After submitting my application to be admitted Early Decision to FSU, I was horrified to receive an email a few weeks later that said FSU would no longer automatically consider fall applicants for summer enrollment if they were deferred. This would allow applicants the chance to alter their enrollment term and better their chances of admittance for what they were calling “a highly competitive year.” After panicking for a few days, I changed my start date from fall to summer and decided that because FSU was my dream school, I could sacrifice six weeks for the next four years.
When I received my acceptance for the summer semester, I was thrilled, but part of me was sad I would miss the last summer in my hometown before everyone parted ways for college. I’d also been hoping to work all summer to save up more money before I left. Luckily, the Summer B term was only six weeks. I was able to work for the first part of summer and come home for the final two weeks to say my goodbyes before the fall term started.
Now that I’ve discussed all the reservations I had about the summer semester, let’s get into all the reasons why I ended up loving it!
- Freshmen Community
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To begin, it felt like we freshmen were the only people on campus. Since so many upperclassmen go home or study abroad over the summer, we were free to explore FSU without the normal crowd on campus. I took my dorm Magnolia Hall for granted until I found out I was living in Salley Hall for the upcoming year.
Many of the dorms are closed over the summer, which means most students reside in dorms on Landis Green. This made meeting people super easy, as I frequently ran into the same people who were also freshmen looking to expand their circles. This became such an advantage when I returned for fall because I saw some familiar faces in the vast sea of students on campus.
- Summer term brevity
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Another great aspect of the Summer B term was that it only lasted six weeks. Although classes and assignments were more frequent, something was motivating about knowing that the semester was almost over as soon as it started. Thankfully, I took easy classes intending to ease my way into college courses. The two electives that I took kept my schedule relatively free for tanning, attending campus events, and exploring Tallahassee. I also easily secured two As for my transcript and got ahead on my course map.
- Familiarity
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The final aspects that made my summer semester superb were having my sister on campus and getting closer to people from home. During this time, my sister was working full-time in Tallahassee and preparing for her senior year at FSU. Even though we didn’t have any classes together, my sister was living in College Town. It was nice to meet her for meals and walks, and also get a tour of campus.
Graduating from a high school in Tampa meant that lots of kids from my hometown also attended Summer B at FSU. Running into these peers on campus allowed me to reconnect with them and hang out with different groups of people I hadn’t previously been close with in high school.
If you’re considering attending FSU in the summer, I highly recommend you do it, especially if you’re going into your freshman year! Although being enrolled in classes may not be the ideal way to spend your summer, you may find a summer semester beneficial for both your social life and academic career moving forward.
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