<p>Lots of people could theoretically graduate from Chicago early; relatively few do. It would require a lot of focus right from the start to get all of the requirements for the Core and a major in, and severely limit any electives you took. I think most people don’t do it because going to the University of Chicago is a great opportunity to learn things, and people don’t necessarily want to cut it short if they don’t absolutely have to. Also, it’s a lot harder to assemble an impressive graduate or professional school application, or to get a great job, if you have only the two-and-a-bit years between the time you start and the time you start applying. You won’t have done the research, internships, jobs, papers, high level courses, etc. But focused people CAN make it work. At least outside of the hard sciences – they may just have too many requirements.</p>
<p>(If you work through the summers, that doesn’t count because that’s equivalent to taking, and paying for, another year. Pretty much anyone can do that.)</p>