Summer classes can be beneficial if you’re seeking more one-on-one time with the professor, want to get ahead on your graduation and like the idea of short lines at sweetFrog and open treadmills at the gym! However, they can also be pretty arduous at times. Here’s some stuff to consider if you want to make more use of your summer.
Con: Classes meet every day
In the usual fall and spring sessions, you might get a break within the week from hearing your professors boring lectures. Unfortunately, most summer lecture classes meet every day, which can be miserable if you’re stuck with a difficult class where the professor drones on and on.
Pro: Forming a bond with professor and classmates
Summer classes are always smaller, and since you see each other every day, you get more one-on-one time with the professor. There’s no competition to line up at the end of every class just to get one question clarified. You’re also more likely to strike up a conversation with the people who sit at your table because well, you know, you’re all stuck inside a classroom together on a beautiful summer day. Use this camaraderie to your advantage when looking for a study group!
Con: Class sessions are super long
Since the summer semesters are shorter, you no longer have the luxury of a 50-minute class that you can just text the whole way through. Summer classes can be up to three hours each day. While most professors let you out early most days, they technically are entitled to your undivided attention for as long as the syllabus says so.
Pro: More open seats
Everyone knows the struggle with that one class they need that always seems to be full. Try checking out its availability in the summer time! There’s a higher chance that you’ll find a spot for you.
Con: Hot, hot, hot!
Inside a classroom when it’s 90 degrees out? Having to risk raising my hand with a huge sweat stain or have my legs stick to the chair during my final? No thanks.
Pro: Campus is peaceful
Since most people are off campus for the summer, you’ll find that it can be very peaceful and empty on your typical Tuesday in July. There’s no huge line for Chick-Fil-A or people hogging up the computers in the library. You’ll also be pleased to find that yes, there are still iPads left available for rental. Every time.
Con: Classes are more fast paced
Since class meets every day, you go at three times the pace as a normal class. Homework is typically due the next day, and some classes even have quizzes every day or tests once a week. Not the mention you only have three weeks tops to prepare for the final…yikes!
Pro: It’s over before you know it!
Summer classes can last from three to five weeks, so they’re a quick and dirty way to get a class out of the way. Instead of it going on and on like your regular 16 weekers, these will over before you can say, “Is this going to be on the final?”
Con: Being in class when you’d rather be tanning
This one speaks for itself. Who wants to be at class while looking at Instagram and seeing all your friends’ beach selfies? No one, that’s who.
Pro: It’s a slick way to graduate faster
While everyone else is out getting slizzard and vacationing, you could be working your way up to an early graduation! Just a couple summer classes per year could add up to one full year of graduating early if you play your cards right.