With the end of this school year rapidly approaching and registration beginning this week, many University of Alabama students are evaluating whether or not to take classes over the summer.

Michael George, University Registrar, said there were 3,999 undergraduate and graduate classes offered in summer of 2012, and 12,754 students took those classes.

Some students who have taken these classes found the smaller classes and relaxed campus atmosphere beneficial.

Brooke-Anne Freeman, a senior majoring in general business and political science, said she sees some significant advantages in taking classes over the summer.

“Honestly, I enjoy the atmosphere of the campus during the summer. It is quiet and easy-going,” she said.

Freeman said summer classes help her have a manageable amount of work during the regular school year.

“I also take summer classes so that I can graduate in a reasonable amount of time without needing to burden myself with an excessive course load during the regular fall and spring semesters,” she said.

Freeman said classes in the summer are more manageable.

“I wouldn’t say that they are necessarily easier, but there is an advantage to taking classes during the summer because of the smaller classroom sizes. You have more of an opportunity to get to know your professors,” she said. “You also meet daily in the summer, so the information that you take away from class stays fresh on your mind.”

George said this focus on one class can be a major benefit of summer classes.

“If a student knows that a required course is going to be difficult for him/her, he/she might consider enrolling in it over the summer when there are [fewer] distractions during the term and the student can focus totally on the course in question,” he said.

George also said summer classes can generally help raise a student’s GPA.

“A student who is in academic difficulty, after consultation with his or her academic advisor, may want to enroll [during the] summer to bring his or her GPA up to the required minimum.”

One potential drawback of summer classes is financial aid eligibility. If students have used all of their eligibility for the year, aid is not available for the summer.

Flowers said she has taken classes during the summer before, but they were creative writing classes, which she enjoyed, and she was able to have a relaxing summer while still getting credit hours.

“[Creative writing classes] are less stressful,” she said. “They let me still enjoy my summer. Plus, I feel like I need something that keeps me writing.”

Freeman said there are certain classes she would not take during the summer because of how much information they convey, even though summer classes allow students to focus more intensively.

“If I could go back in time, I definitely would not have taken Finance 302 in the summer,” she said. “I felt like the course was rushed because we were required to cover just as much material [in a shorter amount of time] as students who chose to take the course in a fall or spring semester. The class was extremely stressful, and I felt like I was overloaded with information, which made it difficult to retain.”

One more potential drawback of taking courses over the summer is potential ineligibility for financial aid when taking these courses.

According to the Office of Financial Aid, aid is available only to students who have not used their entire yearly award.

“Any portion of your yearly eligibility that was not utilized during the fall and spring semester may be awarded in the summer semester,” according to the office’s website.