When I was applying for colleges, I really didn't even think about semester versus quarter because every school I applied to besides the one I ended up going to was a semester system. I didn't really know how quarters worked or what it would mean in terms of academics, but I loved DePaul so I didn't think it would really mean anything.

My friends and I at DePaul will see people at other schools and wonder how do they seem to have so much more time on their hands. Why does it seem like we are always the most stressed? Then it occurred to us--we are on the quarter system and most of our friends aren't, and most of them didn't even realize were shocked when they learned we weren't on the same schedules they were.

While some of it does depend on your major, being on the quarter system in general just seems like you're taking in so much more information. Often times, we'll get asked 'Why are you so stressed out already?" or "It's only syllabus week..."

We don't get syllabus week. After the first day of classes, sometimes on the first day of class, we get right into the material. We only have 10 weeks per quarter, so we basically get the same amount of material, but crammed into 10 weeks instead of spread across two semesters.

We change classes three times instead of twice. In regards to this, I can't tell you why it's called a quarter system when there are three switches, not four. Technically it's trimesters, but we all refer to it as a quarter system.

When you're out of school and May wondering why we can't go out, it's because unfortunately, were still taking courses and usually don't get out until the second of June, so we're still in the midst of finals.

People always wonder if we graduate early too since technically we are taking more courses and credit hours because of taking three cycles of courses every year instead of two. I wish--but it's just because the university requires more gen-ed and specialized courses.

It has its perks like long breaks, but being on the quarter system feels like so much more is being thrown at you at once since everything is crammed into 10 weeks.

It seems to be quite an unknown system, so maybe this helps to explain why we always seem to be on edge.