Am I supposed to take less classes in the summer???

Saysfaa · Mar 28, 2010

Yes, it is true because there is a standard amount of material to cover to earn a credit. The exact amount might vary depending on what kind of classs it is (labs vs lectures for example), but the amount will be standard from section to section... so many hours in the classroom to earn the degree.

So if you are taking a three credit class, it might meet three times per week for an hour or twice a week for an hour and a half or once per week for three hours (evening or saturday classes do that sometimes. Or it might for six hours every other Saturday.

Well, the standard fall and spring terms are 16 weeks long. Summer terms are almost never that long. Often they are 8 weeks long. So that same 3 credit class would meet three times per week for 2 hours each time, or for two three hour class periods, and so on.

If you have two sessions of summer class, that usually means they have two four week terms. So that 3 credit class would meet three times per week for 4 hours each time or twice per week for 6 hours each time.

Plus you still have the same amount of studying and homework (rule of thumb is to figure 2 hours of study per hour in class).

Financial aid is usually measured per year and distributed per semester. There are exceptions to each.

A financial aid refund chech is when your tuition is not as much as the scholarship. They give the rest directly to you to buy books and supplies or for living expenses. Not every scholarship does this but some do.

The school I went to twenty years ago had two sessions for summer. Some classes met for the first session, some for the second session and some for the both sessions. The school I go to now has only a single "summer session" but some of the classes meet are done in less time or start a week or weeks later than most. We have to check the times/dates for each class.

A standard term is 16 weeks. Summer terms are usually 8 weeks. Schools with two summer sessions would probably have four weeks for each session. That is actual weeks that the classes meet, if there is week of spring break in spring term, then it would be 17 calendar weeks. It is best to look up that dates in your school's calendar.

addiesmom · Mar 28, 2010

For me at my school, and I do not know if this is everywhere, I have to pay for my summer classes upfront. The school will then receive my aid, and give me a refund check. It makes it kind of hard if you don't have all that money.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 28, 2010

Summer terms are often shorter (6-12 weeks) and therefore the classes are compressed to fit the full course into a shorter period. Instead of meeting once or twice a week, you might have to go to class four or five times a week (possibly including weekends). Or what's usually a 90 minute class day the rest of the school year may be a 4 hour class day in the summer.

My school had just one summer term, and it was 10 weeks long. I took two classes during it (one was a NS class I had to take, the other was ethics) and I felt more overworked in those 10 weeks than I did all year, becuase that was 16 weeks of two classes crammed into 10 weeks' time.

If your school has Summer 1 and Summer 2, I imagine those are about 6-8 weeks long. I honestly can't imagine taking 2 full classes in each 6-8 week period. If you think you're up for the challenge, then do it. But if you want to have some life this summer, scale back to one class each summer session. That way you're not drowning in schoolwork.

guiltysins · Mar 28, 2010

People are my school have taken 4 classes in the summer but only because they needed to. They took 2 during Summer Session I and 2 during Summer Session II. They are not shortened classes, you do everything you would do in 15 weeks, in about 7 weeks. The class that was MW for 2 hours is now M-TH for four hours. You have homework, tests and everything like the normal semester, only things move much faster. Most people only take 1 or 2 classes in the summer because of this. 1st Summer Session is probably somewhere like Mid-May to end of June and the second one from Beginning of July to mid August.

Financial aid does not include summer. For most schools you have to fill out a different form if you want financial aid for the summer. Or you have to pay out of pocket. A refund check is if you get more aid than you need.

Also, not all classes are available during the summer, so make sure they have the classes you need to take first before anything else.

caliotter3 · Mar 28, 2010

As I recall, at my schools, you could take two classes in the first term and two in the second term. Anything more than that would require a petition.

smartin13 · Mar 28, 2010

At my school summer sessions are shorter so what you would learn in 10 weeks you now have to learn in 5-6. This is alright for some classes however I have found that science classes are very difficult over summer sessions. I would only take 1 or 2 classes a session max.