bingle

A friend said trimester was the same as a quarter system, since kids generally only go 3 quarters/year. I'd always understood that a trimester class was the equivalent material to a semester class, just meeting more hours/week for fewer weeks. So is Carleton's trimester schedule just a quarter system with no summer quarter option?

Are 2 semester terms of language equal to 2 trimester terms or is a year a year and 2 semesters = 3 trimester? And do you take 4 quarters of a language to be at the same place as 2 semesters?

D is taking 3 6credit classes plus PE, music lessons and band for a total of 3 addtl credits.
The 6credit classes meet for different amts of time - 2 are ~3.5hrs lecture/week, but Music Theory is 5.5 (although the same number of credits). Is Theory more akin to a lab science with more hours?

Thanks

dietcokewithlime

I think generally the trimester material should correspond to one semester's worth of work, not one quarter. I'm told that with organic chemistry, for example, the two terms of orgo I & II at Carleton is the same material as other schools would cover in a year-long orgo sequence. With foreign language, 4 terms of French at Carleton would be the same as 4 semesters (2 years) at another school.

I don't know about music theory specifically, but there are quite a few classes that require more time than others but are the same credits. First-year language courses meet every day for a total of 330 minutes a week (normal = 200 minutes) but are only 6 credits. Most lab science courses are only 6 credits (course = 6 credits, required 4 hour lab section = 0 credits), though there are a few in the bio, chem, and psych departments that carry an extra 2 credit lab section.

1190

Agree that trimester or quarter is more semantic than substance. For example, you can still get a full term's credit over the summer in one of Carleton's study abroad programs (e.g. Cambridge).

The system at Carleton is very similar to Dartmouth's with a a typical 3 course per term set-up allowing for the completion of around 36 courses at the time of graduation (35 are required at Carleton). With partial course credit given for some labs, music courses, language offerings, etc. kids commonly go a bit under or over the "typical" 3 course load.

"Full" courses, the vast majority, are considered equal to a semester course elsewhere. You effectively complete a 15 week semester course in a 10 week trimester at Carleton or Dartmouth. You are fortunately able to concentrate on only 3 courses at a time instead of the 4 or 5 you'd usually load up with twice a year at a semester based school.

Chicago and Northwestern are a bit different still. Course loads there are 3-4 per trimester (4 most terms). Graduation requirements at the two range from 42 courses at Chicago to 45 at Northwestern to 48 at Northwestern in engineering. But while some of these courses will effectively cover the equivalent of a semester's worth of work elsewhere (i.e. 1/2 year) many cover only a trimester's volume (i.e. 1/3 year).

Please don't ask me about Stanford. I remember my head spinning trying to figure out the point system used to calculate graduation requirements when visiting.