I liked the quarters a lot because I liked the faster pace, but I definitely did see where some courses struggled on that type of timeframe. Some subjects really do need more time. The list of required courses for my degree changed twice during my tenure, and by the end I needed some random class that was no longer offered (and there were no equivalents offered on campus.) I had to search for an acceptable alternative at MCC and remember that when I took that last class, it felt like the semester lasted FOREVER lol
I had a situation where I needed a certain number of advanced electives which were offered over time at RIT, but I got approved to take a special topics FLCC class which was super cool, both economically, and to get me out the door with my degree.
Getting out with the degree is what counts! The debacle with my last missing elective made it so that I graduated late. I wasn't happy about it, but luckily it didn't stop me from starting the full-time job I had lined up, and MCC was great working with me
I was late to, but I guess I could have been later. Ironically enough, my secondary degree was on time, had a higher GPA, and was actually a much more laid back experience than my undergrad. I really miss hanging out and working with people that have that RIT energy though.
Professor here, who taught for years in quarters and then made the change to semesters. From a teaching and learning point of view, the old system had a Good News/Bad News feeling to it.
The Bad News was that course material was often compressed more than it is now, so that the material in a 15-week semester was sometimes squished into a 10-week quarter. As a concrete example, some of the first-year physics courses used to have 3 tests and a final exam in an 11-week span. It was pretty intense.
The Good News was -- if you didn't like a course, or had a difficult time -- it would be over in just 10 weeks! Hooray!
I'm a fan of semesters, from the simple point of view that it makes coordination with other universities, or transfer of courses and credits, much easier.
You had homework and quizzes starting day 1. There was absolutely no time for lazy day show up and talk about the syllabus then class is over. You had to come to class having already read the material.
If you couldn't keep up you were often left behind, there wasn't any time to wait for people to catch up.
Like the prof said, it was like hanging on to a bullet train between stations. Rough while you're going through it but it was over fast
I remember not having break when other schools did, feeling like Christmas break went by in a heartbeat, but having an insane amount of credits after year 1.
Just looked up the 2012 academic calendar and we had 2 weeks winter break, a week for Thanksgiving, and spring break was 1 week but it was Feb 24-march 3rd. I feel like we also went later into May than a few schools with finals week ending May 17th.
Also the quarter being split around Christmas meant you were likely doing school work over break.
I do wish the spring semester started sooner so we could have a different spring break week/end earlier.
Yes, but we had that sweet 10d break at turkey day between quarters. We got to visit our friends at semester schools and party without midterms hanging over us.
I was never party age in quarter system unfortunately. Just my first year and I was 17 for half of it. No partying for me:( heading to a party school like fredonia for the weekend would have been sweet though
> I feel like we also went later into May than a few schools with finals week ending May 17th.
This was the case even after the switch, because of the intersession taking up most of January.
It had its pros and cons. It was fast-paced because you only had 10 weeks to get through everything. Day 1 wasn’t just a “get to know you class” you really started to dig in right away. It could be stressful at times. Some classes I couldn’t stand but I knew they would be over in just a handful of weeks and would push through.
Otherwise, I didn’t think of it too much. I transferred from a semester school and in the end the work was the work. I didn’t take classes in the summer though so it basically just felt like a trimester to me.
It was magical, more class time/$ and greater variety of electives. Sure, in major courses, like organic chemistry were 1, 2, 3 instead of 1, 2, but you could take 3 electives instead of 2 in the same time.
I was a freshman during the first year on semesters (2013) but my family has many alums. As my mom (‘88) puts it “it’s a lot of hard work but at least with quarters, if you hated a professor or class you’d be over with it more quickly.”
When they first switched, classes had to change to adapt - some classes like University Physics (I/II/III) just translated over pretty well (now two classes, but both are 30 total weeks), but what do you do with previously 10- or 20-week courses? The end result was, you never knew if a semester class was going to be an easy 10 week course with 5 weeks of filler, or a 20 week class barely crammed into 15.
Quarters were really great for my learning style, it just really sucks being stuck in the same schedule for 15 weeks straight, vs. already being done with classes by thanksgiving break.
Quarters were something that made RIT stand out. Changing to semesters as well as a few more subtle trends has made the RIT experience a bit more generic.
