Summer is here. The sunshine is making Portland more beautiful and your friends are at the beach getting an amazing tan and enjoying every relaxing moment they can get, because they just finished three quarters of classes. You, however, are debating whether or not you want to take summer classes.
The first things you should consider are the costs of summer classes, the scheduling and whether or not you want to live on campus, all at the cost of a much shorter summer break. You must also consider if you will be able to start fall term next year and not be burnt out on school.
Many students choose to take summer courses because they believe it is a faster and easier way to get the same amount of credits but spend less time going to class. Summer classes last only about four to eight weeks at most colleges. This may sound like a good idea if you are taking summer courses just to get the credit for it.
However, your brain may have a hard time absorbing everything so fast because it is such a short period of time. Like in any class, you have to write the same amount of essays, read mountains of books, do homework and take a midterm and a final exam. If you get lucky, your professor might take out some material and information that he or she would usually teach in a regularly scheduled class, but many professors don’t.
One possible disadvantage to taking summer courses is the longer amount of time you are sitting in lecture compared to the amount of time you would be sitting in class if you were taking it fall, winter or spring term. The days are longer when you are taking summer courses. There is no other way to fit in a three- or four-credit class. If the days and weeks are shortened, then the hours you sit in the classroom increase. This makes some people burn out easily, but at the same time some people prefer to sit in a class once a week for a few hours rather than one hour three times a week for about three months in the winter.
In terms of scheduling, one advantage is that many summer courses are once a week in the evening. This means that students who are trying to complete their degree can also work a full-time job during the summer. This, however, can go both ways because, for example, if you have kids at home they will most likely be on their summer vacation and you will need to find a babysitter because they will be home alone not only during the day, but also in the evenings.
Because PSU has a variety of different students who attend, many of them choose not to live on campus. For those who choose the campus housing option, many like that it is close to their classes and they can sleep in longer. But with it also comes consequences because bonding with other students and classmates will be kept to a minimum during summer. This is because the moment you learn your professor’s name and you finally memorize everyone else’s names—you will also realize that the class is already over.
Lastly, although rates stay nearly the same during summer as they do during the regular school season, there are also disadvantages.
Many can have a summer job that can fund the rates which PSU charges for classes but at the same time, many students don’t have the same opportunities to save money on books. First of all, you won’t have a lot of time to buy textbooks from online discount stores and decide whether or not you want to drop the class.
Secondly, many students underestimate the amount of reading they have to do in such a short period of time, causing them to fall behind in reading and ultimately to receive a failing grade. Unfortunately, the only option is to pay the full price at the college bookstore instead of waiting for your cheaper books to come, at the cost of falling behind in reading.
In the end, many people view summer classes in two different ways: They like some elements of it but dislike others. To determine whether or not summer school is for you, you must weigh the pros and cons of both. This shows you some elements to consider—but it is not the same for everyone. It is only up to you to decide if it is worth it.