Poll: Quarter or Semester System?

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
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personally, my school is on quarter system.... i think it's better this way, no way would i want to study for like 5-7 finals!
 

Orsorum

Lifer
Dec 26, 2001
27,631
5
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Originally posted by: gopunk
personally, my school is on quarter system.... i think it's better this way, no way would i want to study for like 5-7 finals!

Just do what I do, don't study for any!

Oh, wait, that's why I had a 2.2 average this last quarter... damn chronic depression.
 

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
29,239
2
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Originally posted by: Zakath15
Originally posted by: gopunk
personally, my school is on quarter system.... i think it's better this way, no way would i want to study for like 5-7 finals!

Just do what I do, don't study for any!

Oh, wait, that's why I had a 2.2 average this last quarter... damn chronic depression.

holy crap dude
 

Orsorum

Lifer
Dec 26, 2001
27,631
5
81
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: Zakath15
Originally posted by: gopunk
personally, my school is on quarter system.... i think it's better this way, no way would i want to study for like 5-7 finals!

Just do what I do, don't study for any!

Oh, wait, that's why I had a 2.2 average this last quarter... damn chronic depression.

holy crap dude

I'm going to see a doctor on Tuesday or Thursday, there's something fvcking with my head and my body (more than usual).
 

neomits

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2001
3,228
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76
quarters here at Ohio State


it has it's up sides and down sides but I think I'd prefer it
 

jteef

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,355
0
76
we transitioned from quarters to semesters while I was at GT. I liked quarters better, but you have to like getting out of school at the beginning of May on semesters.

I don't understand your statement "I would hate to study for 5-7 finals"
 

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
29,239
2
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Originally posted by: Zakath15
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: Zakath15
Originally posted by: gopunk
personally, my school is on quarter system.... i think it's better this way, no way would i want to study for like 5-7 finals!

Just do what I do, don't study for any!

Oh, wait, that's why I had a 2.2 average this last quarter... damn chronic depression.

holy crap dude

I'm going to see a doctor on Tuesday or Thursday, there's something fvcking with my head and my body (more than usual).

yea you better get in shape for spring :p

well at least you didn't get a 0.7 in music 116.... i know a guy that did that :Q

btw who was your 307 prof? i'm thinking about adding 307 to my schedule....
 

Deeko

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
30,213
12
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We have quarters due to the co-op system, 2 quarters class, 2 quarters work.
 

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
29,239
2
0
Originally posted by: jteef
we transitioned from quarters to semesters while I was at GT. I liked quarters better, but you have to like getting out of school at the beginning of May on semesters.

I don't understand your statement "I would hate to study for 5-7 finals"

don't you take more classes because you're on semester schedule? maybe i'm just ignorant...
 

Vette73

Lifer
Jul 5, 2000
21,503
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I have done both and think Quarters are better. They have their plus's and negatives, but I like the fact you can spend more time on fewwer classes. You might actually learn something that way.
 

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
29,239
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Originally posted by: Marlin1975
I have done both and think Quarters are better. They have their plus's and negatives, but I like the fact you can spend more time on fewwer classes. You might actually learn something that way.

hmmm can people who have done both elaborate just a little on the pros and cons? because i've only done quarter, so all i am going by is irrational pride :p
 

brtspears2

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2000
8,659
1
81
Quarter, though you have to always be on or ahead of the game to do well.
Semester, though my head has a tendacy to give up after 10+ weeks on same subject.
 

jteef

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,355
0
76
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: jteef
we transitioned from quarters to semesters while I was at GT. I liked quarters better, but you have to like getting out of school at the beginning of May on semesters.

I don't understand your statement "I would hate to study for 5-7 finals"

don't you take more classes because you're on semester schedule? maybe i'm just ignorant...

on quarters I took about 15-18 credit hours 3 times a year. that comes out to be 4-6 classes per quarter or 12-18 per school year.

on semesters I took about 15-18 credit hours 2 times a year. that was 4-6 classes per semester for 8-12 classes per school year.

overall, it was essentially the same amount of class time. The difference was with quarters, you could specialize more. I guess there would have been 4-6 more final exams in the school year on quarters.

 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,574
126
Originally posted by: gopunk
personally, my school is on quarter system.... i think it's better this way, no way would i want to study for like 5-7 finals!

more like 4 to 6. UT has a 17 hour limit and most classes are 3 hours.
 

wyvrn

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
10,074
0
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I've had both. Quarters are cool because you concentrate on less subjects at a time, and they change more frequently. Semesters (which I have now) tend to be too long and I suffer burnout around finals time.
 

gopunk

Lifer
Jul 7, 2001
29,239
2
0
Originally posted by: jteef
Originally posted by: gopunk
Originally posted by: jteef
we transitioned from quarters to semesters while I was at GT. I liked quarters better, but you have to like getting out of school at the beginning of May on semesters.

I don't understand your statement "I would hate to study for 5-7 finals"

don't you take more classes because you're on semester schedule? maybe i'm just ignorant...

on quarters I took about 15-18 credit hours 3 times a year. that comes out to be 4-6 classes per quarter or 12-18 per school year.

on semesters I took about 15-18 credit hours 2 times a year. that was 4-6 classes per semester for 8-12 classes per school year.

overall, it was essentially the same amount of class time. The difference was with quarters, you could specialize more. I guess there would have been 4-6 more final exams in the school year on quarters.

no, that's not what i meant... i meant at the same time. i wouldn't want to study for that many finals at the same time...

i don't think it is really normal for students to take 6 classes a quarter... most people i know take 3-4.
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
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I typically take 4 classes per semester as do most others at my school). We don't use the quarter system here.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
I had semesters as undergrad, quarters as grad. The pro of semesters is covering another 2 weeks of material, which means less skipped chapters in a Computer Science or Math class (great if you want to learn more ;) ). Con is of course that you get to take fewer classes, and have more material to memorize at finals time. I usually tried to take 1-2 classes in the summer (usually non-CS "breadth" requirements) to let me fit in more Math/CS during the semester.
 

jteef

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,355
0
76
i dont know about your school, but we needed 203 quarter hours to graduate. that is 17 hours per quarter to graduate in 4 years. (not that I accomplished that, but I would have if I didn't fail calculus 4 twice) 17 hours is a 5 hour math class, a 5 hour physics class, a intro EE class, and an elective, or later on, it could be 5 EE classes and a couple labs (which I did once or twice).

My biggest schedule was
5 hours -- math3308 Differential Equations
4 hours -- EE2200 Intro to Discrete Systems
4 hours -- EE3280 Electronic Circuits
3 hours -- EE3351 Microelectronic Devices
2 hours -- EE3400 Instrumentation Lab
18 quarter hours.

On quarters I guess I averaged about 4 classes, but this was also at the times I was taking all the big 5 hour math/chem/physics classes and I was on academic probation for a couple where they limited me to 13 hours. The most semester hours I ever took was 15 over 6 classes(2 small labs).
 

Spac3d

Banned
Jul 3, 2001
6,651
1
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Originally posted by: neomits
quarters here at Ohio State
Yup. I did the semester system at GAtech... I like the quarter system MUCH better. I couldn't go back to semesters.

 

Thegonagle

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2000
9,773
0
71
The whole MNSCU system (Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) switched from quarters to semesters a few years ago. I think it sucks. You can't take the winter off. It's nice here in the summer, but sometimes you want to get out for the winter.
 

vtqanh

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2001
3,100
0
76
Seems like the majority of students prefer quarter system, but why the majority of colleges/universities are on the semester system?