The question “What is a trimester?” is a very common one in the academic world today. While this particular measure of the curricular period has become increasingly common, many still aren’t familiar with its meaning. What is a trimester, and how is a trimester different from a semester? Here’s the rundown on these common academic periods right now.
Semesters
Semesters are the most-common academic structure as they are used in high schools around the world. The schools that are using semesters are teaching students to take their coursework in 16 or 18 weeks. They have done this for some time, and the students will grow accustomed to the cycle of classes. Students who go to college on the same system will feel a level of comfort they cannot get in other places, but they will take fewer classes over the course of their college career.
What Exactly Is A Trimester?
The trimester is often known as the quarter, and it is a three-part year that divides classes into a 12-week term, an 8-week term and a 12-week term. Students will take roughly the same number of classes, but they may have more opportunities to fit in hard-to-reach classes in the middle trimester. Schools that use trimesters are working on an old system that breaks up the school year for their benefit. Anyone who is working on a trimester system must be broken of the habit of working on two sets of classes a year, and they may feel much more confident given the amount of time they may devote to each class.
Which Is Best?
The choice of class schedules is up to the student who must choose the schedule they prefer. Their schedule is created using their personal needs, and advisors often take input from their students while creating schedules. The advisors know students will fare better under certain circumstances, and they will have a look at which schedule helps the student succeed. Students may sit at home searching colleges as they determine which schedule style they prefer. There are quite a few people who will use the standard semester format to remain consistent, and others may enjoy going to a school with three shorter periods during the year.
Which Is Simpler?
The simplest choice between semesters and trimesters for students is the one they feel most comfortable with. A student who has been on semesters their whole life will find semesters simple, and they will quite enjoy staying on a plan they understand. They will go through school as if nothing changed, and they will not worry about what is needed as their schedule changes. They simply take their college courses. Changing to trimesters will cause confusion for something, and it may reduce stress in others.
A Look At School Terms Around The Globe
It can be both very interesting and informative to take a look at some of the various school systems around the globe and the ways in which they portion the school year. Does the rest of the world operate mainly on trimesters or semesters? Are there other term types aside from these two that are commonly used elsewhere?
In Canada, there is no united system of term organization throughout the wider school system. Most schools here voluntarily utilize a semester or trimester system, however. In stark contrast, Australia and New Zealand are examples of countries that utilize what is known as a “quarterly” term system. In a system that uses quarters, such as in these countries, the school year is divided into four, equal terms, or quarters.
France is an example of a country that only utilizes trimesters. Here, the school year is divided into three, equal parts, and this has been the case for many years. The term layout in Japan is the same, strictly employing a three-term school year. Some school systems, such as those found in Lithuania, utilize yet one more term type – the whole-year, single-term system. In a system like this, there are no separate terms, and grades are cumulative starting at day one and through to the end of the year.
What Are the Advantages of Attending a School That Uses a Semester System?
When comparing semester vs. trimester, it’s typically easier for incoming university students to adapt to a semester calendar system. This is because the curriculum at most high schools is organized around a semester-based school year. It’s easier for high school students to successfully make the transition to a college that’s also following the same type of calendar.
A primary advantage of using a semester calendar system is that it is comparatively less hectic than the trimester system is. Semesters typically allow students more time for exploring topics of interest in a particular course. They also allow students more time to absorb and master the material being presented and to get caught up if they should happen to fall behind.
College students can all be vulnerable to experiencing feelings of stress and burnout. However, it is less likely for students to feel stressed or burned out when studying under a semester system as compared against a trimester or quarter system.
Beyond the knowledge students gain from college, one of the primary benefits is the network of contacts the student will meet on campus. The semester system allows students more time for getting to know professors and classmates. It also allows more time for satisfactory collaboration in the classroom and after hours.
What Are the Disadvantages of Studying Under a Semester System?
Under a semester system, students will have to invest a significant amount of time in each course they enroll in. Each course a student enrolls in results in a half-a-year commitment. This mostly becomes problematic in cases where students inadvertently enroll in a less-than-enjoyable course; unless they figure out the problems with the course in enough time to drop it, they’re stuck in that class for a long duration of time.
There are fewer chances to take electives under a semester system than there are under a trimester system or quarter system. Therefore, when studying under a semester system, students will have to be extremely proactive about prioritizing which courses they want to take. It will be especially critical to choose electives carefully.
It tends to take comparatively longer for students to graduate from schools utilizing a traditional semester-based calendar system. It’s commonplace for these students to dedicate four years to studying. In comparison, it’s possible for students studying under a trimester-based system to graduate in about three years if they are motivated to achieve this faster-paced goal.
