for those of you who have taken summer school, what is the recommended class load? Is two classes at one time too much?
I took 4 classes one summer, two in each session. It was fine, and the benefits of knocking out 4 classes .. then being able to subtract 2 classes from the fall/spring semesters .. was great. Still had plenty of time to enjoy the summer. Thinking back, being on campus that summer was one of the best summers I ever had.
Plus .. you can luck out with instructors who are different than the regular guys. I took a 4 credit class that had a waaaaaaaay easier instructor than the spring/fall semester guy.
I've taken a total of two summer classes. Between my freshman and soph summer I took a 4 day a week Psyc 1 course which was from like 9am-12. It really cut into how much I could work over the summer but because I was just a Country Club staffer that didnt matter. BTW I think Psyc 1 is online now, but I don't know much about that
Last summer I took a two evening a week Civ. War history -great course- on Tues/Thurs from 5pm-9pm. Which was remarkably tolerable. the only difficulty was I missed Jazz in the Park. but there was nothing like calling up warrior07 after class and grabbing a few beers at caffs. I rather regret not taking a theo course during M-W during the same session.
I would suggest if you are going to do summer courses aim for evening courses. but I don't know what your work plans are. taking 12 summer credits during a summer (or two) will line you up nicely for a easy 12 cred senior year or maybe even an early graduation, but I wouldnt suggest your break yourself over these courses. Go for 6 creds a summer (one each session)
I took 2 classed 1 summer, three the next and 4 after graduation to graduate. easier classes, shorter timeframes=less time for the long-term ADD to kick in.
I also had a campus job or two each summer, which helped with flexible schedules and not having to drive to work and then come home.
also took no more than 12 credits each semester starting 2nd sem of soph year and graduated in 4 and a summer, which was nice too.
Go JUCO if you can.
MUCH, much, much cheaper.
And you can handle more classes. Of course, summer jobs can limit them.
Quote from: 77ncaachamps on April 05, 2009, 09:42:43 PM
Go JUCO if you can.
And if you can shoot the J and dribble to your left, Buzz may even offer you. Of course, you run the risk of pissing some on this board off.
From my experience and what I've heard from others, taking three classes at once in the summer is a nightmare, even without working. If you don't work or work ~20 hours or less, two should be very manageable, and if you work full-time go with one.
I took two, one each session while working 40 hours at my internship. It was pretty rough working, driving back and heading immediately to class until 9 pm, then having dinner and going to bed to get up at 6:15 and repeat the process, and still doing the homework/studying for just as long on days without class. Still it takes a little getting used to but it's very doable, and made graduating on time much easier. Unfortunately both of my classes (I'm pretty sure 90% are this way from what I hear) fit an entire semester's work in the 6 week period, down to forcing you to find a way to do a worthless group project with three or four other people who are also on busy summer schedules.
I'll second if you can get community college credits to transfer to go that route.
A couple of things.
I took summer courses (2 each session) and worked on campus between my junior and senior year. While I wouldn't call it easy, it was definately more laid back and required less assignment-wise. I lived just off campus so I still had plenty of beer and grilling time.
If you go the community college route, you better make sure that the credits will transfer. Meet with your advisor way ahead of time to make sure of this....even before you sign up for the class. And the deeper the classes are into your major, the more difficult this will be.
also JUCO courses don't count towards your GPA. Which is good or bad depending how you look. If you just want to slack and get B/Cs or Cs then you can do that, but I've found that though there is a lot of time spend in the classroom the work isn't very hard and A/Bs are easy to get over summer.
Quote from: Ari Gold on April 06, 2009, 01:40:02 PM
also JUCO courses don't count towards your GPA. Which is good or bad depending how you look. If you just want to slack and get B/Cs or Cs then you can do that, but I've found that though there is a lot of time spend in the classroom the work isn't very hard and A/Bs are easy to get over summer.
i have to agree. I used the summer classes at MU to give my GPA a huge boost. Getting A's in summer classes is very easy and they count as one semester if I remember correctly.
Quote from: Ari Gold on April 05, 2009, 04:03:27 PM
Last summer I took a two evening a week Civ. War history
Tell me you didn't abbreviate the word Civil with "Civ.". Fingers too tired for that one extra keystroke? ;)
Quote from: MUEng92 on April 06, 2009, 07:40:11 PM
Tell me you didn't abbreviate the word Civil with "Civ.". Fingers too tired for that one extra keystroke? ;)
totes too tired
whatever you do, give yourself at least 1 day off a week, it doesn't matter when. You'll need a break
if you're super motivated, cool, but it's expensive as %*#& to take summer school; if you have the cash, fine, but why not get a sweet 40˚/week internship that pays if you can? the way i see it, you should only do summer school if you're behind on graduating on time, want to study abroad/whatever, or can graduate early (but why would you ever wanna do that?!! :)
I had to take 14 credits over my 1 session of summer schooling, but I didn't have an option; that's how the PA program rolls!