Graduating college in less than 4 years

[tcufrog]

My sister went to college with 18 AP credits and graduated with a BA in English in 3 1/2 years. I went with 12 and graduated in 4 years with a dual major in history and religion. I didn't have to take summer school or more than 14 credits a semester. That allowed me to work during the summer and part-time during the school year.

 

[havaneselover]

I graduated from a public Ivy in three years. I came in with 8 credits, took differential equations over the summer after first year, and did six weeks in Oxford between my second and third years.

It was a huge mistake for me. I was not ready at 20 to be working full time and loving on my own. Dd is entering high school in September and currently choosing between IB and advanced/AP. One of my colleagues told me our alma mater doesn't like IB credits. I told him I didn't care--I want DD to be on a four year plan (our alma mater does take a lot of kids from this IB program so I'm not concerned about that).

 

[Pacolovestacos]

Putting aside child prodigies, I've never understood the desire to graduate early. If you have credits, great. Either take fewer classes per term or do a study abroad, or both.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My niece will be graduating with nearly an Associates degree worth of credits come June.
She will likely only need 3 years to earn her Bachelors degree. Her major will be in forensics.
She plans on doing a semester abroad during that time to stretch it out a big more without being overwhelmed.

 

[jen73]

Our daughter graduated with 2 associate degrees and her high school diploma in 2013. She entered as a 17 year old junior in college and graduated with her BA in political science at 19 years old. She loved her 2 years at the University and made the most of it. She enjoyed it and doesn't feel like she rushed anything. She even spent a summer in China taking classes. I think it just depends on the individual student. Finishing college early is definitely not for everyone. Our daughter is now 21, teaches Chinese, and will be applying to grad school starting this fall.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

One of my best friends from HS went on to graduate from college in 3 years, despite having not taken any AP/college credit classes in HS. He just took a ton of classes each semester.

 

[mom2rtk]

Putting aside child prodigies, I've never understood the desire to graduate early. If you have credits, great. Either take fewer classes per term or do a study abroad, or both.

The cost savings can be substantial. And for many, that is an important piece of the puzzle.

 

[blana]

Due to credits I earned in high school, plus a single summer school course taken before I started to get an intro to computing class out of the way, I was able to finish in 3.5 years, whereas most people in my major took 4.5-5 years.

 

[gwynne]

Both of my kids graduated in 3 years plus one summer semester after their junior year.
They completed most of the required freshman courses in high school.
It saved us a considerable sum of cash, and they were happy to start right in with smaller, interesting classes in their major rather than the usual freshman monster classes.

 

[tzolkin]

Most of my friends from HS (we were in IB together) did graduate at least a semester early.

I chose to do the full 4 years because I had a full scholarship (including room & board) and did two majors. I still could have finished a semester early with the two majors, but preferred to take more classes that I enjoyed.

My best friend's father died when we were juniors, so she was able to take a semester off and study for her MCAT but still graduated on time. It was nice that she had the flexibility with the extra credits from HS.

 

[tvguy]

Some Colleges offer a degree in 3 years. And in the UK 3 years is much more common.
We'll see. The number of Colleges here who won't accept AP and IB credit is growing though, so just depends which University you choose.

 

[amberpi]

I did double undergrad with honors in 3 years and grad in a summer and a year. I had to get special permission on overloading and took intersession and summer school. I went in with about 24 hours I want to say? I went to a state school (UT - Knoxville), maybe it would have taken me longer if I'd gone to a better school? It didn't seem that hard.

 

[McKelly]

My daughter is starting out with 20 college credits. She is hoping to get all of her on campus classes done in 3 years. Internships will add on to that though, so in the end, I think it will be four years.

 

[georgina]

Putting aside child prodigies, I've never understood the desire to graduate early. If you have credits, great. Either take fewer classes per term or do a study abroad, or both.

My DS finished his classes in 3 years plus one summer of study abroad. He still needed 2 semesters of co-op so he started working, and after a year he could graduate, then he just kept working for the same company. His college was very generous with AP credits so he went in with one full semester of classes. Everyone is not fond of extra studying; he was happy to get out and start working. He likes what he does for a living.

My DD found out this semester she only needed 1 class plus her senior project to graduate. She is also auditing a couple of classes but because she is half time she is paying less tuition, and she really wanted the extra time for her project, so it worked out well for her.

 

[skuttle]

I graduated in 3.5 years. I started with a few credits, but I finished a semester early mainly because I carried 15 hours each semester and I also did summer school every year, including a summer semester abroad (mainly because I didn't want to go back home!).

 

[LisaR]

Mine entered with her AA and still took 3.5 years by choice. It was the best of both worlds. She had very little pressure on her. She never took more than four classes in a semester (three a few times). She had tons of free time to get very involved, was able to have an internship every semester, head up multiple clubs, volunteer, and rack up some great experience and really pad her resume. It paid off because she was offered multiple jobs after graduation and landed her "dream job" (at least for now). I am certainly not saying that those without all of her credit hours couldn't and don't get as involved as she did, but they would generally also have the burden of five to six classes per semester. She has no regrets.

 

[cvjw]

My son went into UGA with 16 hours earned by AP classes and 26 hours earned in dual enrollment while in high school. All hours/classes transferred to UGA for the classes he took in dual enrollment/AP classes.

He will finish up a masters degree in Accounting in 4 years - which is a 5 year degree. He could have finished even earlier, but opted to never take over 12 hours his whole 4 years at UGA.

The AP classes and dual enrollment have saved us a ton of money and given him confidence for handling college like a champ

 

[Twende]

Years ago I got my BS in three years. I had no credits from HS. I just took a full load every quarter. It helped that I attended a large university (Ohio State) so that courses were offered often. It helped that I took the upper levels of math and science courses because that allowed me to have my pick at majors. It helped that I was highly motivated. I have no regrets.

 

[sonnyjane]

Another 3.5 year gal here. They awarded me 21 credits based on AP credits. I took a few more AP classes than that but only got 3's and my school didn't give credit. It was nice to not have to pay for that extra semester, but I graduated before all of my friends so that was kind of a bummer. I didn't know a single person in the winter graduation class.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I DO know somebody who graduated in 3 years, it took attending some summer school classes, but it can be done.