Why You Should Stay on Campus for the Summer

Just two weeks before the spring semester was ending, I decided that I needed to stay in Bloomington for the summer to take some courses. Even after I found a sub lease for the summer and signed for classes, I was apprehensive about being in Bloomington for the summer. Previous to this decision, I had plans to work at home, shadow doctors, and relax.

However, after spending eight weeks living with four sorority sisters in a dingy, college rental,  I know that I made the right decision. Here are some reasons why you should stay on campus for the summer and take a few classes:

Smaller class size:

Two of the classes were relatively small compared to what the class size would have been during the fall or spring semesters. My Organic Chem class, which is usually 300 people during the regular year, only had 60 people enrolled. My Abnormal Psych class only had about 30 enrolled and because my lectures usually have 100 or more people in them, I really enjoyed having a smaller class.

 

Get you know your professors:

I had already taken two other classes with one of my professors for the summer, so I was really excited to take a third with her. After going to her office hours a few times, she was able to help me with my test anxiety, and was someone I could talk to about what was going on with my other classes. As a result, I ended up getting one of my best grades of my college career.  Go to your professor's office hours to get to know them, you never know how they will help you!

Get to know the town:

I used the summer to explore Bloomington a little bit. I ended up spending time at local parks playing tennis there with friends and exploring the local hiking options around the lakes. I didn't have time to do these during my first two years of college, so I'm glad that I was able to explore this summer during my free time!

Fewer distractions:

There are less people on campus in the summer, meaning that there are less distractions in public studying places. Also, because your course load is probably much smaller than during the regular year, you can focus solely on one class without being distracted by other assignments. 

Improve your GPA:

Summer classes are easier than classes during the regular school year because you have more time to study and have the ability to focus solely on the one or two classes that you're taking.  Summer classes are also the perfect time to retake classes that you want to improve your grade in. At IU, you can retake and replace grades that are included in your GPA for up to 10 credit hours. I retook a class this summer and I am currently in the process of 'X-ing' out the first grade from my GPA so only the newest, better grade for the course is counted. All of the studying is definitely worth it!