What is the academic year?

<p>Chicago has the quarter system. What is that? How is the academic year organized. Also, for sake of comparison, how are semester school systems organized? Would a quarter system mean I lose my nice long summer (I prefer 1 long break to small breaks)?</p>

<p>[Student</a> Events | The University of Chicago](<a href=“http://event.uchicago.edu/academic-calendar/year.php?view=student]Student”>http://event.uchicago.edu/academic-calendar/year.php?view=student)</p>

<p>The idea of starting school way late in September sounds so nice to me (my school starts in mid-August :P).</p>

<p>I asked my interviewer about the quarter system and she said the best thing about it is that you can enjoy your breaks without worrying for the exam. The worst thing would be the really quick pace of all the classes. The system basically sounds like a trimester system, which really does rock.</p>

<p>Quarters (@ UChicago):

  • Starts in September, Finish in June
  • 10 weeks of classes per quarter + 1 week for finals
  • midterm start week 3 or 4 and usually end week 7 or 8 (or not at all)
  • take 3 or 4 classes
  • no homework to do over winter/spring/summer break</p>

<p>Semesters:

  • Start end of August (normally), end in late April/early May
  • 16 weeks of classes per semester + 1 week of finals
  • Midterms depend on school
  • take 5-6 classes per semester
  • 2nd semester is broken up by Spring break => you have work over spring break</p>