Choosing a Summer School Class
How to Pick a Great College Course for the Summer Session
Public speaking? Art history? What should you take during the summer? Here are some tips on which classes to take, and which to avoid.
Summer school can be a great experience for college students, and it can be a nightmare. On the plus side, summer courses often are smaller and a little bit easier. They're also intensive, which can help you learn because the material stays fresh in your mind throughout the course. On the minus side, summer school courses leave almost no room for slacking or falling behind. You can expect a heavy workload on a daily basis, so you absolutely must keep up with the work.
Some courses lend themselves better to summer classes than others. If you're trying to choose a good course for summer, here are some suggestions.
Good Summer School Choices
- Foreign language classes. The intensity of summer school can help you pick up a language fast. You'll be speaking, reading, and studying the language for many hours a day-- an experience that's a little bit like studying abroad. A word of caution, though-- summer foreign languages classes often are more credits than other summer classes, which means they're more work and require a serious time commitment.
- Public speaking. Public speaking is a skill that takes practice, and by taking the class during the summer, you'll reinforce your skills frequently during a short time period. As an added bonus, if you have a fear of public speaking, taking it in the summer can help you get it out of the way quickly.
- General psychology and other huge lecture classes. If you go to a large university, lecture hall classes are a fact of life. However, large lecture courses (like general psych) often are smaller during the summer, which means more personal attention and discussion.
- Sports and recreation classes, especially those that meet outdoors. Bummed about sitting in a classroom all summer? Play a sport for credit! Or take a swimming class.
- Geology, natural resources, or any science class that meets outside. Science classes that focus on the environment often include almost daily trips outside-- which is a whole lot more fun than taking a science class that meets in a lab all summer. In addition, the summer months often are ideal for observing nature.
- Anything you can't get into during the regular semester. If there's a class that's very popular and hard to get into, try taking it during summer, when registration usually is way down.
Not-So-Good Summer School Choices
- Lower level history classes. Introductory history classes cover long spans of time and lots of information. It's hard to keep all that information straight during the condensed summer session. In addition, history classes generally require lots of reading, which can really pile up in a summer class.
- Art history. Art history is one of those classes ever student should take. But not during the summer! Art history requires an incredible amount of memorization, which can be a nightmare to accomplish during the condensed summer school time span.
- Creative writing, art, or anything with a heavy "output." Creative writing and art classes require students to create a large amount of creative material. Unless you're very dedicated, this can be difficult to pull off in a short summer session period.
- Complicated science and math classes. Unless you're a whiz at science and math, don't take these classes during the summer. Difficult concepts can take time to grasp, so the condensed summer school time period can make these classes especially challenging,
- Anything you find really difficult. It's tempting to take classes you dread during the summer to get them over with quickly. But if you're avoiding a class because it's something you struggle with, a summer class is probably not the answer. You'll have limited time to grasp something you find difficult, and that's going to make the class even more dreadful.
Best of luck choosing a summer class! For more tips, here's some information on how to get the most out of summer school.
