I’m a high school student who wants to graduate college in 3 years so I can get to work faster.
It depends where you are, but at most places, taking 6 or 7 classes a semester in college is hellish.
Many colleges will not let you take an overload freshman year. You run the risk of getting a low GPA or flunking out.
That load would be insane for most students in most majors at most colleges and universities. Whether or not it would be insane for you in the major you choose at the college/university that you end up attending would depend on you, your major, and where you are studying.
Check the websites of the places you are applying to, and see if they award credit for exams such as the CLEP and AP exams, and check the summer school offerings. If you attend a college/university that is generous with credit for exams and offers a lot of summer school courses, it shouldn’t be hard to finish up early.
Many colleges will also charge you for 8 semesters of college whether you are physically on campus or not.
@bookmama22 I certainly hope not. What college does that?
18-21 units is indeed insane, especially if you are going into STEM. I’ll be lucky to graduate in 4 years going into AeroE. But even with anything else it would be crazy.
Both Brandeis and University of Rochester unless the policies have changed in the past year or so. Older d went to Brandeis with another student from her high school who did graduate in 3 years with AP credit and by attending summer sessions every summer. They grudgingly let her do so although as in many elite schools, there is a limit to how AP credit is extended, usually not for classes in your major.
University of Rochester. Younger d had a friend who wanted to be finished by January of senior year, 3.5 years and the university said she could be off-campus for an internship but tuition still needed to be paid. I believe that she had completed her academic requirements but cannot be 100% sure.
Older d did have two friends, both older than her who graduated in 3 years from GW and American with AP credit.
Academic overload can be done but not every semester. Certainly not in freshman year. And… if you academically overload, that really limits your ability to be involved in clubs, student gov’t, student organizations, sports, on-campus or off-campus jobs, etc and those areas allow you to build leadership, broaden your experiences and all contribute to your overall resume for grad school, employment. It is not just your GPA
Be sure to check the policies at the schools you are interested in, as some schools charge extra tuition for taking credit hours above a certain limit. Some others require written permission to overload.
It really depends on the college you will go to and the major you pursue. Some will have more requirements and others will be more feasible to graduate within three years. It’s a good question to ask on tours, to current students, and the chair of the department you are interested in. Some schools say it is possible, but only in theory.
At my school, I know that students are capped at 18 credits per semester, and in order to take more, you need to get an override. This is due to the rigor of the classes at the school, so it really depends on the college you attend. If you attend a school like Columbia or University of Chicago, for instance, it will also be more difficult due to their expansive core curriculum. You may also want to consider community college transfer credits or taking AP credits towards your major in high school if that is of a concern to you.
Re #4 and #6
Public universities are unlikely to do that. Finish all requirements early and they are more than happy to see you graduate to make space for others.
ultima: I don’t know your intended major but what is your plan, post-grad? Job? Grad or professional school?
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what will be this plan on your GPA? Extremely important to your grad/professional school admissions. Important to prospective employers too.
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Your prospective employers will ask you: What ECs did you do? Experience do you have? Your competition will say: a, b & c. You’ll say you saved a year’s tuition by cramming in all your coursework but did almost nothing meaningful outside. You won’t impress people interviewing you. They want employees who can fit into their organization – who are willing to work with others, to overcome mutual problems and are eager to learn and adopt the org’s ways. How will you have the ability to show this in your plan? Others, with 4 years under their belt, significant internship/co-op jobs will be much more valued than you – who spent two summers taking additional classes only. You save a year’s tuition. They have multiple job offers. I’d want to be the latter rather than the former.
@T26E4, to be honest I am not quite sure what I want to do afterwards. I want to try out for the USMC Scout Snipers when I graduate and a bachelors will get me in the program and promote me faster, but that is not set in stone obviously. I eventually want to get an MBA or PHD in life sciences (Marine Biology, zoology, ETC)
@bookmama22, some universities have that 4 year requirement.
In any case, whether 18-21 credit hours is insane or not depends a lot on your major and school.
Also, many colleges award credit for AP’s, some for dual credit/CC classes. Some for CLEP. It’s really school-specific.
18-21 credits will often bring a surcharge I thought
I DO know of BS-MD people who take that load though. It is not impossible, just very tricky, especially if science labs have to be done
@Iwonderwhere, it really depends on the college and their tuition policies. You can’t really generalize.
@PurpleTitan true, which is why I said ‘often’
http://www.usu.edu/budget/Documents/TuitionFees/2014-15USUtuition-feeSchedule.pdf …
and this little gem from UMich “An undergraduate student electing more than 18 credit hours will pay the “Part Time Additional Hour” rate for each hour exceeding 18” @ a cost of 519-589/credit for instate…
So if I were OP, I’d check just how much could be saved by loading up on credits past 18
In the Michigan example, going from 36 credits/yr to 42 will raise tuition from 6579 to 9693 for instate
At Utah state tuition would go from 3191 per semester(18 credits) to 3845 @ 21 credits
A good idea would be to take a normal load your first term and ratchet up as you see fit. That way, you shouldn’t have any bad surprises.
It’s not a good idea to “rush” through college. You need time to accumulate meaningful experiences and internships. If you’ve covered the basic requirements, no one says you can’t take more advanced classes and/or add depth or breadth to your coursework with complementary classes and/or take a co-op semester and/or have a one-day-a-week internship. There’s also a maturity issue, but that correlates with the “meaningful experiences” I referred to earlier.
Look at the sophomores at your high school: do you think that, even with all their HS credits, they could pass off as seniors?
First semester, take 15-16 credits. See how you handle that. If you goet 3.75+, then try 18 credits. Don’t go over that, don’t do yourself a disservice.
- Your GPA is more important than graduating faster. If you have a poor GPA, no one will care if you graduated in 3 years.
- Find ways to get credits before you go to college. Take dual-enrollment or AP or IB classes in HS and apply to colleges that will accept those as credits. For instance, my daughter did an IB diploma. At SUNY Binghamton she was able to graduate in 2.5 years from the help of the IB credits and a couple of summer courses.
“USMC Scout Snipers, an MBA or PHD in life sciences (Marine Biology, zoology, ETC)”
That’s quite the varied lot of possible life options Ultima – that’s why your plan to fly through college may not be your best route. A careful exploration of many options at a college which offers breadth will open some doors, may close some others. MBA – business – private sector maybe? PhD: you want to do research or teach? Vastly different than becoming a US Marine. Consider NROTC perhaps.