1. Summer School:
When you get to college, you start to realize that summer school isn’t as bad an option
as it may have seemed before. With the benefits of graduating early, taking classes without the
stress of the school year, and enjoying the campus without most of the student population,
summer school can be pretty great. However, for the out of state student, this can be a tough
decision to make, as most of the year has been spent away from home already. Sometimes out
of staters fall in love with their campus and look to summer school as a way to “extend” the
school year, while others are breaking their necks to get back home, but need a couple more
units to put them in the clear for the year. For whichever student you may be, here are some
things to consider:
Don’t Let People Pressure You into Making a Choice:
Make sure that you are choosing to stay (or leave) only because you want to. There are
many other summers to get ahead or to make up for lost units, so if you want to take a break
after taking on arguably one of the most challenging years of college, do it. Go home, rest, and
prepare to rock in the fall.
You Don’t Have to Stay for the Whole Summer (Unless You Really Want To)-
Most schools break up summer school into sessions so students don’t have to spend all
twelve weeks on campus. The downside to that, however, is that you will be taking a semester
(or quarter) length class in a shorter period of time. The upside to this is that it IS summer; you’ll
have that extra free time to get the work done that you need to.
Find Out Where You’re Going to Live-
The dorms are likely to be closed, so you’re going to need to find a place to stay. Maybe
during the year, you made that one upperclassman friend who would be willing to let you stay
with them for the summer...or at least take over their lease. Subletting apartments is pretty
common around campus, and you can probably find a good deal. Also, if you have already
signed a lease for an apartment for the next year, you may be able to talk your leasing agents
into pushing up the move in date.
Working-
Are you going to need a job for the summer? Start looking as soon as possible, because
there are going to be many other needy college students looking as well. You will also want to
apply for financial aid for the summer too to save you from those harsh, out of pocket fees.
Holidays/Off Weeks Between Sessions-
There will probably be some lull periods where school is out in between sessions. You
may want to go home during these times. If you do, I recommend looking into it as far in
advance as possible, as the earlier you can book your transportation back home, the cheaper.
Don’t Take Too Many Units-
Get ahead in your classes and get a major requirement out of the way, but REMEMBER:
this is summer school. Most schools only require you to take on half at many units as you would

2. in the regular school year, so don’t do more that what you think you can handle. Also, make
sure to take a fun class if you can; balance out the hard class you may take with a class to
destress.
Storage-
Will you need to leave any stuff when you do decide to go back home? There are bound
to be storage centers near your school where you can rent out a garage for a reasonable fee.
Skype-
So, if you do decide to stay for part or all of the summer, this does not mean that you will
be completely cut off from home! We live in a great world where we have numerous
technologies at our fingertips that keep us connected with everyone and anyone. Between
Facebook, Twitter, and my favorite, Skype, there should be no reason in the world why you
can’t keep in contact with your friends and family back home. Plus, there’s this invention called
the telephone that can be pretty useful at times.
Summer school can be fun, especially if your friends are going to take it with you. You all
can form study groups together and well as do fun summer things together. And, if you are the
only one of your friends going venturing out to summer school all by yourself, well, this is one of
those many opportunities I was talking about in which you can make more friends!
Whatever you choose to do, stay or go, have fun! It is summer, after all.