1.  Take advantage of a human glitch in the education system.
2.  Get better gradesin tougher courses.
3.  Get better grades in boring courses.
4.  Pad your GPA during the school's down time.

These, and any other arguments you might have, would all be legitimate, but allow me to prove why boring is always better.  There are two key points to make.

Boring is Better Rationale

First, if you were here standing next to me, and I started punching you in your arm with all my strength, but you couldn't go anywhere, would you rather I punch you in the arm for six weeks or 16 weeks?  Now, you're probably saying, "I wouldn't want you to punch me at all," but the reality is that as long as you're a college student, you will get punched.  The only option you have is for how long?  Therefore, I would suggest you choose to get "punched" by that boring or tough professor or course for a shorter duration.  It only makes common sense (I told you it would come in handy).

Second (and this is something I found out after I became a professor), a college professor is usually on a nine-month contract.  That means that most professors get summers off.  I found out that most professors usually decide to teach during the summer for one or two reasons.  The first reason is to earn extra money.  Hopefully, that doesn't come as a surprise to you; but the second reason might.  If professors don't need to earn extra money, they may choose to teach over the summer to finish projects they started during the fall and spring terms (i.e., writing a book, doing research, etc.)  Having access to their office computer and campus resources can really be a big plus for them; not to mention, being in an academic environment helps them stay focused.

The second point is so critical because if professors are primarily focused on earning extra money or completing their books and research projects, who are they NOT focusing on?  That's right, YOU!  Unfortunately, students are third on the priority list.  I mentioned early in the book that teachers are human beings.  If you believe that, ask yourself this question, "If you were a professor, and you needed to earn extra money and/or complete your research project, would you bust your hump teaching if your two primary goals were already guaranteed?"  I didn't think so.

It is human nature not to work hard if you don't really have to and especially if there's no incentive.  Don't just take my word for it, ask any of your friends.

The ironic thing is this, since the summer semesters are shorter, it actually requires more work on the professor's part to prepare.  owever, very few professors put forth that effort.  The exception to my theory is adjunct professors (those who teach part-time).  They have nothing to lose, they already have an outside job that pays them more than teaching does; they don't have to publish any books or articles to keep their jobs, so they're only focus is you.  Avoid adjuncts at all costs during the summer.

On the other hand, those nine-month professors, who find themselves having to squeeze their 16-week course into 12 or six weeks, understand that unless they shave some of the requirements (the key concept here), creating a thorough course would be like mission impossible.

Hindsight is 4.0/4.0

As a student, I figured this strategy out by accident (like most of them).  I happened to review a copy of my college transcript during my junior year.  I noticed that I never made anything less than an "A" during the summer term (which I always attended).  However, I had taken my toughest and most boring courses over the summer.  It just didn't make any sense, until I figured it out. 

During the fall and the spring term, when students may have to take four tests in any given class, that same class may require only two tests if taken over the summer.  The professor who requires you to write five papers during the course of the fall and spring terms, may only require you to do two or three during the summer term.

Are you following the logic here?  No professor worth their salt can look themselves in the mirror with a clear conscience and expect you to thoroughly understand in six weeks what their previous classes "A" learn in 16 weeks.  The only logical solution would be to reduce the requirements, relax a little on the details, inflate the grades to balance the scales, or whatever strategy he or she can come up with to have a clear conscience.

If you don't believe this happens, explain to me how a student in high school can fail 36 weeks of math and English and go to summer school and pass both classes in only six to eight weeks?  No one ever said the system was perfect.  I'm just telling you to allow the system to work for you instead of against you.   It's already set up in your favor.