As Spring Break comes and goes, so does the deadline to register for summer classes.

Class times are available online March 13 and registration begins April 3.

Outside NIU

Students wishing to take classes during the summer are urged to contact their academic adviser before committing to classes at colleges and institutions other than NIU.

“There are certain things with each individual on whether the course will be transferred or not,” said Suzanne Warber, acting associate director of Registration and Records. “It’s not as simple as just taking a course and having it transfer here. There are a lot of specifics to the issue.”

Warber said students need to get in contact with Registration and Records to plan what classes they will take and at what community college.

Most classes taken during the summer at colleges and institutions other than NIU are considered general education requirements and most will transfer. However, there are a few that do not have exact equivalents and may not count as credit.

For example, students who wish to satisfy the COMS 100 class equivalent at Kishwaukee Community College would take Fundamentals of Speech, SPE100, which would count toward the Introduction to Communication course.

“I work a lot during the school year, and it becomes very trying to keep more than 15 credits, so during the spring semester I usually take 12 credits and make up one or two classes during the summer,” said Erin Cloherty, a junior corporate and organizational communication double major. “If I’m really feeling ambitious, I might take additional classes just to graduate in four years.”

Credits and summer cramming

For some students, finding the time to take classes during the summer is something they don’t have.

“I have too many fees I need to pay off from school,” said Mark Pietrucha, a freshman electrical engineering major. “I am forced to work over the summer making it hard for me to take classes then.”

Warber, however, said students need to be cautious when taking classes in the summer, as individuals are limited to 66 academic hours that will transfer to the university.

“For a freshman you are OK. Once you are a senior, which is 90 hours, you have to get approval from your major college to get hours to transfer,” Warber said. “But for freshmen, they could complete the course at the community college, then send a transcript to NIU and that’s where we would look to see if it is a transferable course.”

Students are urged to not only talk to their academic adviser before signing up for classes at another college, but also to log onto the Registration and Records Web site to find the NIU equivalencies of the classes offered at various community colleges.