Perks to Summer Classes

For twelve years, we were always taught that summer school was a bad thing. Only students who weren't successful spent their summer studying. Well, I'm now entering my fourth year of college and I can promise you that taking summer classes is no longer a bad thing.  This is especially true if you want to graduate on time, add a minor, dual major, or maybe just really enjoying learning. Recently I've completed my second summer of classes, and I can promise you that it's really not that bad. Sure it's a little rough to only have four days to recover from finals week before the next class begins, but you will survive.  You might have to give up some beach days, stay in to study instead of spending every waking moment with friends, decrease the amount of binge watching you do on Netflix, set an alarm instead of sleeping until lunch, and even use your brain a little too.  

Despite how awful this sounds, summer classes do have their advantages.  Summer classes are great GPA boosters.  You might not have done as well as you hoped during the spring semester, but summer session allows you to increase that GPA without over loading your credits in the upcoming Fall semester.  Summer classes move at an accelerated pace, cramming a whole semester's worth of knowledge into five or six weeks. Because of the fast paced nature it is less likely that you will be bored, and it provides a great opportunity for you to take that class you've been putting off because you just can't bare the idea of having to spend fifteen weeks on something that doesn't interest you.  Because these courses are less popular, enrollment tends to be down consequently providing you with much smaller class sizes.  The smaller class sizes can be beneficial to take advantage of for more difficult classes.  This will allow you ample one on one time with the professor and might enhance the knowledge you obtain. 

If you're crazy like me and want to cram 130 credits into three and a half years, then summer classes are your only option. I love the fast paced nature of the course, the more individualized instruction, and classes that I thought I would hate I ended up loving! I think the biggest things with these classes is just staying on top of the work and completing assignments as soon as they are assigned.   While professors seem to be more lenient during the summer, I have seen peers not do as well because they lost track of their assignments. Like anything in school, the more organized you are the better off you will be. If you are considering taking a summer class during your college career, then I highly recommend you do it during the earlier session.  Taking classes during the first summer session gets it done and over with. 

What are your thoughts on summer classes?

XOXO