The Pros and Cons of Taking Summer Classes!

University Short Cuts
5 days ago
5 min read

Summary of Post!

Summer classes can help you maintain academic momentum and avoid a difficult transition back into school after a long break.
They may be more flexible and sometimes easier, especially when offered online.
Taking summer courses can lighten future semesters or help you graduate on time—if they fit your degree plan.
The trade-offs include lost summer time, added costs, and potentially weaker learning in fast-paced or online formats.
The best choice depends on your workload, finances, major, and whether the course supports your long-term goals.

Why This Decision Matters

At some point in your academic career, you may come across the question of whether you should take summer classes or continue in the next semester after the summer. Answering this question can be difficult sometimes, depending on your obligations in the summer, how much you want to learn, and how many credits you still need to graduate. Additionally, you may simply want a lighter load in the fall semester rather than taking over eighteen credits in one semester. Each of these points has its own reasoning for why you should or should not take summer classes. That’s why I’m covering this topic in my blog post. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into it.

Pro: Staying in the Learning Mindset

I wanted to start with the pros and then later on work through the cons. To start with, summer classes can provide a great opportunity to keep a lot of your mental capacity for learning. A lot of times, when you have to stop learning and then jump back into it after a long break in the summer, it can be difficult to come back and get back into the groove of learning. Many times, I found myself needing two or three weeks of college before I would even be at the level I was at toward the middle or end of the semester before. This cognition reset when you get back into college from a summer break is a hidden cost of taking a break. Not that taking breaks is bad, but it should be something that you consider when evaluating whether you should take a summer class or not.

Pro: Flexible Formats and Manageable Coursework

Another pro is that, when taking summer classes, especially from my experience, there are a lot of times when the summer classes are easier. Although that may not always be the case, especially if you're taking mathematics- or physics-heavy content, they do in general seem easier than spring and fall semester classes. Additionally, a lot of these summer classes are online, so it's much easier to work concurrently if you have a full-time job, although it still can be challenging.

Pro: Getting Ahead on Credits

Obviously, one of the most beneficial things about taking summer classes, if you pass, is that you are now done with this class in your college career. This may free up time in your schedule in later semesters, or it may allow you to graduate on time if that's one of your main goals. Additionally, if you choose to take summer classes and you're ahead of schedule anyway, this will put you even more ahead of schedule. But I would not do this unless you check with your advisor first. Make sure you will truly graduate ahead of schedule, as it won’t be worth the work to do a summer class simply to try to graduate earlier without checking with your advisor.

Important Consideration: Online vs. In-Person Options

Before we get into some of the cons of taking summer classes, I would consider looking at whether the summer classes offer online classes or only in-person classes. (See My Blog on Online Vs In person Classes) This may answer your question about whether you can even do this if you have other obligations, especially if you go to college out of state and need to be in person at your current college. However, you may be able to enroll in a college near your internship or place of residence, go in person to classes there, and have the college credits transfer. But make sure your college accepts the credits from the other college before you take the class. Otherwise, it may be a waste of time.

Con: Summer Classes Can Consume Your Time

One of the cons of taking summer classes is how much time they take out of your summer, especially if you stack more than one of them. Personally, I found myself only able to manage one summer class and a full-time summer internship at the same time. You may be different, but that was the correct amount of workload for me. You may have to evaluate what is most important: do you need to save money for college, or do you need to get more college credits completed because you want to progress throughout the summer?

Con: The Extra Financial Cost

Another con is that you will have to pay for another semester’s worth of classes. Although it may only be one class, and therefore cheaper, this is still a cost that you will incur earlier rather than later, unless you have student loans. But it is something to consider.

Con: You May Not Learn the Material as Deeply

Another thing to consider is that, from my experience, summer classes don’t teach you the class content as well, especially if you don’t focus as hard on them. Because they may be online classes or they may be expedited, you don’t have the time to go through the learning process fully, and it can ultimately hinder what you learn. So personally, I would not take a calculus class in the summertime if you were planning to take Calculus II. This is because of the prerequisite knowledge you need to have for Calculus II. You will be lacking knowledge and ultimately must work harder in Calculus II, which is already a hard class.

How to Decide Based on Your Goals and Major

In general, summer classes provide less value than spring and fall semester classes if your goal is to strictly learn as much content from your classes as possible, rather than just trying to get the credits for your degree. This is heavily dependent on your major. For example, if you’re getting an engineering degree, some of your general credits don’t really need to be taken in the fall or spring semester. If they are offered in the summer, you may want to take those kinds of credits in the summer and then focus on your math-heavy and physics-heavy classes in the spring and fall semester.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, these are my pros and cons of taking summer classes. I hope you learned something, and that you can better consider whether you should take summer classes or keep taking classes in the fall and spring. Lastly, if you enjoyed my blog post, you may enjoy my other blog posts, and please consider joining my email list. This is where you can stay up to date on my latest blog post and other happenings with University Short Cuts. Happy Studies!

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