Less competition in parking, better ratio of TAs and easier access to dating. BYU campus livens up to Provo’s warmer weather, making many students want to stay for spring and summer terms.
Each year, students have to decide what to do for their spring and summer plans. BYU is unique since winter semester gets out in April, while many other colleges finish in May. Some students decide to save on rent by going home and working full-time, while others stay here and work or go to classes. Each situation is unique and the ultimate decision is up to the student whether they will stay, go home or choose a different plan.
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“Classes are shorter so you only have to suffer for a short while if the class is rough,” Grawe said. “However, the beautiful weather and sun-bronzed coeds can be distracting if you decide to take classes.”
Grawe suggests a list of activities students can do over the summer.
“Students can go to the pool, Seven Peaks, Stadium of Fire, go hiking, there are always activities by BYUSA going on and they can even apply to be EFY or Sports Camp counselors,” she said.
As a professor, Jeannette Lawler said the one big difference is the opportunity students get to have more interaction with their TAs.
“With Physical Science 100, rather than having eight sections of 200 students, we have one section of 200 students, but the student to TA ratio is about half of what it is during fall/winter,” Lawler said. “There is one TA for 20 students instead of the usual one TA for 40 students.”
Lawler said another advantage of staying spring and summer terms is students can get their GE classes finished, so they can focus more on major classes during the fall and winter.
Taylor Jensen, a junior, from Cincinnati, studying marketing, said he stayed spring term for the first time last year and loved it.
“I had so much time to do my homework, rock climb and play outside in the nice weather,” Jensen said. “Some sweet things I did last spring was play tons of intramural sports, play in the mountains and go to the rooftop concerts in downtown Provo. I had a blast just hanging out outside, grilling out and playing in the park, every night.”
To Jensen, the only con to staying for spring and summer terms is it is a lot harder to study and stay focused on school.
“I did alright, but there were definitely days where I did not want to sit inside in class or do homework,” he said.
Boman Stacey, a junior from Alpine, majoring in exercise science, said it is easier to maintain relationships with professors and friends during the spring and summer terms since students are generally taking an easier school load and there are less people around.
