Well that just sucks.

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman (unless she happens to be charging at us with her fists raised), so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like Facebook! ) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Summer, my favorite time of year. Not because of the weather (yay, swimming!) or the fashion (yay, things that aren’t sweaters!) though those things are great – I love summer for the same reason that pretty much every other kid who went to school in America does; no class! But, even though the sixth grader inside my head chafes at the idea, summer classes are becoming more and more common, so the question is, are they worth it?

Alright, the pros of summer classes (words I never thought I would write). One perk of taking summer classes is that you’re getting your credits but you can mix up the usual class experience – you can take classes at an affiliated college or do a program in another city or country (hot foreign boys). Plus you don’t have all of the distractions that come with the rest of the school year (football games, school newspaper, frat row parties…). Getting some classes done over the summer also means more credits you don’t have to take later, so maybe cutting down your college career (and the amount of time you’re footing those tuition bills). Summer classes also usually take about half the time that classes do during the school year (how does that work??) and a lot of the time you can catch a break on the price with special summer scholarships and financial aid.

So yeah, maybe taking summer classes isn’t such a bad idea… or is it?

Taking summer classes isn’t all bright and sunny (like the weather you’ll be missing indoors); there are cons too. Aside from the whole “you have the next 40 years of your life to work so why not enjoy a little freedom while you have it” argument *cough cough* there are also some practical considerations. For one thing, if you live in campus housing or go take classes somewhere out of town, you have nowhere to live. Most of the time you can find a limited-time rental to stay in, but it means forking over extra cash. Also, while you won’t be distracted by all of the cool stuff going on during the school year, do you really think you’re going to be less distracted by missing out on the awesome BFFs roadtrip or those vacation pictures that just haunt your Facebook feed?

Not to mention that social interaction is supposed to be part of the college experience, instead you’ll be there with a bunch of people like you who are just holding thier breath until class is over and they can escape – forget bonding! On the purely academic front, the shorter number of class days means longer classes most of the time and may also make it harder for you to absorb the subject and get all of the homework done. To save money, most schools also cut down on the hours things like libraries and camputer labs are open which could make life hard if you’re working on, say, a research heavy class (or have three homework-less roommates).

So what do you think? Are you signing up for the summer credits? Or will you be kicking back this year and soaking up your free summers while you have them? Duke it out!

You do it every year without fail. There’s a string of weeks where you’re nice and organized with all your notes in the right folders, laundry done as soon as you’re running low on undies and putting everything where it belongs. And then, you forget your planner and decide you don’t feel like really carrying it, or you’re too tired to do that load of laundry…

Okay, it might not happen to you, but it happens to me.

Barely two weeks into the semester, and my room is still pretty navigatable, but far from clean. I can’t see the desk calendar where I put all of my due dates and meetings down anymore. I just don’t have the patience to be neat. I’m sure it’s a problem – I’ve been messy all my life – but I don’t really feel like fixing it.

I still haven’t written a word of my thesis. Mind you, since I’ve been on campus I’ve gotten countless articles and books and am in the process of picking through them, but that whole thought-on-paper process has yet to start. The first chapter is due in about two or three weeks (I’d tell you the due date, but right now it’s beneath a plate of stale chips). It’s not that I’m out partying or working super hard in my other classes (sure, I have a fair amount of work that I need to do, but it’s not overwhelming); I’m just having kind of a rough time settling into my senior year.

Already, at least five or six of my friends have looked upset at the fact that I’m graduating. Because I transferred in, a lot of my friends are graduating next year and assume that I’m doing the same. My future isn’t really a topic of thought for me, since I’m much better with living in the present. Still, it’s kind of unavoidable now.

On top of that, the construction means that the campus is shaking, rumbling, clanging, and groaning like drunk revenge sex from seven in the morning until six at night, so I’m having a hard time finding a quiet place to study or even to sleep. With the influx of first-years, I feel like I don’t know anybody. I almost feel like I’ve transferred all over again.

All of that together has the tendency to make me a little depressed when I sit and think about it.

I have to admit, though; I’m impressed with some of the freshmen, even if most of them are less like people and more like five-year-olds finding out all they can do without mommy and daddy around. A ton of them are getting on-campus jobs, especially the less pleasant ones like working in the dining hall. I definitely didn’t make the attempt to get a job on campus until last year, so kudos to you, freshmen. Well, the responsible ones, anyway. (Not the ones who do not go to poster sales and ask, “Is that photoshopped?” when looking at a poster of Warhol’s Cambell Soup Cans, or say, “I thought these were carrots!” while staring down at a plate full of shredded cheddar.) Between me not know what I’m going to be doing in a year and freshmen not knowing cheese from carrots, I don’t have high hopes for the future.

Despite all that, though, I’m not upset or depressed. School is life, and though I have yet to decide if it’s an amplified or understated allegory, it’s definitely there. And with things like friends, fall show premiers, and alcohol to distract and comfort me, how upset can I really be?

[Photo courtesy gettyimages.com]

I know all about the stress of transferring and adjusting to a new school. When I began my undergraduate career, I wasn’t content with attending the state university that 83% of my classmates were enrolling in. Oh, no – I had to get away. So I enrolled in a small private school in London, England.