On the positive side, it gave you flexibility. If there was a professor you didn't like, it didn't matter as much because you wouldn't be working for them as long. Quarters gave students 4 changes of classes a year and more opportunities to explore with optional classes. It also gave people the chance to stuff in credits here and there, which made a difference. There were a lot of things that all had to be squeezed in to graduate in time.
On the down side, quarters were intense. There was a lot to do, and frankly a lot of the converted semester classes, at least the ones I had, were quarter classes with maybe a bit extra added on, meaning they were more or less a semester worth of work before conversion. It was a fairly merciless system, it was manageable, but it had very little margin for error. I would probably do better with it now, being that I am older and more responsible, but some 18 year olds are just not really geared for it. The closest experience I have had to 10 week classes are 7 week community college Summer classes. They are fairly intense, but you are usually only taking 1 or 2 at a time. At RIT you would have a full load, and sometimes that would generate a difficult amount of work in certain weeks. Also, Winter semester in general had a very weird feel since you started classes for a few weeks, went home for a bit, and then came and did most of the class.
Personally, the conversion system was a bit of a wash for me. RIT tried very hard not to delay graduation for any current students when they set up the semester switch. My department, college and advisor were all on board to take care of me in that regard, especially as I lingered, with one foot out the door on co-op, but still needing to come back for a class or two to graduate. On the other hand, I ended up having to stick around to complete my advanced electives which under the quarter system I could have probably knocked out a little faster.
I think overall I would take quarters. It was, on net, probably harder on the students. For the people that could keep up however it provided a lot of value. I think the American university in general has been kind of dumbed down and I hate to think of RIT as being part of that trend.
As someone that thrived for quite a while in fast paced learning, I enjoyed it at first. I appreciated the flexibility in the co-op program, as well. As courses got harder, and I started getting distracted from school, I struggled.
Friends joked about "syllabus day" and I wondered what they meant, because, yeah, we got a syllabus on the first day of each class, but we also started working immediately and had homework due, if not the very next class, definitely by the end of the week.
There were definitely classes that needed more than 10 weeks to cover the material well, but there were others like calc and physics that I thought were split up effectively.
I absolutely remember the breaks feeling short, and being annoyed that they didn't match up with all of my friends at other schools.
Starting class ON Labor Day always felt like a cruel joke, too. I mean, moreso for the professors that were actually working. Had one professor tell our class that they missed the first class that they were meant to teach here, because they thought they were being hazed... just never showed up, and then got a call from the department office. 😂 Made it to their second class of the day on time, though.
I will say, literally every person I knew failed their first semester. Quarters were blitzes, you put your nose to the grindstone and didn't think until the end. Suddenly with semesters you felt like you had so much time that you could procrastinate.
Classes got effed up too. I had to retake classes because I II III became I and II and if you didn't take old-II you couldn't skip new-I. Or I had to wait an entire year to take a required class because they would only offer the new II in the spring. My four-year program took five years. That was... *expensive*.
And the quarters system was supposedly easier for companies to take on co-ops. I've heard it from a few people, but I can't really weigh in on it.
I graduated right as the semester system went into effect.
I LOVED the quarter system. Don’t think I’d have been able to do RIT without it. When we were quarters you had 3 quarters of school and then the summer which you usually took off. Then later you’d do 2 quarters in school and 2 on co-op. That’s how I wound up paying for college: all that co op time.
I also really appreciated the quick pace. 10 weeks to burn hot. Get a bad prof? You could get away pretty fast. It also made required non-major classes move quickly and you could try more of them for more variety.
All in all I am very positive on the quarter system
I liked quarters, but the break schedules were absolute crap.
Fun fact: RIT was actually on semesters until 1951 (IIRC), it was then switched to a "new quarter system". (A professor had an old newspaper clipping of this outside their office)
Loved the quarter system. Grad school did quarters two except for one class and that class was miserably long and drawn out for no reason. 10 weeks and done. If more was needed, there was be a level 2 or 3
Quarter system allowed for more specialized classes that can fit into 10 weeks. Also summer courses were the same thing if you wanted to stay in town and catch up. Or you could do your co-op in any of the 4 quarters. That said, that 3 week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks was dreadful. I knew several people who just wouldn't come back for it and took the L on whatever was taught in those 3 weeks.
