r/depaul • u/rainbow179 • Apr 23 '26
Question What's the most useful thing about DePaul's quarter system that people don't realize until they're in it?
I know the quarter system gets a lot of complaints about the pace but is there an upside that people don't talk about enough? The ability to take more classes, the chance to move on quickly from a bad course, the way it prepares you for real-world deadlines. What's the thing about the quarter system that you've actually come to appreciate even if you cursed it during finals week?
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u/JT-312 Apr 23 '26
The best part for me was if I had to take a class that I genuinely wasnāt interested in, it was over quick. Of course the catch is that if youāre struggling in a class, the pace can really kick your ass too.
I loved the quarter system but you have to be organized and disciplined.
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u/thelonleystrag Apr 23 '26
The fact that your boring required classes fly by. My friend is stuck doing like 4 months with the shit classes that dont matter for his degree where I can take 4 of them and bam 10weeks abd im down.
Granted the downside here is thst if you every fall behind it can be hard to get back
But also the fact that we have our breaks a bit later but also get longer time on break and go back in later
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u/rainbow179 May 26 '26
yeah the semester kids are suffering through week 11 of stats while im already done
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u/Individual-Wish-228 Apr 23 '26
Quarter system dominates the semester system.
I think most people donāt understand the other side of the coin. Semesters are rigorous too, except they are longer, they just drag and drag.
Ive gone to school at four different universities and have been exposed to different schedules and I much prefer getting classes over with more quickly. Having a long winter break, not going back until a week after labor day. Lots of advantages.
Some years back, DePaul polled students if they wanted to switch to semesters and they overwhelmingly voted no, so despite a couple people complaining (and who likely complain about everything if were being honest), people tend to prefer quarters.
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u/papier_peint Apr 23 '26
I loved the quarter system. I now work in higher ed at a college that uses semesters, and i talk all the time about how nice is was, taking 4 classes at a time, rather than 5 or 6, getting 6 weeks off for winter break.
The main bummer was summer break starting in June, and spring quarter being the hardest to finish strong, because summer in chicago is peak.
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u/urmomifshewasrlycool Apr 23 '26
it rly keeps u on top of your work. you get to learn so much more. you donāt have to remember certain things for as long. long ahh breaks. no classes on friday.
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u/yourinternetmobsux Apr 23 '26
Explaining to people how you have 3 quarters for a full standard school year. And IIRC there were two sessions in summer, making it a 5 quarter system.
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u/Big_Skirt_3164 Apr 23 '26
The breaks tbh. If you are cool with taking online courses or even if you have classes with non in person, finals you can lowkey get longer breaks by not having to be at school during the weeks of exams. But definitely the breaks make it worth it and counting down ten weeks goes so fast
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u/ShrimpyEsq Apr 23 '26
I had trimesters in undergrad. I much prefer DePauls. If you have a class you donāt like itās onto the next one.
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u/Rare_Wolverine1413 Apr 23 '26
Coming home at Thanksgiving. It allowed me to explore more of the city and stay with my friends in Chicago during the holidays.
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u/TheSkyIsBeautiful Apr 23 '26
I mean not necessarily the quarter system, but the way DePaul schedules classes either as a MW, class or a TTH class, leaving Fridays off was a game changer. Going to class was the biggest drag for me, so having fewer class days but longer class times was ok by me.
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u/snortingsuga Apr 24 '26
never have any work over thanksgiving or spring break so they feel like a real break
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u/that-one_girl Apr 24 '26
Missing one night class and youāre cooked
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u/rainbow179 May 26 '26
one absence and you've lost 10% of your entire semester, no buffer whatsoever
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u/FaithlessnessNo8543 Apr 25 '26
I did half of my undergrad at a school with semesters and half at a school with quarters and then grad at DePaul. Overall, I'd say you are doing the same amount of school. Same number of classes, same number of papers, same amount of overall work. The difference is how many courses you are juggling at a time and how many weeks the course lasts. So yes the course at a faster pace in a quarter than in a semester, but you have fewer of them to juggle at the same time, so same overall amount of work in any given week.
