Summer is normally spent having fun in the sun and going on vacations. But this summer many IUS students will be spending it on campus taking summer classes.
The Registrar is giving the students the incentive of giving them 25 percent off tuition and giving them $300 for books if they registered during priority registration. But that is not the only reason students take summer classes.
IUS professors and students like summer classes and think it is a good opportunity to graduate within four years.
Caitlin Britton, communications and advertising sophomore, started back to school this past summer and enjoyed the courses. She took six credit hours in Summer Session 1 and 2.
“I absolutely loved the summer classes and prefer them,” Britton said.
She said the main difference she noticed with summer classes is you have to work at a faster pace.
“You don’t really ever have a day you get out of a reading, assignment or something being due,” she said.
She said since the summer classes are shorter than a spring or fall class, you sometimes do not have to do as much work that students are required to do during the spring or fall.
“In one of my classes, we only wrote four papers instead of the usual six she required for a full semester,” she said.
Britton said she found summer classes to be easier than a class she took in a full semester. She said the material is taught more closely together and you get quizzed on the material quickly after you learn it.
“I found it easier to retain all of the material,” Britton said.
Christa Zorn, assistant English professor, said during summer classes you have less time to ingest and think about all the material. She said with her English summer classes, she does not require to students to read as many texts as students during a full semester because there is not enough time.
“I like the intensity of summer of classes because you meet on a regular basis and you get to know the class much faster,” Zorn said.
She said she has very good experience with summer courses and she would recommend students to take them. She said it is a lot of work, but is over fast.
“I have had my best classes in the summer because it is a special time,” she said.
A piece of advice Zorn gives students about summer classes is to get a hold of the required books early if possible and look at what is going to be covered in the class. She said this will allow students to be more relaxed during the class.
“Students need to give themselves plenty of time because you can not do all the work overnight,” Zorn said.
Linda Greenwell, adjunct psychology professor, has taken and taught summer classes. She said they are much more intense than a full semester class and everything is much closer together.
“When you are taking a summer class, you have two classes in one,” Greenwell said.
She said if students are really interested in a topic and want to spend time on that topic, it is really good to take it as a summer class. She said it would be more difficult for a student to take a summer class where the professor requires many papers or a lot of research.
“For these introductory courses, summer classes work really well,” she said.
Greenwell said when she was in graduate school she took a psychology statistics class that she knew was going to be difficult for her so she could focus on it, and it really worked out for her.
Britton said students should start off with one class in the summer to get the feel of it, but she advises to take them if they can.
“You can knock out a bunch of credit hours quickly, the classes go by faster,” Britton said, “they are cheaper so you save money in the long run and they are not always as intensive as people make them seem.”
