Darius Davila | Staff Writer

With school drawing to a close and summer just over the horizon, many students are anxious for that much needed summer break. However not all students will be taking a break from school; a handful of seniors have decided to start college in the summer by attending summer classes leaving little to no time between graduation and college.

“I will be going to Texas State, but I’m going to be taking summer classes at a community college so that I can be ahead and graduate sooner, because I’m going to have to go to grad school to be a Psychiatrist and I need my P.H.D. for that,” senior Vincent Padilla said.

Although getting a head start may seem beneficial, for some, there are also cons that go along with starting school during the summer.

“Some cons would be having to go to school while you’re on break because you can’t work full time, you don’t have much free time, and you’ll probably be taking classes with a bunch of thirty year olds,” Padilla said.

Starting school in the summer not only allows students the opportunity to get a head start but it also can be cheaper.

“I am going to be attending college at SCAD University in Savannah, Georgia so I’ll be moving up there around August, but I will be starting classes in the summer because it saves a lot of money, frustration, and time. Taking summer classes also opens up a lot of opportunities for students to discover what they want to do with their life. It is also a good way to explore different classes and majors,” senior John Krieger said.

Another way students can get classes out of the way is by taking online classes.

“Taking some online classes also can save a lot of money, I’ve already done some online classes so now when I start at SCAD I’ll have like one full years worth of college credit. Online classes isn’t for everyone though, I recommend it to people who are gonna be willing to put in the time and effort to learn the material and who won’t be busy with jobs and a lot of other summer activities,” Krieger said.

Some counselors have mixed feelings about starting college in the summer as opposed to in the fall.

“For starting college in the summer to be a good idea it would depend on the student and their circumstances, if you’re committed and going to make good grades than go for it, but some students need a break so they won’t get burned out mentally. Personally I loved taking summer semester classes, I had a class that was done in like eleven days,” counselor Shar Huffman said. “It’s a huge advantage to get your basics done during summer at a community college, it saves time and money, as long as you’re disciplined enough to do it it’s the best feeling in the world to do, but if you’re not it can mess up your GPA.”