What Are the Advantages of Attending a School That Uses a Trimester System?
Because a trimester-based schedule tends to differ significantly from a semester-based schedule, students studying under a trimester system are less likely to have to fly at peak times when they travel back and forth from home to school. This can result in more affordable pricing on plane tickets for traveling during break times.
Students will typically enjoy opportunities to take more electives under a trimester system than they would studying under a semester system.
It’s commonplace for students to have course requirements where the course in question isn’t a particularly enjoyable one. Under a trimester system, it’s quicker to get through a course that isn’t appealing.
A trimester system provides a viable option for motivated students to accelerate their studies. This is because the trimester system allows students the choice of taking more courses each year than the semester system does. The difference is so significant that some students studying at schools who utilize the trimester system are graduating from university in three years instead of the typical four years.
In some cases, cost savings can potentially be another advantage. Cost savings primarily result from the shortened duration required for completing the degree program. However, it’s important to be aware that some of these savings may be offset because students studying under a trimester system are likely to need to buy expensive textbooks on a more frequent basis.
What Are the Disadvantages of Utilizing a Trimester System?
Students studying under a trimester system are in the minority, so they are likely to be on a different schedule than the ones their friends from home are using. This might make it challenging to catch up with friends during break times.
It is common for students who study under a trimester system to feel that they must make a concerted effort to be highly productive and focused on getting their work done. Although college students studying under both systems must be productive, it’s less common for students studying under a semester system to feel such intense pressure all the way through each course. With a trimester system, any procrastination at all could result in falling too far behind in the course for successfully catching up.
If a student chooses to carry a full course load for each trimester in the year, that student is likely to be doing comparatively more work than what would be required under a semester-based calendar system. One of the major dangers here is that students could possibly overextend themselves and become vulnerable to burnout. If they are taking challenging courses, it is also possible that their grades could suffer.
Some trimester programs utilize the summer months for coursework. One tradeoff here is that students who choose to study during the summer might have scheduling conflicts with other things they want to be doing. It often happens that these students end up giving up other opportunities if they make the decision to use that time for taking courses. They might have to give up work opportunities that would fund their education. In some cases, they might give up chances to travel or work at an internship that would give them valuable work experience.
Trimester programs do not universally remain in session during the summer months. Even for those that don’t, it may still be a challenge for those students to make summer plans. This is because it is commonplace for summer research projects and work internships to begin in late May or early June. Schools utilizing a trimester-based calendar system are likely to still be in session until at least mid-June.
Trimesters whiz by at a seemingly dizzying pace. Students studying under this system frequently observe that it can seem like they have to start working on writing critically important papers before they’ve even dug far enough into the course material that they know enough to write about the topic at hand.
Should I Choose a University That’s Using Semesters, Trimesters or Quarters?
This is a matter of personal preference. There is no universally correct answer to the question.
Furthermore, when choosing a college, students’ highest priority consideration should not typically be semester vs. trimester vs. quarter. Rather, it’s important for students to give more weight to other factors such as whether they can get financial aid to attend a particular college and whether that college offers the degree program, minor course of study and electives they need to get on the right track for starting their desired career. The calendar system that a particular school is using might be one thing worth factoring into the overall decision-making process, but it’s advisable to make that a secondary consideration after more essential considerations have been attended to.
Additional Resources of Interest
While there are no specific organizations focused solely on term parameters, there are a number of authoritative groups that do stay abreast of this and other components to educational systems. The following represent some of those that can be consulted on matters of academic terms and other matters of education today.
For a resource that provides a look into educational endeavors all across the globe, the World Education Forum is a top, authoritative option. This organization is comprised of 112 ministries in 107 countries and is the veritable pulse of worldwide academia. It is also supported in part by numerous US government departments.
The US Department of Education is the US government’s prime authoritative body concerned with all things education. Not only does this federal agency provide a massive array of resources and information on education in the US, but it also helps to institute education law and best practices throughout the country and in individual states. Information on academic term layouts in the US can also be found here.
Association of American Colleges & Universities
The Association of American Colleges & Universities represents yet one more, great resource for all things related to academia. With this organization, anyone can inquire and learn about education law, layouts, learning systems, and plenty more. This organization also produces several publications in which a wide array of up-to-date education news and info is covered.
When it comes to trimesters and semesters, each presents their own potential advantages and disadvantages to the student and teacher alike. Some distinctly prefer one or the other, while some aren’t particularly served better by either system. These are the basic answers to that common question today of what is a trimester and how it may differ from the more traditional semester and other term systems found around the world.
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