I was on the semester system while at college full time and hated it. I found it hard to apply myself to 5 classes for 16 weeks and did horrible. When I started taking classes later on I started attending a school which uses the quarter system and I find that much easier to handle and get better grades. It is also much better for the non traditional student in that I can take 2 classes and be considered full time but that is not too much in the work load. It is also good because I can go to school year round and finish a year earlier.

Ok...I didn't bother reading through these posts, but I am transferring from a school that was on the quarter system to a school that is on the semester system. There were some advantages of the quarter system, but overall I prefer the semester system. It is nice having less classes each quarter - only 4 as opposed to 5 or 6, but at the same time, you have less time on the material you are reading in you classes. From start to finish your classes move at a hectic pace, and in a lot of my classes I felt like we didn't have the time to really get into the material. The breaks were nice and starting school later was nice, but it sucked getting out in the middle of June and being home over winter break while everyone else is still at school. Also, if you decide you do not like your quarter-system school and want to transfer, like I did, you are screwed on hours - you end up losing a bunch in the whole transfer process.