages count for more of your grade.
-It’s hard to only pick three classes, but really difficult to add a fourth because of the college policy and the additional workload.
-Your breaks won’t match your friends’ breaks.
-If you’re an athlete, your summers are really short because you get out fairly late, but come back early.</p>
<p>That is what I can think of off of the top of my head. Hope it helps!</p>
<p>As a former international student let me just say that the way winter break works is great. The usual thanksgiving break is too short to go home so you get to stick around a sad empty campus. This way you get to go home for thanksgiving and have some good time with the family before your friends get off from college. This worked out really well for me as I got to spend time with the family and then time with friends later on to avoid conflict.</p>
<p>Does anyone have an idea as to how the athletic teams treat the winter break? Are there team trips during that time? Thank you for any information you can offer.</p>
<p>I know that the swim team has a team trip to somewhere like Puerto Rico over winter break each year and I know that the basketball players generally stick around at least for part of winter break I believe they have some games that they play against other schools. Other than that I couldn’t say.</p>
<p>Baseball travels one week of the two-week spring break. I don’t think there is winter travel.</p>
<p>Hi 
sorry for not replying soon enough. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who answered my questions. : ) I am seriously considering applying ED I to Carleton. Thanks again!!</p>