I've tried that for a couple topics (Reinforcement Learning, Linear Algebra, Bayesian Stats) over the last six months and I found for myself it was much harder to retain information than spacing it out over several months and chipping away at it little by little (which I'm doing with Python, Algorithms, Control Theory). I personally prefer practicing interleaving, as I find that applying one subject to another make me remember a lot more of the concepts than block learning techniques.

Also in the grand scheme of things, three weeks isn't a lot of time. Granted, I'm not a fast learner!

imo you should definitely do linear algebra before learning RL or stats. it will make everything else much easier.

This is generally called a Block Plan[1] and is a great system for some students. Looks like Cornell College offers it, you got my hopes up as I'm a Cornell University student and juggling five technical courses at a time has heavy context switching penalties. On the other hand, last year taking Linear Algebra and at the same time having to apply it in a signals processing class was a good combo.

[1] http://www.expertadmissions.com/ExpertAdmissionsBlog/tabid/7...

Yeah, I used to take intersession courses back in my college days where I focused on one course for four weeks. That fit my mode of study way better than taking 4/5 technical courses at the same time. Doing a deep dive on one subject and then moving on was just way better for subject retention in my opinion.

Interleaved study leads to greater retention than blocked study.

http://www.indiana.edu/~pcl/2014/01/interleavedblockeddelaye...

https://www.northeastern.edu/learningresearch/interleaved-st...

What makes you think that it was better?

Condensed studying feels easier, but leads to lower long-term retention. Now, there are methods used to help mitigate that, but those can also be used to increase retention of spread out studying too.

Intensive courses in the summer aren’t unusual, especially in the summer and especially for language classes.

This also reminded me of some summer classes. Maybe one month, 5 days/week?

Some of the things that best remember from undergrad were learned over the summer.

I still don't know whether it was the short/intensive set up of the courses that improved learning, or if it was the fact that I was only willing to do summer courses in topics I knew I'd do well in. Either way, it's my best memory of school.

I always took advantage of summer quarter as an undergrad. It was a better experience though course selection wasn’t great (especially for CS).

Just to clarify, that's Cornell College, not Cornell University.