"Summer Classes": Weighing the Pros and Cons

By Sarah Davis on May 17, 2015

Image via https://flic.kr/p/ohNZtb

Ah, summer: time for vacations to the beach and vegging out by the pool. That’s the dream. However, for many college students, the next few months present a viable opportunity: taking summer classes.

If you’re a student at Florida State University, you are more than likely planning to take a few summer classes if you haven’t already. In fact, as part of FSU’s general requirements listed in the university registrar, students “are required to earn at least nine hours prior to graduation by attendance in one or more Summer terms.” The three main summer sessions offered by FSU are Summer A, which is a 13-week session, and Summer B and Summer C, which are each 6-week sessions.

FSU student Ryan Reilly is taking Human Resources Management during this year’s Summer B session. “I like summer classes [because] they’re smaller and more relaxed, but they’re also fast-paced, which I like as well,” he explains. The experts at Study.com would agree. Their website lists smaller course loads as one of the pros of taking summer classes. Other pros of summer classes include providing students with the ability to get gen ed courses out of the way, stick to a routine, and take classes for a shorter amount of time.

Image via https://flic.kr/p/sm4hrt

However, taking classes for a shorter amount of time can also be a con. During a fall or spring semester, one can typically miss a day or two of class and still make it through to the end without any issues. Conversely, in 6-week summer classes, missing a little bit almost certainly means missing a huge chunk. Shorter classes also require longer class times and more frequent class meetings. Some summer classes occur several days per week, while others occur less frequently and thus each class must last for even longer amounts of time. These courses are not created with the impatient in mind.

There are other cons to taking summer classes. The most obvious is that summer classes blatantly ignore the “break” part of “summer break.” Instead of being a time to let go of anxieties, go on vacation, and visit family and friends back home, a summer full of classes becomes like any other time of the school year with homework, tests, and papers. This not only is a burden to one’s free time, but also to acquiring a summer job. Many students have to work at night and on the weekends, sacrificing free time to either relax or work on assignments.

Image via https://flic.kr/p/cEJnWs

On the plus side, summer classes give students the chance to get harder classes out of the way in a shorter amount of time and in a smaller classroom environment. While this often forces professors to teach only the most essential lessons and allows students to learn in a more accommodating atmosphere, there are some bad sides to this. For example, when a lot of material is crammed into shorter sessions, students who are less successful in fast-paced settings and who are more prone to procrastination are less likely to thrive. These students would make more luck in Summer A classes, although not all required courses are available during this session.

Another plus is that summer classes are often more lenient and cover only the most important material since there is usually no time to waste. For example, I took Italian III during a six-week summer course, and my professor didn’t feel the need to cover material that is not as relevant to speaking the language on an everyday basis. The material that we did learn was less confusing and more likely to provide us with a strong fundamental base on which to understand the language. We also didn’t have any major projects since the professor had less time to grade assignments. However, had I taken the course during a typical 15-week semester in the fall or spring, I likely would have learned more material, although it would have been less imperative to understanding Italian as a whole.

Image via https://flic.kr/p/cEJjL1

All in all, summer classes have their good sides and bad sides. Summer classes are often smaller and more relaxed, which tend to be positive characteristics. However, they are also often fast-paced, which can be a pro or a con depending on the student. Although summer classes provide students with less time to learn new material, professors often accommodate for this by teaching only the most important material. However, this can make the class less valuable to a student’s overall education and understanding of the topics covered in the course. Moreover, summer classes usually don’t give students much of an opportunity to miss class to recover from sickness or to simply play hooky. If you think you can thrive in a fast-paced environment, enjoy smaller class sizes, and just want to get some classes out of the way to lighten your courseload during the fall and spring semesters, then summer classes would probably be a good fit for you. If this doesn’t sound like you but you go to a university like FSU where students are required to take summer classes, then the 13-week summer session is probably a better idea.

Are you taking any summer classes this year? Why do you like or dislike taking summer classes?

 

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format