1/8th Complete!
1/8th might not sound like much of an accomplishment, but it is an accomplishment, none the less. At Fisher, each semester is broken up into two seven week long terms. A couple weeks ago we wrapped up our first term, aka our first set of seven week classes. With the end of that term, I am officially 1/8th closer to my Master’s degree! Hooray for little victories.
If you are unaware, Ohio recently converted all public colleges and universities to the semester system, meaning Ohio State is now a semester campus. Personally, I have taken both quarter long and semester long classes throughout my undergrad career, so I have the right to say: Fifteen weeks is too long for most classes. While I understand that it’s easier to divide the academic year in half and it is very convenient for all Ohio colleges and universities to be on similar schedules, I still don’t like it. With the quarter system, classes were long enough for you to learn the main concepts of each course, but not so long that you became bored with the material. Lucky for us, Fisher knows this too!
Fisher took some (but not all) of our courses and separated them into two seven week terms. There are still some classes that you need the full fifteen weeks to conquer, like Staffing or Total Rewards/Compensation. Last term, I had one semester course and two term courses. This design meant having finals and midterms back to back. It was a little awkward, but on the bright side it was great not having to study for three finals at once, and try to complete three semester-long projects and papers. Seven weeks seemed to fly by, but that’s okay with me, especially when it comes to any course that has to do with math :)