Summer school in college is a parent’s worst nightmare but any college student’s dream. After I had already signed up to take classes at Florida State during the summer, my parents realized their mistake. They just paid for their son to go to a college town for six weeks and take two easy classes. My parents thought it was the end of the world. I was able to pacify them by explaining to them that summer school is a great way to get used to college class, college life, living completely on your own, and I was also taking meaningful classes.

Summer school at college is completely different than high school summer school. At college it means freedom, sleeping in until noon every day, and having almost no responsibilities. My first summer, last year, was the most fun I’d ever had. I made so many new and old friends, and had the time of my life.

Marena here from the University of Central Florida with some advice on taking or not taking Summer classes. So in high school, once Summer hit you were a free bird and it was going to be the best three months of your life! But now that you’re in college and finishing a certain amount of credit hours hopefully within four years becomes your new goal, which might mean Summer school. Truthfully, there are downsides to taking Summer classes like not being able to travel as much, still having homework and school to worry about (during Summer?! yes), and it definitely limits your coveted Summer freedom. However it doesn’t have to be that bad if you plan it right and in the long run it will pay off education wise.

Whether you’re attending Florida State University or New York University, every school offers summer sessions. I would highly recommend attending a summer session the summer before your freshman year because you get a feel for the campus, the light workload provides a great opportunity to have fun and start college with a stellar GPA, you meet many new people, you can hang around fraternities or sororities you are thinking of rushing, and you get out of your house two months early. 

This summer, I spent my first semester at UF where I had an amazing time. I would highly recommend applying for a summer term no matter what college it’s for because the pros are endless.

Summer’s so close we can all taste it. College summers seem to be a bit longer than the one’s we had in high school, so what are we going to do with ourselves for the next 4 months?