4 Types of Academic Calendars: Which is Best for You?

Photo: Eric Rothermel (Unsplash)

📉ADHD Executive Coach Seth Perler shared that the high school students he works with start to dip in performance 6-8 weeks into the semester.

🏊🏻‍♂‍Things fall apart. Now they having to swim upstream to catch up and turn in missing assignments.

🏈Then they are doing a "hail mary" in the final two weeks making up work and preparing for final exams. Exhausting!

🤷🏾‍♂‍Does this sound familiar? If so, would a different academic calendar be better for you to consider? If you take one course in three weeks or 2 in ten, would that improve retention and increase your GPA?

If you haven't considered the impact of the academic calendar, that should be a question to ask college representatives.

🧠In the comments below, which academic calendar would you prefer in college?

Semester (15 wks) - Offered in 90% of college settings. Most are traditional 14-15 week term while some use block terms of 3 1/2 weeks. Block terms are ideal for students needing to focus on one course at a time. It's intense. Then it's done!

Trimester (11-13 wks) - Some colleges are set up with trimesters. On one hand, you could possibly graduate faster; on the other, it's more challenging if wanting to change majors.

Quarter (10 wks plus summer) - Colleges with quarter academic calendars are beneficial for students transferring after a few weeks into the semester. If your college setting is harder than you imagined or your family needs you closer to home, you would stay on target attending a college with this type of system.

4-1-4 (4 mo + 1 mo + 4 mo) - This means you'd take a 4 week, "mini-mester" in January instead of having an extended winter break. Colleges with a 4-4-1 will offer a "Maymester."