<p>I’m currently a sophomore at Penn studying PPE. I really want to leave Penn and transfer (sorry to anyone who loves the school) but my parents aren’t letting me. So my next option is to graduate in 3 years. I am probably going abroad for a semester next year during which I can only take 3 courses…I’ll have 19 of the 36 credits I need to graduate completed by the end of this semester. Also, I’m hoping to intern during the summer so I don’t know how that will affect summer courses.</p>
<p>SO, what can I do to graduate by next year knowing that I’m probably going abroad?</p>
<p>First, I’m sorry to hear you aren’t having a great time at Penn. I am currently a senior and didn’t have a great experience here at first but have come to really enjoy it over time (don’t give up on liking it already!). It takes different people different amounts of time to find a group of friends/activities they enjoy. Before setting your sights on getting out of here as soon as possible you should really make an effort to try some new things and meet new people, you’ll probably be surprised how much of a difference it makes. </p>
<p>As far as graduating early doing PPE, if you don’t take classes over the summer, and you only take 3 abroad next semester, you would have to take 14 in one semester to graduate in 3 years (clearly not feasible). If you are truly set on graduating early, I suggest looking into switching to a 32 credit major, taking classes over the summer, and either not going abroad or switching to an abroad program where you can take more credits. </p>
<p>That being said, I think it would be far better for you, both academically and socially, to focus more on trying to enjoy being at Penn than trying to get out ASAP</p>
<p>I agree with yeszir; it is not feasible for you to graduate at the end of next year, regardless of what you do. You can’t take more than 2 c.u. over the summer, and if you take only three courses abroad, you will have a max of 24 credits by the end of the fall next year; even in a 32 credit major, you still couldn’t reasonably and healthily take 8 courses in one semester, and no adviser in their right mind would allow you to try. The only possibility you have, in my opinion, is to switch into a 32 credit major (likely political science), take two courses this summer, three next fall, six the following spring and two the following summer. You’d walk with the class of 2013 and graduate in August.</p>
<p>That said, even if you don’t like Penn, which I completely understand, you will be doing nothing productive by trying to cram in 13-17 courses over the course of two semesters and a couple summers. You will hurt your GPA, you will not have time to participate in any job recruitment and you will not be able to dedicate time to grad school apps if you want to go that route. All around, you are not in a good position to graduate early, especially since PPE requires a capstone…</p>
<p>I took 6 and 6.5 credits some semesters, usually 4.5 or 5, and graduated on time barely. What you suggest is ridiculous. </p>
<p>I would recommend looking into whether you can finish online, or switch to another undergrad program that you can finish online. If you hate the school so badly, you should get out. And to me if you hate Penn, why would you take away a semester abroad opportunity from someone who wants to attend Penn?</p>
<p>I think you have to contact your advisor as soon as possible to find the answer to your question. The program I was in had certain things offered in odd years and even years, so you could not graduate in three years due to pre-requisites and courses not being offered every semester.</p>
<p>My brother graduated from a big Midwestern university in 3.5 years, and that was only through taking a huge load of classes per semester, 7 I think.</p>