The Wake

Can’t you just taste the sunscreen melting down your face? Smell the hot dogs sizzling on the grill? Feel that summatime paycheck burning in your pocket?

It’s April 12 and you know what that means. There are officially 18 days of school left, plus finals. Well, unless you’re thinking of taking summer classes, in which case April 12 just signifies the second day of registration—to sign some sunshine away.
“With summer classes you either have to have the interest in the class … or you have to be forced,” says neuroscience, physiology (pre-med), and French major Rami Assadi. Assadi has taken three summer courses at the university, and lived to tell the tale.

In 2003, Assadi, then a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, took Arabic 1001 and 1002 at the university while home for the summer. The classes stretched three-and-a-half hours, five days a week for eight weeks—and earned Assadi 10 credits. Though he took the class for his own interest, and was excited to learn Arabic, he admits, “It got a little old by the end.”

“You have to really like what you’re doing … but I could see some other people were about to call it quits,” he says. It wasn’t too unbearable for him, and last summer—after having transferred to the university—Assadi took another course. This time, he opted for genetics (Bio 4003), so that he could take a lighter load of sciences the following semester. “To be able to just concentrate on one class, and get a good grade was really helpful,” he says.

He says it was difficult to come to class since he had a job, the weather was nice, and friends were out of school, but still he never skipped class. It’s more problematic to skip class during the summer, he says, because ditching class one day is “like skipping two or three classes in a row.” This is because more material is crammed into one class period.

He admits it can get rough and that the campus has a different, lonelier feel. “It just kind of gives you a general feeling of ‘nobody’s here, why am I here?’” he says, even if he admits it was helpful.

You don’t have to have three majors, like Assadi, to benefit from summer term. Maybe you’re getting too old for Camp Ihduhapi and should try the six-credit philosophy camp offered (Phil 4326) in a prairie in Windom, Minn., instead. Summer term also can help to finish up some general requirements, get a prerequisite out of the way, or take a general interest class (not for credit). However, many major-level courses are not offered during the summer—depending on the college and program.

The university’s entire summer term is 13 weeks, but most classes meet in a shorter time frame. Time frames are broken up into May session (three weeks), two four-week sessions, a six-week session, an eight-week session and a ten-week session. A maximum of 20 credits can be taken by undergraduates.

Undergraduate resident tuition for summer classes is $274.62 per credit, and $721.92 for non-residents. On-campus housing is also available for May and summer students (see www.housing.umn.edu/student/summerschool). Financial aid awarded for the 2005-2006 academic year that has not yet been spent by a student can be applied to summer term. Assadi got to put $92 from a leftover grant into a summer course.

May and summer terms also offer several global seminars and programs all around the world. Topics range from field study to volunteer work to taking classes for credit while abroad. Costs of these programs vary. A summer course catalog can be viewed online at www.cce.umn.edu/summer/catalog.

There is no alphabetical rotation for summer term. It’s on a first come, first served online-registration that began on April 11 for admitted students. Students admitted to a degree program but not taking classes this spring have to contact their college for registration guidelines. Non-admitted students can begin registering Tuesday, April 18.

More information about summer term can be found at .