fencingchick, many people presented trimesters to ds as a negative, but he didn’t find it a negative at all. Yes, the pace is faster, but you only take three core classes so it’s not that difficult to manage. The long break over Thanksgiving and the winter holidays was a HUGE plus, in our book. No flying home (or not) at Thanksgiving, worrying about weather, making flights, etc., and then flying home again a couple of weeks later. When he came home the Monday or Tuesday of Thanksgiving week (cheaper than Wednesday) he was here until after the new year. He used those several weeks to work, but others do externships. And in terms of doing study abroad, lots of kids do it in the fall so you’re just subbing one trimester for one semester, and then you still get two trimesters on campus.