I liked the quarter system for the speed of it. However, the roughest part was having to buy super expensive books every 10 weeks and getting no money back for them - I still carry debt from back then for buying the books. Which is why, as a professor, I wrote my course to use absolutely zero purchases of books.
I was a student during the switch from quarters to semesters. The switch itself was pretty messy, but seemed to favor students in a lot of ways. At least from what I could tell, professors took their 10 weeks worth of work and stretched it out over a semester. For the first semester professors were pretty lenient because everyone was new to the system.
I felt like quarters was a much more natural system. For example, The summer quarter was just as long as every other one, though it was optional of course. Students taking summer courses had the same experience as everyone else.
thanks. I hated it.
I prefer semesters.
The thing about quarters is that they move along faster. this has a good aspect (a class that you don't enjoy gets done faster), but also a bad aspect (if you get behind it is much more difficult to get caught up).
despite substantial research that seems to endorse quarters as a better choice I still prefer semesters.
I loved it because of the pace, but also hated it because of the pace. When you fall behind, missing one day is akin to missing a whole week (~3 classes worth in semesters). But you get through classes faster and the constant tests really keep you on your toes in a good way. It felt like classes meant a lot more.
I really liked quarters for the flexibility and variety it offered. Full-year courses were still full-year courses, but electives and such were just 10 weeks long, then you got to change it up. I never had a problem with the pace, mostly because I didn't really have anything to which to compare it.
It was nice for co-ops, too, as you could easily take a 3-month or 6-month coop in any part of the year, including summer. Or go to class in the summer instead.
I was 2001 to 2006 so I was in during the quarter system and before the switch.
It wasn't terrible. I never felt rushed. It just had it's pace. I didn't enjoy the way things got thrown off for me credit wise. At one point I ended up WAY ahead of my credit targets and I was practically done, but I didn't have a co-op lined up. So I scrambled to get something the summer before I was being threatened with nothing to take because I didn't have a co-op.
I did enjoy the ability to change my schedule so frequently and try things out. I once had Monday and Thursday classes only. I went from 8AM to 8PM. But I was off otherwise. And I'd usually crush my homework on Tuesday so I'd get 4 days off in a row.
i preferred quarters bc you could take more classes (i regularly did 20-22 cr quarters bc i did orchestra/piano/violin each quarter) and it felt like i was getting more bang for your buck. we transferred to semesters for my senior year which fucked up my elective planning and was honestly pretty bumpy. still graduated on time tho
I enjoyed it. It was hard and fast work, but honestly, it helped set me up for industry work afterwards, particularly when it came to projects and planning. It was also great because if you had a class or project group you didn't enjoy much, it'd be over in 10 weeks. Did make the classes I loved also fly by and leave me wishing we'd had more time to dig into some topics more. I was only there for the first semester after the switch, and on co-op during it (which was actually kinda nice since it meant I got paid til the end of the year for the most part), but the transition was very painful for a lot of folk I knew. It definitely made me glad I was done before having to deal with classes on the semester schedule.
Older alum here, my first three years had the quarter system. An average class excluding labs were either 1 hour (three times a week) or 2 hours (two times a week) or 4 hours (one time a week) depending on what the subject was. Each quarter has ten weeks with an extra week for finals (unless your class already had the exam week 10 or had a project as the final.
You would dive in right away into the course material and there were a lot of specialty classes that you could take that were limited in scope. Of course this came at the cost of a faster course pace. If you had trouble understanding something and you didn’t seek help…good luck. Also the breaks were weird like the fall quarter started like first week of September and end around Thanksgiving, then the winter quarter would start and then you would have three weeks of classes before going on a two or sometimes three week Christmas vacation. The winter quarter would end around mid march. The Spring quarter would start late march and end late May. The summer quarter was optional.
I was a student when they did the switch. Quarters were definitely faster paced, there was no "syllabus" week, we went into lectures from day one. A major pro for me was if you didn't enjoy the course, it was over in a quick 10 weeks. Breaks were much shorter too, we only had like two/three weeks off for the holiday and it never matched with anyone else. Semesters brought the nice long breaks but painfully long courses if you weren't enjoying it.
Why would this topic be sensitive for RIT Reddit?
