Taking courses over the summer...

[Tartheheel]

Have any of you taken science/humanities/history courses over the summer at your own university/college? If so, how long were they, and how were the classes generally structured? Did you feel these classes were relatively easier compared to those taken during the regular semesters (assuming equal subject difficulty)?

I can't imagine how profs. fit in 4 months of work into just 1 month even though classes meet 5 days a week, 2-3 hours a day. Are these classes supposed to be harder/structured differently? i.e. are there tests every single day ? and papers due every other day ? or is there more emphasis on class discussions etc.?

Also, would it be better to get a tough lab over with in just 1 month over the summer (again..5 days, 3 hours each /week) instead of during the semester when you have other important things to worry about? I'm thinking of taking orgo 1 lab...and maybe a history or math course...

Thanks!

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[Stray]

I took summer classes at the school I transferred here from, and I will be taking summer classes this summer at my new school. My old school was on the semester system, and the new one is on the quarter system... so I can only speak of the semester system. I found the courses to be a little more intense because of the fact that they are cramming the same amount of info into a shorter period of time, but honestly I liked them better. I took history in one of the four week terms, and spanish and two math classes over the longer 8 week term (Not all of these classes were in the same summer, it was over two summers). In the history class we had a lecture M-TH, then a test on friday. It covered a lot of information obviously, but I felt like I retained the info better. It was also fresh in my mind when the tests came about. The 8 week term classes were pretty much the same. If I remember correctly in the math classes we took tests every week and a half instead of every week, and the spanish class we took a test every week. All of the classes were lecture heavy, except the spanish class obviously. I don't know how science classes are in the summer, but I can tell you in the fall ! Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

Yea I have every summer. I actually like it better. Sure it's much harder and a lot faster pace, but ur only fucussing on one subject (or 2 depending on how confident you are) and it really makes a difference. You probably get weird dreams and become paranoid, but it's a cool trip. I took O-chem II and English one summer, now that was a trip. My dreams were filled with hundreds of benzene derivatives and I would wake up in a frantic, feverish mood everytime I couldn't find the multi-step synthesis of a product in my dreams. I could only go back to sleep when the problem was solved . If you plan to have no social life and sit down and get rid of a science course in 6weeks, it beats taking the course for a quarter or for god sake's a whole semester !

 

[GreenShirt]

It probably varies by school. At my school taking a chemistry course over the summer was more difficult b/c they used the same curve to grade as they did during the semester. With a smaller curve that means less A's. And on top of that most people in the class were re-taking it, so that made the curve even worse.

On the other hand I took a physics class at a smaller state college one summer. It was so easy b/c they usually have visiting profs over the summer, who don't care about making the course hard.

 

[njbmd]

I took humanities courses during the summers when I was an undergraduate. Courses like history, philosophy and english were quite doable and worked well in the more concentrated framework of the summer session.

I would advise against taking any of the MCAT pre-reqs during a summer session. In order to do well on the MCAT, you need to have a strong knowledge base. Even if you do well in the course, you might not have as much time to thoroughly learn the material well enough to apply it on the MCAT. Save the MCAT pre-reqs for the regular term.

Good summer term courses are humanities, math and physical education courses. In short, use the summer to take courses that will count towards your degree but are not pre-med courses (General Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and General Physics) so that you can really concentrate on your sciences/major coursework during the regular term.

 

[FSUUndergrad]

I took humanities courses during the summers when I was an undergraduate. Courses like history, philosophy and english were quite doable and worked well in the more concentrated framework of the summer session.

I would advise against taking any of the MCAT pre-reqs during a summer session. In order to do well on the MCAT, you need to have a strong knowledge base. Even if you do well in the course, you might not have as much time to thoroughly learn the material well enough to apply it on the MCAT. Save the MCAT pre-reqs for the regular term.

Good summer term courses are humanities, math and physical education courses. In short, use the summer to take courses that will count towards your degree but are not pre-med courses (General Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and General Physics) so that you can really concentrate on your sciences/major coursework during the regular term.

What if you are already a year behind and are taking 2 sciences and a humanity course to lighten your courseload in the Fall so you can maintain your EC's.

PS. The summer science courses I am taking will be 13 weeks long as opposed to the 16 week long courses offered in the Fall and Spring terms.

 

[Auron]

I took humanities courses during the summers when I was an undergraduate. Courses like history, philosophy and english were quite doable and worked well in the more concentrated framework of the summer session.

I would advise against taking any of the MCAT pre-reqs during a summer session. In order to do well on the MCAT, you need to have a strong knowledge base. Even if you do well in the course, you might not have as much time to thoroughly learn the material well enough to apply it on the MCAT. Save the MCAT pre-reqs for the regular term.

Good summer term courses are humanities, math and physical education courses. In short, use the summer to take courses that will count towards your degree but are not pre-med courses (General Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and General Physics) so that you can really concentrate on your sciences/major coursework during the regular term.

thank you for that advice njbmd. I'm preety sure I'll be taking a class this summer, the question is which one. A med school I'd like to go to requires an extra psych class (abnormal pyschology) and so I was thinking of taking that.

I originally hoped my school would offer anatomy in the summer, but sadly they don't. They have physics but I know I will struggle in that class, even more so because of the accelerated pace during the summer.

My ideal strategy is to finish some of my science electives in the summer, so it makes the regular term a bit easier..and so I can breathe. Does it matter if I take a science class at a community college (not a pre-req but like anatomy, genetics or something?