At proprietary schools, you may find a diverse student body made up of recent high school graduates, as well as students who have been in the workforce. While you are likely to meet interesting and different people wherever you go to college, it is important to consider the kind of student body you are interested in joining. One of the strengths of college is the opportunity to meet new people and be exposed to new ideas and cultures. Think about other considerations School calendars Some colleges are on a semester system, where students begin in August or September and continue until May or June. Other schools are on a trimester system with the same length of academic year but three terms with breaks in between.
Some trimester systems have two longer terms and a short, intensive term.
For others, the three terms are of equal length. The quarter system is another way of organizing class schedules throughout an academic year. These colleges have four terms of equal length, with time off between terms. Shorter terms, however, give students the opportunity to take more classes and explore more subjects. Students often feel that they do better on comprehensive final exams in these classes since there is a shorter time period between the first classes and the final exam.