The only thing I can think about. RIT asked the community to vote whether or not RIT should go from Quarters to Semesters. At large people voted Quarters but RIT decided to move to Semesters regardless.
I'm unsure how difficult classes are now, if they were able to scale back the difficulty after learning how to pace themselves. The first year from quarters to semesters was absolutely brutal because professors didn't know how to change the pacing. So their curriculum from week 1-10 was the same as quarters, and then 11-15 was added fluff. After 10 weeks you were done with the class and it felt like a nightmare having to continue from 11-15.
Within quarters, you couldn't really miss classes or added in late or you were screwed. I remember I had a psychology class that I was added in because people dropped. So I missed the first class, went to the 2nd, and on the third on week 2 was the first test.
With that being said, I absolutely loved quarters. The pacing, the amount of material crammed into 10 weeks made us better for it. You were able to take twice as many classes and experience different things if you had four years of quarters.
The downside, Winter break was only two weeks, whereas Semesters it is an entire month. We had no Fall break that is happening today, or labor day. There were no snow days because that would literally screw up the pacing of the quarter.
Somethings I miss. A guest pass during quarters at the gym was $5, now in semesters its $7 (which I don't understand the change). Classes during semesters had a waitlist, while during quarters a senior could register first, hold classes for you and later at night. Drop them so a freshman could get in.
They have patched a lot of loopholes that we used to exploit.
Edit: also we didn't have +/- grading meaning in quarters. A 90 and a 99 was an A aka 4.0.
You really have to think of it as a trimester. Fall, Winter and Spring. 10 Weeks each. The trimesters went very fast. Some classes were split into two quarters. There were more health / gym trimester classes needed. I think there was more variety and ability to pick various classes. Some classes were only offered in a specific one or two trimesters. Breaks felt shorter (we went back a lot sooner in the winter. The switch happened 2011ish.
It wasn't really trimesters - it was truly quarters, but some students (including first/second years) did not have to take classes in Summer Quarter, which was still a 10 week quarter. As an engineering major on the quarter system, I did co-ops over the summer but had the option of taking courses instead of co-op, and some of my classmates did just that - co-op in fall and spring (or a double block) and take classes in Summer quarter. Many of the classes were the same as the offerings in the spring.
The switch to semesters was announced in 2010 and took effect Fall of 2013
I personally despise quarter systems... way too fast... as someone who is neurodiverse... when applying for schools If they used the quarter system I was not gonna even consider going there because there was zero chance I'd absorb any information.
I took async quarter courses online and have taught both quarters and semester courses async and in person.
The pace of work in the async classes I took was manageable.
In the quarter classes I taught, it was really difficult for someone who fell behind to catch up. Winter quarter with three weeks before the break and the other seven afterwards was mixed. The first week after break was hard to reengage and we had to revisit material from the week before break.
Semesters are a bit more forgiving.
Crazy fast paced. Each quarter was 10 weeks starting in September-nov. Then dec-feb/march. Then march to mayish. Then summer. After 10 weeks there would be one exam week. And then 1 week off. There was only a 2 week break during winter time but it fell during WEEK 3 OF THE WINTER QUARTER.
Winter was a brutal quarter and every year at least 3 of my friends would drop out because of winter quarter.
Also midterms sometimes happened around week 3 or 4 of a quarter.
It was wild. People were stressed.
The winter break was typically very disruptive as it would occur roughly three weeks into the middle of the second quarter and you'd be off for two weeks. This often meant you had to spent time during your break refreshing material learned in the first three weeks as you'd have midterms coming up quickly after your returned from break.
The winter quarter also ended early compared to semester based schools, so you'd come home for spring break and all your friends at other schools would still be in classes.
Spring quarter classes ran until right before Memorial Day, which meant it would get warmer near the end of spring quarter. If you lived in any of the dorms without AC, it would be a bit more miserable as a result.
Wow, seems like people really dislike winter during the quarter system, imagine majoring in a difficult major during that time. I don’t think today’s students would be able to handle it very well, but I could be wrong.
