Is it required??
@Nicoko winter session is classes offered between the fall and spring semesters. It is not required. Some students like to take a class or two during winter session to catch up or lightened their load for future semesters.
Actually, at some schools there is a requirement to take one or more winter classes. These are usually short special topics classes, although sometimes it’s simply a regular class taught intensively.
Winter session varies by school. As others have said it’s usually a 3-4 week period between the Fall and Spring semesters where students can take classes. You should check with your school as to what kinds of classes are offered and what the expectations are for students during winter session as each school does it differently.
At my school, winter session is not required. The classes are 1-2 credit pass fail courses on special topics. There are classes on things like wine tasting, improv comedy, web development, etc. They also offer some 3 credit language classes for a letter grade. There is no requirement for students to attend winter session, but most attend some part of it.
It depends on the school. Different colleges will have different requirements and options. At Williams, where there was a 4:1:4 calendar, Winter Study was required. It was many people’s favorite time of year, because you took only one class, pass-fail. You had a lot of time to delve into that one subject, you could try a subject outside your comfort zone at low risk, you could propose your own independent study course, you could study abroad, etc. There was a lot of time to hang out with your friends. Outside of the formal college-credited classes, peers also offered fun classes (not for credit, just extra) for one another.
As @TheGreyKing said, it depends upon the school. I did my master’s at a school with a quarter system rather than a semester system. This means that the year was split up into four quarters. One was the summer quarter that was optional. However, fall, winter, and spring quarters were all about the same length and were equally important.
Some other schools have a short winter session between longer fall and spring semesters.
Yeah, as others have said, it depends on the school. UCLA for instance is a quarter school. They have a fall quarter, a winter quarter, and a spring quarter that each lasts around 10 weeks. All of these are required. My alma mater (USC), used a semester system (fall & spring) which each semester lasting around 16 weeks; there was no winter session. At community colleges, they sometimes can have a winter session that’s entirely optional and can be pretty intensive. At my CC, the winter session was only 6 weeks long. Of course, these are but some examples.
Thank you!!