how many units do you plan on taking per quarter?

baktrax
Sun, 13 Apr 2014 07:58:24 +0000

@Matt4200 There are two summer sessions during the summer, each 5 weeks, but not all classes are offered during the summer, especially when you reach upper-division courses. Also, there may be a special summer session that takes longer than 5 weeks, so this would be the equivalent of only one “quarter” during the summer. And in my experience, some summer classes are of poorer quality than classes taught during the school year (you don’t get the typical professors who teach this course all the time, things get cut out or glossed over because there’s just not enough time), and taking summer classes often take up a lot of time (double the amount of in class time than a typical class over the quarter would be, with more homework/reading/etc) so you’re sacrificing the ability to work or do internships or whatever will help you get a job or go to graduate/professional school after undergrad. It’s a lot easier to burn out by continually taking classes without any variety, and it would be a lot harder to get other experience and/or money if you sacrifice your ability to work full time over the summer.

So yes, it’s potentially possible (if you are taking a major where a lot of your classes are also offered over the summer), but it’s certainly not lazy to only take classes during the school year and to use your summers for more productive things. It may be even better to take more units during the school year so that you can free up your summers to earn money or get experience. Definitely not lazy, and certainly a very good way to maximize your time.