What are some good business colleges in Chicago?

Do you prefer colleges with trimesters, semesters, or quarter schedules?

• As per Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_term#United_States Three calendar systems are used by most American colleges and universities: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_quarter_(year_division), semester system, and trimester system. These are ways the calendar year, measured September–August or August–August, is organized into a formal academic year. Some schools, particularly some business schools and community colleges, use the mini-mester or mini-semester system. The quarter system divides the calendar year into four quarters, three of which constitute a complete academic year. Quarters are typically 10 weeks long so that three quarters amount to 30 weeks of instruction. Approximately 20% of universities are on the quarter system. Most colleges that use the quarter system have a fall quarter from late September to mid-December, a winter quarter from early January to mid-March, a spring quarter from late March or early April to mid-June, and an optional summer session. Notable users of the quarter system include the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California system (excluding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Berkeley and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Merced) and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Chicago.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_term#cite_note-24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_term#cite_note-25 The semester system divides the calendar year into two semesters of 15 weeks each, plus summer sessions of varying lengths. The two semesters together constitute 30 weeks of instruction, so that three academic quarters equal two academic semesters. Thus, academic credit earned in quarter hours converts to semester hours at 2/3 of its value, while credit earned in semester hours converts to quarter hours at 3/2 of its value. Put another way, 3 quarter hours is 2 semester hours. Most[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed] universities on the semester system have a fall semester from the day after Labor Day in September to mid-December, a spring/winter semester from late January to early May, and an optional summer session. In practice, the average quarter-long course is four or five units and the average semester course is three units, so a full-time student graduating in four years would take five courses per semester and three or four courses per quarter. Some colleges and universities have a 4-1-4 system, which divides the year into two four-month terms (September to December and February to May) as well as a single one-month term in January in which students can do independent study, study abroad, internships, activities, or focus on one or two classes. The one-month term is sometimes called a mini-mester, winter session,inter-term/interim/intersession or J-term. Examples of schools using this system include:[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed] the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Rhode_Island, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whittier_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany_College_(West_Virginia) in West Virginia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berea_College, the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College_of_Florida, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustana_College_(Illinois) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavus_Adolphus_College,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linfield_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_College_(Iowa),http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_term#cite_note-26 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberlin_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlebury_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erskine_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Maryland,_Baltimore_County, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckerd_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wofford_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Olaf_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samford_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstra_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Delaware, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Mary%27s_College_of_California, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colby_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapman_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_University, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Lutheran_University. Some schools have a similar format but ordered as 4-4-1, with the short term in May after the conclusion of the spring semester. The term is sometimes called either "Maymester", a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteauof "May" and "semester", or "May term". Examples of schools using this system include http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_College, Chatham University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemson_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_College_of_New_Jersey, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmira_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ohio_State_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purdue_University, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvania_University, the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Redlands, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_and_Lee_University's 12-12-4 undergraduate calendar. The trimester system evolved out of the semester system. It divides the academic year into three equal portions of 10–11 weeks each. Institutions that use the trimester system include http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Institute_of_Technology, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carleton_College, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox_College_(Illinois), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustana_College_(Illinois), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_University, and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Merchant_Marine_Academy. The fall and winter and spring trimesters constitute an academic year of 30–32 weeks.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_term#cite_note-27 The reduced maximum course load that accompanies the shortening from the traditional semester makes the trimester system compatible with the semester system. Academic credit is thus measured on the trimester system in semester hours; there is no such thing as a "trimester hour" of credit. At the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan, for example, the Fall trimester (informally still called 'semester') operates from September through December; the Winter trimester runs from January through April; and the Spring-Summer trimester operates from May through August, as two half-trimesters. Most Spring-Summer classes either meet double-time for 7–8 weeks in May and June or double-time/double-plus-time for 6–8 weeks in July and August (with summer half-term classes sometimes starting in the last week of June). A number of colleges have adopted the "one course at a time" or "block schedule" calendar. Academic years consist of a number of terms lasting roughly four weeks each, during which a full semester's amount of work is completed in one and only one class. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_College first began their "Block Plan" in 1970,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_term#cite_note-28 followed by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_University_of_Management in 1971, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_College in 1978.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_term#cite_note-29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_University in Squamish, British Columbia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusculum_College in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusculum,_Tennessee; and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Montana_-_Western are the only other colleges operating under this academic calendar.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed]

• Answer:

  I studied or taught under three major calendars and have a real appreciation of the 4-1-4 system with the January Term as a one-month single-course option during the month of January. What that month meant for a private university in Minnesota was the ability to program an intensive month-long off-campus experience.  I went to Mexico several times and then started a one-month long International Business course in Europe.  It may be wintery there, but decidedly more temperate than in Minnesota.  We were able to visit business locations in multiple countries, hold classroom sessions and have a period of time where nobody had jobs, almost nobody had phone service, and where Europe was neither crowded nor overpriced.  It made the two longer semesters into bookends.