My freshman year was a blast– I was in a major city, surrounded by hot men with hotter accents, and I didn’t even need a fake ID. But eventually, reality sank in, and I opted to transfer back to the same state school that I’d once adamantly rejected in order to prevent graduating with student loans up the wazoo.

My first semester at the state university was miserable. I’d missed out on all of the freshman year bonding, got stuck with a lame random roommate, and when I did go out, it was because one of my high school friends was kind enough to let me tag along with her group. It was so bad that I took a semester off to figure out if I wanted to go through the transfer process again. I ended up going back to the state school, and – thankfully – things got better. In fact, college kicked some major ass.

So, having been on the Maybe-I-Should-Transfer fence and a member of the Transfer Students Association, I thought I’d share some pro’s and cons with anyone who isn’t quite sure that they are attending the right school.

Pro’s of Transferring:

You’ve already gotten a taste of college, so you might be able to make a better choice for yourself. Maybe you thought a big campus meant 10,000 new friends, but after failing a Stats lab where the TA didn’t even know you’re name, you’re opting for a smaller institution.

You might save money. I think more often than not, transfer students end up at a school that is more in their price range, rather than deciding to switch universities and take out a massive student loan. Maybe you started at a private, out-of-state school, but realize you can get just as good an education as an in-state student for a fraction of the cost.

You might end up closer to your friends and family. I’ve seen homesickness play a part in the big T many a time. I was definitely homesick when I first arrived in London, and there was no way to take a weekend trip home from across the pond. If you thought you were ready to spread your wings, only to realize you miss your hometown, there’s nothing wrong with applying to a closer school, whether it’s a mile from your parents’ house, or a reasonable drive.

You can start fresh. If your first semester was a disaster, You can make up for it. Sure, if you’re on academic probation, you probably won’t be invited into Harvard’s incoming class, but you can transfer to a community college and bring up your GPA while you look for a four-year school that will better suit you and your academic needs. Besides, a lot of transfer essays detail the reasons you did poorly, so your chances of admittance to a new school haven’t necessarily been shot. Once you’ve gotten a change of scenery, you can kick your old bad study habits (or whatever other bad habits you got into your first semester on your own) and focus on restarting your academic career.

Cons of Transferring:

You might lose credits…or more. I think only one of my 10 courses from England replaced the gen eds I needed at the state school. I took a junior/senior-level Shakespeare class a few blocks from the freakin’ Globe Theatre, and had to retake Shakespeare I. I was not happy. I also couldn’t transfer directly into my major, so I had to choose a new plan of study. While this worked out in the end, at the time, I was more than slightly pissed.

You’re the new kid. My high school friends had already made their own new college friends, so I was stuck living with a random roommate. Not only did our personalities clash, but the floor was full of her thirteen best friends, so even if I had wanted to hang out with her, she always had plans. Even after I (finally) made friends, I couldn’t participate in the “remember freshman year when…” stories.

You might get a culture shock. I went from living in a city where I could go clubbing every night or buy my own six pack and stay in to a small college town where packy runs had to be planned days in advance. The first time I borrowed a fake ID to go to the campus bar, I was stunned that this was a popular hangout.

Whether or not transferring is the right decision depends on the person. If you are miserable every day and cry yourself to sleep, it might be worth it to lose a few credits and start over. However, if you just broke up with your first college boyfriend and can’t bear to see him in lecture every Monday,Wednesday, and Friday for the rest of the semester, you can probably find it in yourself to stick it out. Though transferring schools is fairly common these days, in some ways it’s a bigger decision than choosing a “first” university.

But since I transferred after my freshman year, I lost a few credits. I still need to graduate in 2009; with the way tuition is, I can’t afford another semester or even another year. So since I was a little underweight in the distribution section, I decided to do what any smart, responsible college student would do; I signed up for summer classes.

Summer classes are no joke. They last just about a month, maybe a little bit longer. You’re learning things that are usually spread out throughout a semester, but crammed together into four weeks. It’s fast-paced, hectic, and time-consuming. It’s even harder if it’s a subject you’re not familiar with.

I’m taking Spanish 101 and 102 at my local community college to get my language requirement out of the way. Mind you, I’m already pretty well versed in Spanish. I took it for about ten years in baby steps. But now that it’s pretty much being crammed down my throat and even I’m having some difficulty.

If you’re taking summer classes, you can’t afford to be the slacker you might be tempted to be when those obscenely hot summer days roll around. You have to go to every class, because so much material is packed into one day that even that one absence can screw you over. You know that model student you promise you’re going to be in the beginning of the semester, but it eventually goes downhill? That’s the way you’ve gotta be during summer courses. Take notes, study, do all your homework, show up to every class, and ask questions. If you’re confused about something and you don’t take the chance to ask the professor right then, you’re pretty much screwed in terms of hoping it’s gonna come back up again to clarify itself. Trust me; it ain’t gonna happen.

The good thing about summer classes is that it’s over pretty quickly. Like I said, they range from about four to five weeks. After that, you never need to look at that Statistics or Baby Bio book again. They’re also pretty convenient; most colleges will readily let you transfer summer courses.

So if you’re lagging behind a bit in credits or just want to get that distribution out of the way, sign up for a summer course. It’s a little painful, but faster and even easier in the long run.

But damn if it isn’t mind over matter.

[Picture credit goes to: gettyimages.com]