Summer Classes

Oh Lily, I don't know if I should tell you my experience. I took a class last summer, only one, and it was math, algebra, and I had to withdraw..:( But that doesn't mean you will, you are younger and probably better at math than I am, and I really hope you do well. Anyway, I'll never take another summer class again because my classes and books are paid with a pell grant and I only get so much a year. Because I took that summer class, I didn't have the money to take a spring class this year. I also took my class online, where you are probably going on campus? Then you will do just fine..:)

Hello LilyoftheThorns Best of luck to you with the college algebra. That wasn't my strong suit, either, but some how I sallied forth and was able to pass. In years following my first two years in college, I always took summer classes. It just seemed to make sense that it a class I needed was offered I may as well take it. I was in school about nine years after my 2nd year in college, and it seems that I was always in some sort of summer course. It wasn't bad at all. Peace

Many colleges & universities break summer into two different sessions of Summer I & Summer II. The reasoning behind that is so that people can take both parts (such as English 101 in Summer Session I, & then English 102 in Summer Session II) during the summer. Each seesion lasts (depending on individual campus policies) five or six weeks. For part-time students, the summer sessions are supposed to help them catch up. It also helps full-time students in that they can stay on track in the event that they were either unable to pass a course during the regular semester in that they can repeat the course to stay on track. It also helps them lighten the course load during the regular semesters. The main disadvantage is that it does go by very fast, & it all seems crammed into a short period of time. This can be burdensome on both, the student & the instructor. Depending on the individual courses, they are quite often for students who have to re-take the course because they didn't do well in it during the regular semester. It's also a financial burden for those on financial aid in that in order to receive any kind of grant, they need to enroll in a minimum of six credits to be eligible for any kind of grant money. As a result, many choose to take those courses at a low-cost community college to transfer back to their regular college or university.

During my undergrad studies I made a point to take classes during the summer; it was just something that made my semesters easier since I worked full-time through school. The school I attended (California State - Northridge) only had one summer session, so it was easy to take a class. However I still only took one at a time in the summer because I did not want to overload myself too much. The only time I did not take classes in the summer was between my junior and senior years, because by then I needed a certain number of classes to maintain full-time status for financial aid and taking any classes during the summer would me that I would not have enough classes left during my senior year. I always did pretty well during the summer; even during high school I enjoyed having classes in the summer because it allowed me the ability to get ahead. And the pace was always manageable because I only did one at a time. I couldn't even begin to imagine what you were going through with 2 at one time. Good job on your grades!

For the most part, I liked the summer classes I took in college. I wish that I would have taken more; maybe, I could have accelerated getting my degree by at least a semester if I had.

I don't think that they have summer classes here in Australia. It has been many years since I was a student so I am way out of the loop but I cannot imagine they would get too many participants if they did as we all like our free time and the beaches too much!