Winter courses are known to help students boost their GPA’s and/or get ahead of classes to possibly graduate early. Some college kids wonder whether or not it’s worth taking an online class over their winter breaks. When it comes to taking a winter class, there are differences compared to our usual fall and spring classes. I asked multiple students who have taken winter courses to get further insight on their day-to-day lives when taking a winter course.
I spoke to Holly DeAngelis who took her first winter class this past semester and she gave me a lot of information on her experience. She went into detail about the Zoom call process, which can be a little stressful. Not only do you have to use the lockdown browser, but you have to take multiple photos of yourself, your student ID, your notes and a video of your surroundings before class. Junior DeAngelis also goes into detail about how you have to take a video of yourself counting down from 10 so your professor knows if they can hear you properly. Sounds like a lot of work just for one class.
That is something that other students have expressed to me as well when it comes to taking a winter course. Aly Erario, a sophomore at Montclair State University states, “It’s very time consuming, but much easier than regular courses.” Another student had a very similar response saying that winter classes are not that bad, but it definitely depends on what course it is you’re taking.
There’s a lot of things that come into play when taking winter classes. Yes, they can be time consuming, but there’s another huge aspect that comes into play with college students. Money. Taking two summer courses is the same price as one winter course. That’s something that can heavily contribute to someone’s decision in wanting to take a winter course. Darel Barrera expresses, “I think winter courses should have a discount just like they have one in the summer.” This could make students wonder if it’s better to take a summer course instead of a winter course.
It’s fair to say that winter courses can be a great idea if you have the dedication and time. With taking fall and spring courses, we’re used to sometimes having multiple classes a day that are taken over the course of three months. With winter courses, you have only one class where you most likely have work to do everyday for five weeks. Personally, I’d say if you have the money and motivation to work, go for it. If you still want to take courses outside of fall and spring but want a better deal money-wise, try the summer courses.
What do you think? Would you take a winter class? Does it seem worth it? Let us know on our Instagram page @hcmontclair and welcome back to another semester Red Hawks!