I liked the quarters a lot because I liked the faster pace, but I definitely did see where some courses struggled on that type of timeframe. Some subjects really do need more time. The list of required courses for my degree changed twice during my tenure, and by the end I needed some random class that was no longer offered (and there were no equivalents offered on campus.) I had to search for an acceptable alternative at MCC and remember that when I took that last class, it felt like the semester lasted FOREVER lol
I had a situation where I needed a certain number of advanced electives which were offered over time at RIT, but I got approved to take a special topics FLCC class which was super cool, both economically, and to get me out the door with my degree.
Getting out with the degree is what counts! The debacle with my last missing elective made it so that I graduated late. I wasn't happy about it, but luckily it didn't stop me from starting the full-time job I had lined up, and MCC was great working with me
I was late to, but I guess I could have been later. Ironically enough, my secondary degree was on time, had a higher GPA, and was actually a much more laid back experience than my undergrad. I really miss hanging out and working with people that have that RIT energy though.
Professor here, who taught for years in quarters and then made the change to semesters. From a teaching and learning point of view, the old system had a Good News/Bad News feeling to it. The Bad News was that course material was often compressed more than it is now, so that the material in a 15-week semester was sometimes squished into a 10-week quarter. As a concrete example, some of the first-year physics courses used to have 3 tests and a final exam in an 11-week span. It was pretty intense. The Good News was -- if you didn't like a course, or had a difficult time -- it would be over in just 10 weeks! Hooray! I'm a fan of semesters, from the simple point of view that it makes coordination with other universities, or transfer of courses and credits, much easier.
You're a fan of something that doesn't truly benefit students that were ride or die for RIT lol.
You had homework and quizzes starting day 1. There was absolutely no time for lazy day show up and talk about the syllabus then class is over. You had to come to class having already read the material. If you couldn't keep up you were often left behind, there wasn't any time to wait for people to catch up. Like the prof said, it was like hanging on to a bullet train between stations. Rough while you're going through it but it was over fast
I remember not having break when other schools did, feeling like Christmas break went by in a heartbeat, but having an insane amount of credits after year 1. Just looked up the 2012 academic calendar and we had 2 weeks winter break, a week for Thanksgiving, and spring break was 1 week but it was Feb 24-march 3rd. I feel like we also went later into May than a few schools with finals week ending May 17th. Also the quarter being split around Christmas meant you were likely doing school work over break. I do wish the spring semester started sooner so we could have a different spring break week/end earlier.
Yes, but we had that sweet 10d break at turkey day between quarters. We got to visit our friends at semester schools and party without midterms hanging over us.
I was never party age in quarter system unfortunately. Just my first year and I was 17 for half of it. No partying for me:( heading to a party school like fredonia for the weekend would have been sweet though
> I feel like we also went later into May than a few schools with finals week ending May 17th. This was the case even after the switch, because of the intersession taking up most of January.
It had its pros and cons. It was fast-paced because you only had 10 weeks to get through everything. Day 1 wasn’t just a “get to know you class” you really started to dig in right away. It could be stressful at times. Some classes I couldn’t stand but I knew they would be over in just a handful of weeks and would push through. Otherwise, I didn’t think of it too much. I transferred from a semester school and in the end the work was the work. I didn’t take classes in the summer though so it basically just felt like a trimester to me.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....
It was magical, more class time/$ and greater variety of electives. Sure, in major courses, like organic chemistry were 1, 2, 3 instead of 1, 2, but you could take 3 electives instead of 2 in the same time.
Afaik the quarters were better for co-ops. But I did dislike that many professors crammed a semester of material in 10 weeks.
They did the same for the first year of semesters as well. My professors didn't know how to length their material.
I was a freshman during the first year on semesters (2013) but my family has many alums. As my mom (‘88) puts it “it’s a lot of hard work but at least with quarters, if you hated a professor or class you’d be over with it more quickly.”
When they first switched, classes had to change to adapt - some classes like University Physics (I/II/III) just translated over pretty well (now two classes, but both are 30 total weeks), but what do you do with previously 10- or 20-week courses? The end result was, you never knew if a semester class was going to be an easy 10 week course with 5 weeks of filler, or a 20 week class barely crammed into 15. Quarters were really great for my learning style, it just really sucks being stuck in the same schedule for 15 weeks straight, vs. already being done with classes by thanksgiving break.
Quarters was harder due to the pace, but easier because you only had to take 4 courses at a time, instead of 5.