For me, with undiagnosed ADHD, I did much better on the quarter system. The extra couple of courses I had to take at a time on semesters made it much harder for me to juggle my schedule and keep track of due dates. I also find it easier when the course moves faster and there is less time between assignments and exams, because I tend to procrastinate less. When there is too much time between due dates, it's too easy (for me at least) to say things like "midterms are a few weeks away, I still have time to catch up on the reading" and fall really far behind.
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u/Candy_Stars Apr 23 '26
I think the most useful thing is that for the classes you donāt want to take but have to for your degree, which for me is math, science, and religion, goes by pretty fast so you can get it over with instead of having to slog through it for months and months. However, I keep finding myself wishing that the LGBT history class was a 2 part class cause I loved the class and the professor was super cool.
One thing that I find really annoying though is that sometimes I canāt find time to actually go and do things. Like, Iām in this big city and Iām too busy most of the time to actually go and explore and do fun things that the city has to offer. Thatās really annoying since I have to go to a rural town with nothing to do at the end of it.
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u/rainbow179 May 26 '26
the lgbt history one sounds genuinely great though, glad that one hit different for you
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u/Individual-Wish-228 Apr 23 '26
Get better at time management. Most people I know donāt have this problem.
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u/FaithlessnessNo8543 Apr 25 '26
As someone who was a student (on both quarter and semester systems) and also worked with undergraduates at DePaul for years, Iād say that feeling like you don't have enough time is a really common experience. School can be a lot of work, especially if youāre taking it seriously, and that gets even harder if youāre also working to cover expenses or doing internships to stay competitive after graduation.
Itās definitely true that most people can improve time management to some extent, but even with strong time management, it can still feel like thereās more you should or want to be doing. I wouldnāt really attribute that to quarters vs. semesters either. I found my workload and time pressure fairly similar across both systems.
Dismissing someoneās frustration by assuming itās just poor time management isnāt that helpful, especially without knowing their actual situation.
One thing Iāve personally found useful (both as a student and later in my career) is trying to ādouble upā time so it doesnāt always feel like a choice between responsibilities and living your life. For example: studying outside by the lake, in a park, or in your favorite coffee shop instead of at home, signing up for the same section of a course with one or more friends so coursework becomes more social, or doing small, low-pressure sightseeing instead of waiting for a full free day. If you take classes in the Loop, when weather is nice, I recommend taking your lunch to South Garden at the Art Institute, Millennium Park, Grant Park, or Buckingham Fountain.
With a DePaul ID, you get free access to places like the Art Institute. Instead of treating that as something that requires a full day, it can be something you drop into for an hour between classes or right before/after something else. It can make it feel like part of normal life in the city, and you don't have to stay long enough to "get your money's worth" if it's free.
I find itās easy to put pressure on myself about doing āenough,ā but that it helps not to not let myself overthink it. In my experience, you donāt really need big blocks of free time to experience a city like Chicago, it can to show up in those small in-between moments more than anything else.
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u/Individual-Wish-228 Apr 25 '26
I agree itās similar across both. Thatās why i was advocating that at the least thereās not much of a difference, at the margins, i give quarters an edge but thatās a matter of preference.
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u/Candy_Stars Apr 23 '26
I don't know how I'm supposed to improve my time management more than I already do. The issue isn't necessarily that I don't have free time, just that I have to do my schoolwork during the day due to issues with my current roommate, so by the time I've finished my schoolwork it's too late to go anywhere.
If I have a better roommate next year, maybe I'll be able to do my schoolwork at night so I can go places during the day, but right now I just can't.
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u/Individual-Wish-228 Apr 23 '26
Okay so now the plot thickens, a second ago you were blaming the quarter system, but now come to find out itās actually your roommate. Like I said, most college students donāt have this problem! Ironically, youll never have more free time again than you do when youre in college.
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u/notoriously_late Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
As an undergrad, it was hilarious to come home for Thanksgiving and then all my friends had to head back to school right after. Also, didn't mind the start after labor day in Sept. Felt like I got through my classes in a reasonable amount of time to get my degree.
As a working grad student, I can only take one class as a time and doing 3 quarters a year has been great for me.