I took CHIN 134 last year and I would generally recommend the summer language intensives, but I don't think they're for everyone, especially if you don't have experience learning foreign languages or if you'd rather learn a foreign language at a slower and more relaxed pace (which may help you retain more of the content in the long run).

Everyday you pretty much study half a chapter of the textbook, which involves learning 3 or 4 grammatical concepts and 10-30 vocabulary words, plus the characters that make up the words. There's a 2-hour lecture on the material you studied the previous day, and then a 2-hour quiz section, where you take a short quiz on the vocab and grammar, and then do workbook exercises and speaking and writing drills.

If you want to get your language credits taken care of in one fell swoop, or if you'd rather study a language at a faster pace, then the intensive course is a good choice. Just be wary of the time commitment involved and the mental exhaustion you might experience when you have to learn so many characters and words every day.