<p>i heard trimesters are awful and i recently noticed michigan runs on the trimester. how does the trimester work, when are your breaks? when do you take finals? when do you start and end the year? are your breaks really different than those of your friends go to a school that runs on a semester?</p>
<p>For all intents and purposes, Michigan runs on a semester system (Fall and Winter terms), with an optional Spring/Summer term. The Spring/Summer term is divided into two 6 week half terms (Spring and Summer, as you may have guessed). Some classes run the full 12 weeks, others only run 6 weeks. This allows you to do classes for only half the summer, and work/go home/study abroad/enjoy summer/do something else if you so desire.</p>