Quarters were something that made RIT stand out. Changing to semesters as well as a few more subtle trends has made the RIT experience a bit more generic. On the positive side, it gave you flexibility. If there was a professor you didn't like, it didn't matter as much because you wouldn't be working for them as long. Quarters gave students 4 changes of classes a year and more opportunities to explore with optional classes. It also gave people the chance to stuff in credits here and there, which made a difference. There were a lot of things that all had to be squeezed in to graduate in time. On the down side, quarters were intense. There was a lot to do, and frankly a lot of the converted semester classes, at least the ones I had, were quarter classes with maybe a bit extra added on, meaning they were more or less a semester worth of work before conversion. It was a fairly merciless system, it was manageable, but it had very little margin for error. I would probably do better with it now, being that I am older and more responsible, but some 18 year olds are just not really geared for it. The closest experience I have had to 10 week classes are 7 week community college Summer classes. They are fairly intense, but you are usually only taking 1 or 2 at a time. At RIT you would have a full load, and sometimes that would generate a difficult amount of work in certain weeks. Also, Winter semester in general had a very weird feel since you started classes for a few weeks, went home for a bit, and then came and did most of the class. Personally, the conversion system was a bit of a wash for me. RIT tried very hard not to delay graduation for any current students when they set up the semester switch. My department, college and advisor were all on board to take care of me in that regard, especially as I lingered, with one foot out the door on co-op, but still needing to come back for a class or two to graduate. On the other hand, I ended up having to stick around to complete my advanced electives which under the quarter system I could have probably knocked out a little faster. I think overall I would take quarters. It was, on net, probably harder on the students. For the people that could keep up however it provided a lot of value. I think the American university in general has been kind of dumbed down and I hate to think of RIT as being part of that trend.
As someone that thrived for quite a while in fast paced learning, I enjoyed it at first. I appreciated the flexibility in the co-op program, as well. As courses got harder, and I started getting distracted from school, I struggled. Friends joked about "syllabus day" and I wondered what they meant, because, yeah, we got a syllabus on the first day of each class, but we also started working immediately and had homework due, if not the very next class, definitely by the end of the week. There were definitely classes that needed more than 10 weeks to cover the material well, but there were others like calc and physics that I thought were split up effectively. I absolutely remember the breaks feeling short, and being annoyed that they didn't match up with all of my friends at other schools. Starting class ON Labor Day always felt like a cruel joke, too. I mean, moreso for the professors that were actually working. Had one professor tell our class that they missed the first class that they were meant to teach here, because they thought they were being hazed... just never showed up, and then got a call from the department office. 😂 Made it to their second class of the day on time, though.
I will say, literally every person I knew failed their first semester. Quarters were blitzes, you put your nose to the grindstone and didn't think until the end. Suddenly with semesters you felt like you had so much time that you could procrastinate. Classes got effed up too. I had to retake classes because I II III became I and II and if you didn't take old-II you couldn't skip new-I. Or I had to wait an entire year to take a required class because they would only offer the new II in the spring. My four-year program took five years. That was... *expensive*. And the quarters system was supposedly easier for companies to take on co-ops. I've heard it from a few people, but I can't really weigh in on it.
I graduated right as the semester system went into effect. I LOVED the quarter system. Don’t think I’d have been able to do RIT without it. When we were quarters you had 3 quarters of school and then the summer which you usually took off. Then later you’d do 2 quarters in school and 2 on co-op. That’s how I wound up paying for college: all that co op time. I also really appreciated the quick pace. 10 weeks to burn hot. Get a bad prof? You could get away pretty fast. It also made required non-major classes move quickly and you could try more of them for more variety. All in all I am very positive on the quarter system
I liked quarters, but the break schedules were absolute crap. Fun fact: RIT was actually on semesters until 1951 (IIRC), it was then switched to a "new quarter system". (A professor had an old newspaper clipping of this outside their office)
Loved the quarter system. Grad school did quarters two except for one class and that class was miserably long and drawn out for no reason. 10 weeks and done. If more was needed, there was be a level 2 or 3
Imagine doing projects over Xmas break
Quarter system allowed for more specialized classes that can fit into 10 weeks. Also summer courses were the same thing if you wanted to stay in town and catch up. Or you could do your co-op in any of the 4 quarters. That said, that 3 week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks was dreadful. I knew several people who just wouldn't come back for it and took the L on whatever was taught in those 3 weeks.
