<p>UC uses Quarter system and every fall school starts until OCT’ I do not like those .</p>
<p>…Ok. Well that is nice to know but school actually starts in September and why did you make this statement a thread. Just go to a school that uses the Semester system. there look easy solution.</p>
<p>I just found from a book " xxxxxxx guide to colleges "</p>
<p>interesting, but why quarter system is bad ?
and are 3 quarters = 2 semesters ?</p>
<p>^^Aren’t you applying to Chicago??</p>
<p>YES, I did not know UC uses quarter system before; maybe the title should be " is quarter system bad ???"</p>
<p>DARTMOTH , STANFORD are in quarter systems;
quarter system students have more midterms and finals.</p>
<p>I personally like quarters because you can take more courses (my high school has quarters)</p>
<p>Yeah, with quarters you typically take 4 classes per quarter, which gives you 12 classes per year. It’s much more accelerated than semesters, but some argue that you don’t learn as much. A few state schools where I live are on quarters but are switching to semesters soon.</p>
<p>At Chicago it is possible to take 4 course per quarter for two years and 3 per quarter for two years (or any combination that = 42 courses) and graduate in 4 years.</p>
<p>Eh, well the more courses thing isn’t exactly that big of an advantage? Surely the motivated students at other universities can get into 6 classes per semester? </p>
<p>Anyways, starting late really does kind of suck. We pretty much do start in October, especially since we start school the day after Rosh Hashanah (sp?) now.</p>
<p>The worst part seems to be that you end the year later than most and by the time you try to get a summer job there’s not much left. Otherwise, intense is intense by any other name.</p>
<p>^Some courses at Chicago last 2 quarters, sometimes 3, based on what my interviewer told me, so it doesn’t necessarily give you more courses to take.</p>
<p>But yes, a downer is the extra exams … more opportunity for mental breakdowns and heart attacks :(</p>
<p>The summer job bit has never been a problem-- actually, it’s been an advantage for me to be able to stay on at an internship way past Labor Day. </p>
<p>Most Chicago kids start looking for a summer opportunity late fall, so for next year the first-year can get on the boat :-)</p>
<p>
This makes no sense. </p>
<p>There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about the quarter system, such as the post above that implies one learns as much in a quarter as in a semester, or that a quarter is more intense. So, for the sake of clarity, I make the following observations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Chicago is intense in spite of quarters, not because of if. It is the students that make the place intense. </p></li>
<li><p>whether you go someplace with a three quarter academic year or a two semester one, the number of educational hours are rather similar. Yes, you take three finals, not two. But you also likely only have midterms in between. With semesters, you may have two midterms (no one calls them mid-thirds 
) </p></li>
<li><p>the timing of the academic calendar varies all over the place. Some places, especially state U, may start in mid-august. How much of this is driven by the football season is something I have not studied in depth. It is true that Chicago’s late end of spring term may put you at a disadvantage for burger flipping summer jobs, but the more interesting internships hire months in advance. No one even waits for spring break to start a search any more. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>What quarters do offer is more flexibility - you can vary your courseload and kind of courses more frequently. Many students do.</p>
<p>^ That’s not entirely true. Harvard and Yale, for example, both have 25 weeks of classes scheduled for two semesters this year, plus full-week reading periods and exams, for a total of 29 academic weeks. Chicago has 30 weeks of classes and a total of 33 academic weeks. It’s not an insignificant difference. I don’t think HY classes meet more frequently, or for longer periods than Chicago classes, and I don’t think the HY classes have greater weekly assignments. It looks like the Chicago kids have 20% more classes per year.</p>
<p>JHS,</p>
<p>I ask you to look at Harvard’s calendar. You can find it here: [Harvard</a> University FAS Registrar’s Office](<a href=“http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/common/calendar.jsp]Harvard”>http://www.registrar.fas.harvard.edu/fasro/common/calendar.jsp) .</p>
<p>Now, do some simple counting: 36 weeks from start to finish for their academic year. Subtract a 2.5 week christmas break (some fun with finals as soon as they get back), a week at the end of January (great time for a break!) between terms and a week break in late March. 4.5 weeks off. In my book, 36 minus 4.5 equals 31.5 weeks in their academic year. Chicago has 33. In my math training, that’s less than a 5% difference. You talk about class hours. I guess Harvard’s reading days don’t count? Tell that to them. Also tell me how those Harvard kis relax with their breaks in the middle of terms. I guess they’re slackers? </p>
<p>I won’t argue with you whether 5% is significant or not, nor about who gets more rest during their breaks. </p>
<p>I do wonder why folks can’t report data more accurately, though.</p>
<p>I did look at Harvard’s calendar, and I counted the weeks of classes. Harvard has much longer reading/exam periods than Chicago. There are basically no classes from the middle of December until the very end of January. They had 13 weeks of classes one semester, and 12 the other. Yale actually had 11.5 and 13. I think you are also counting time between exams and graduation.</p>
<p>Of course, stuff happens during reading period, but you are not covering new material.</p>
<p>I agree with newmassdad on that last point–if you get sick of a class, you won’t have to spend half a school year in it.</p>
<p>I’m all for the quarter system, but I’ve heard much about professors that have to delete material from their classes when transitioning from semesters to quarters. Plus, many students find it hard to remember material, as it’s not in their heads as long. I’m well aware that Chicago offers a great education, but quarters do have both their pros AND cons.</p>