Some students choose to forego summer jobs, family vacations and rest to get ahead in school, but is it worth it?
Finishing courses in summer provides greater flexibility in fall
Andrew Taylor
Taking summer courses can be a useful way to get credits in a short amount of time or finish your degree prudently.
With most summer courses having a duration of about one month, the condensed courses can really benefit students who devote their summer to studying and taking care of business.
The average student does not finish a bachelor’s degree in four years. With UH mainly being comprised of full-time students who work and commute, saving time is on everyone’s mind.
The advantage of finishing becomes appealing when you are considering graduate school.
Most students enjoy their time spent in college, but getting a job or moving to the next part of your academic career is just as important.
Most of the individual schools at UH offer summer courses during the two summer sessions. Students can check which courses will be offered online via PeopleSoft.
Summer courses are based on the availability, willingness of professors and student capacity.
Core curriculum classes, offered for almost every major, are some of the most popular during the summer.
The Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, which is open throughout the summer, is also a great place to hang out before or after coming to campus.
During the hot summer months, the leisure pool and the natatorium are both places to cool down and exercise with friends. Visit the CRWC Web site at http://www.uh.edu/recreation/Hours/index.html for a list of operating hours during the summer.
Taking care of your core courses during the summer gives you more flexibility during fall and spring to take more enjoyable, advanced courses.
Providing you are not constrained to a budget that requires you to slave the summer away at a job, our campus is one of the best places to earn credits and enjoy yourself in the hot months of Houston summers.
Andrew Taylor is an economics junior and may be reached at [email protected].
College is important, but may not be worth cost giving up summer
Daniel Wheeler
Summer is approaching and many of us are getting ready to party.
Somewhere along the line, we question whether we should work and save money, or bite the bullet and take summer classes?
But this question, as with most, does not have a definitive answer. Variations in personal circumstance and individual goals are undoubtedly enormous factors in determining an answer, so with that we will approach it in more generalized terms.
First, you must analyze the opportunity cost of either decision. By going to school and thus forgoing a dedicated full-time job, you will be giving up the benefit of those wages plus whatever extra time the respective courses demand that could have been put toward something else.
These forfeited wages will likely cause you to sacrifice items deemed ‘luxurious,’ that is, anything more than the bare necessities. This, however, is the effect in the short run.
In the long run going to school during the summer would likely enable you to graduate early.
By graduating early, you could enter the job market with more marketability than required for those summer jobs previously forfeited.
‘ You could then increase your value and subsequent compensation, which in turn would more than make up for the forgone compensation.
When viewed like this, it makes perfect sense to go to school, graduate as quickly as possible and hit the ground running in the real world.
But logic may not always be the best choice.
We are in college for only so long. Travel the world, visit family and relax; you have the rest of your life to work.
Daniel Wheeler is a finance sophomore and may be reached at [email protected].
‘