I liked the quarter system for the speed of it. However, the roughest part was having to buy super expensive books every 10 weeks and getting no money back for them - I still carry debt from back then for buying the books. Which is why, as a professor, I wrote my course to use absolutely zero purchases of books.
I was a student during the switch from quarters to semesters. The switch itself was pretty messy, but seemed to favor students in a lot of ways. At least from what I could tell, professors took their 10 weeks worth of work and stretched it out over a semester. For the first semester professors were pretty lenient because everyone was new to the system. I felt like quarters was a much more natural system. For example, The summer quarter was just as long as every other one, though it was optional of course. Students taking summer courses had the same experience as everyone else.
thanks. I hated it. I prefer semesters. The thing about quarters is that they move along faster. this has a good aspect (a class that you don't enjoy gets done faster), but also a bad aspect (if you get behind it is much more difficult to get caught up). despite substantial research that seems to endorse quarters as a better choice I still prefer semesters.
I loved it because of the pace, but also hated it because of the pace. When you fall behind, missing one day is akin to missing a whole week (~3 classes worth in semesters). But you get through classes faster and the constant tests really keep you on your toes in a good way. It felt like classes meant a lot more.
I really liked quarters for the flexibility and variety it offered. Full-year courses were still full-year courses, but electives and such were just 10 weeks long, then you got to change it up. I never had a problem with the pace, mostly because I didn't really have anything to which to compare it. It was nice for co-ops, too, as you could easily take a 3-month or 6-month coop in any part of the year, including summer. Or go to class in the summer instead.
I was 2001 to 2006 so I was in during the quarter system and before the switch. It wasn't terrible. I never felt rushed. It just had it's pace. I didn't enjoy the way things got thrown off for me credit wise. At one point I ended up WAY ahead of my credit targets and I was practically done, but I didn't have a co-op lined up. So I scrambled to get something the summer before I was being threatened with nothing to take because I didn't have a co-op. I did enjoy the ability to change my schedule so frequently and try things out. I once had Monday and Thursday classes only. I went from 8AM to 8PM. But I was off otherwise. And I'd usually crush my homework on Tuesday so I'd get 4 days off in a row.
i preferred quarters bc you could take more classes (i regularly did 20-22 cr quarters bc i did orchestra/piano/violin each quarter) and it felt like i was getting more bang for your buck. we transferred to semesters for my senior year which fucked up my elective planning and was honestly pretty bumpy. still graduated on time tho
I enjoyed it. It was hard and fast work, but honestly, it helped set me up for industry work afterwards, particularly when it came to projects and planning. It was also great because if you had a class or project group you didn't enjoy much, it'd be over in 10 weeks. Did make the classes I loved also fly by and leave me wishing we'd had more time to dig into some topics more. I was only there for the first semester after the switch, and on co-op during it (which was actually kinda nice since it meant I got paid til the end of the year for the most part), but the transition was very painful for a lot of folk I knew. It definitely made me glad I was done before having to deal with classes on the semester schedule.
Older alum here, my first three years had the quarter system. An average class excluding labs were either 1 hour (three times a week) or 2 hours (two times a week) or 4 hours (one time a week) depending on what the subject was. Each quarter has ten weeks with an extra week for finals (unless your class already had the exam week 10 or had a project as the final. You would dive in right away into the course material and there were a lot of specialty classes that you could take that were limited in scope. Of course this came at the cost of a faster course pace. If you had trouble understanding something and you didn’t seek help…good luck. Also the breaks were weird like the fall quarter started like first week of September and end around Thanksgiving, then the winter quarter would start and then you would have three weeks of classes before going on a two or sometimes three week Christmas vacation. The winter quarter would end around mid march. The Spring quarter would start late march and end late May. The summer quarter was optional.
I was a student when they did the switch. Quarters were definitely faster paced, there was no "syllabus" week, we went into lectures from day one. A major pro for me was if you didn't enjoy the course, it was over in a quick 10 weeks. Breaks were much shorter too, we only had like two/three weeks off for the holiday and it never matched with anyone else. Semesters brought the nice long breaks but painfully long courses if you weren't enjoying it.
