How to Take College Summer Courses

Many colleges, trade schools and vocational institutions offer summer courses to students looking to supplement their fall-to-spring educations or fast-track their ways to a diploma or degree. The steps you'll need to take to enroll for college summer courses may differ slightly, depending on whether or not you're enrolled at the institution during the regular school year.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Regular enrollment at or an offer of admission to the desired institution

1. Apply for admission to the college offering the summer courses you want to take, if you are not already a student at the school. Contact the institution to learn the cutoff dates for applications, and make sure you fully understand what you're expected to provide. Many schools require transcripts, admissions essays, personal statements and/or letters of reference in addition to basic applications.

2. Give yourself extra time to compose and proofread all supplementary application materials. If proofreading isn't your strong suit, get help from a trusted friend or enlist the services of a writing tutor. Schools often make writing tutors available to both students and applicants.

3. Consult the school's academic calendar to view the courses offered during the summer, once you've gained admission. Keep in mind that scheduled dates and times are subject to change without notice.

4. Get in touch with the department offering the courses you want to take, if you're unsure of the process you'll need to follow to submit your course selections. The department will inform you whether certain courses have limited enrollment, and will clarify any aspects of the course selection process that you may not understand.

5. Submit your course selection form to the appropriate department or administrative office.

6. Review your schedule. When your enrollment has been approved and confirmed, you'll want to double-check to make sure you're signed up for the correct classes. Because of the complex nature of college bureaucracies, mistakes happen from time to time.

7. Pay your fees, and make sure you attend the first class of each course in which you're enrolled. Sometimes, colleges will automatically delete students from enrollment in a course if they fail to appear at the first class, particularly if there is a waiting list of students for the course.

Tips & Warnings

• Visit your academic adviser's office early in the spring semester for the best access to summer courses. Because space may be limited for college summer semesters, you'll want to get your name on the list as early as possible.

• The schedule of fees may differ slightly for summer courses, because the institution may raise tuition rates to cover the revenue shortfall created by lower summer enrollments. Ensure that you're referring to the correct schedule of fees when signing up for summer courses.