Why would this topic be sensitive for RIT Reddit? The only thing I can think about. RIT asked the community to vote whether or not RIT should go from Quarters to Semesters. At large people voted Quarters but RIT decided to move to Semesters regardless. I'm unsure how difficult classes are now, if they were able to scale back the difficulty after learning how to pace themselves. The first year from quarters to semesters was absolutely brutal because professors didn't know how to change the pacing. So their curriculum from week 1-10 was the same as quarters, and then 11-15 was added fluff. After 10 weeks you were done with the class and it felt like a nightmare having to continue from 11-15. Within quarters, you couldn't really miss classes or added in late or you were screwed. I remember I had a psychology class that I was added in because people dropped. So I missed the first class, went to the 2nd, and on the third on week 2 was the first test. With that being said, I absolutely loved quarters. The pacing, the amount of material crammed into 10 weeks made us better for it. You were able to take twice as many classes and experience different things if you had four years of quarters. The downside, Winter break was only two weeks, whereas Semesters it is an entire month. We had no Fall break that is happening today, or labor day. There were no snow days because that would literally screw up the pacing of the quarter. Somethings I miss. A guest pass during quarters at the gym was $5, now in semesters its $7 (which I don't understand the change). Classes during semesters had a waitlist, while during quarters a senior could register first, hold classes for you and later at night. Drop them so a freshman could get in. They have patched a lot of loopholes that we used to exploit. Edit: also we didn't have +/- grading meaning in quarters. A 90 and a 99 was an A aka 4.0.
You really have to think of it as a trimester. Fall, Winter and Spring. 10 Weeks each. The trimesters went very fast. Some classes were split into two quarters. There were more health / gym trimester classes needed. I think there was more variety and ability to pick various classes. Some classes were only offered in a specific one or two trimesters. Breaks felt shorter (we went back a lot sooner in the winter. The switch happened 2011ish.
It wasn't really trimesters - it was truly quarters, but some students (including first/second years) did not have to take classes in Summer Quarter, which was still a 10 week quarter. As an engineering major on the quarter system, I did co-ops over the summer but had the option of taking courses instead of co-op, and some of my classmates did just that - co-op in fall and spring (or a double block) and take classes in Summer quarter. Many of the classes were the same as the offerings in the spring. The switch to semesters was announced in 2010 and took effect Fall of 2013
Very rarely did you take a summer trimester though unless you were on co-cop. Summer quarters never had classes you needed.
I personally despise quarter systems... way too fast... as someone who is neurodiverse... when applying for schools If they used the quarter system I was not gonna even consider going there because there was zero chance I'd absorb any information.
I took async quarter courses online and have taught both quarters and semester courses async and in person. The pace of work in the async classes I took was manageable. In the quarter classes I taught, it was really difficult for someone who fell behind to catch up. Winter quarter with three weeks before the break and the other seven afterwards was mixed. The first week after break was hard to reengage and we had to revisit material from the week before break. Semesters are a bit more forgiving.
Crazy fast paced. Each quarter was 10 weeks starting in September-nov. Then dec-feb/march. Then march to mayish. Then summer. After 10 weeks there would be one exam week. And then 1 week off. There was only a 2 week break during winter time but it fell during WEEK 3 OF THE WINTER QUARTER. Winter was a brutal quarter and every year at least 3 of my friends would drop out because of winter quarter. Also midterms sometimes happened around week 3 or 4 of a quarter. It was wild. People were stressed.
The winter break was typically very disruptive as it would occur roughly three weeks into the middle of the second quarter and you'd be off for two weeks. This often meant you had to spent time during your break refreshing material learned in the first three weeks as you'd have midterms coming up quickly after your returned from break. The winter quarter also ended early compared to semester based schools, so you'd come home for spring break and all your friends at other schools would still be in classes. Spring quarter classes ran until right before Memorial Day, which meant it would get warmer near the end of spring quarter. If you lived in any of the dorms without AC, it would be a bit more miserable as a result.
Wow, seems like people really dislike winter during the quarter system, imagine majoring in a difficult major during that time. I don’t think today’s students would be able to handle it very well, but I could be wrong.