Graduating college in less than 4 years

[smiths02]

I had enough AP/IB credits to have shortened my time in college, but I took but I still spent 4 years earning my B.A.
I had a scholarship for tuition, so I took my time and did a double major (and I was one class short of also having a minor). My scholarship was only tuition and books, so I did work to support myself. So working 30 hours a week was doable because I only had to take a regular load.
At the university I attended, you have to write a thesis to be graduated with honors, so I had more time to do that without taking too many courses.

It was also nice to only take classes for my majors and minor (except PE). I also got preferential treatment for selecting classes after my first semester because of my credit standing.

 

[smiths02]

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.

Most of my IB friends from high school got decent scholarships and/or had rich parents, so they took all four years and prepped for graduate school. They are mostly lawyers and doctors now.

 

[smiths02]

I think the other posters were trying to answer the first poster's question - why would someone want to graduate early? They are saying it would be nice to graduate early because then they wouldn't have to pay college tuition for 4 years. Tuition, room & board at my DS's school is $26000 a year. If he had done the dual enrollment program through our public high school (which is FREE), he would have gone into college with his AA. Then he could potentially earn his degree at the university in 2 or 3 years (depending on his major). That would save me between $52000 and $26000. That's a lot of money!

Not to mention that he could also potentially be earning money that last year or two at a potentially full-time job that makes use of his degree.

 

[AustinMommyofThree]

My husband and I are, and will continue to be, encouraging our children to take a robust high school curriculum that lets them explore different areas and their classes will likely include some that convey college credit. But we will also encourage our kids to spend the full four years in college and to use any credits they bring in to free them up to explore other areas that interest them. To us, the purpose of college is not just the diploma at the end, so having them check the boxes as quickly as possible to get that piece of paper completely misses the point for us.

 

[SureAsLiz]

I did 3.5 years with a major and minor. Entered with about a semester worth of AP credits. And took one summer course because of a schedule conflict.

My university was very small, so major classes were on a 2 year cycle. There was one class that would have kept me for that last semester, so I just did a directed study with the professor. This also meant I took my senior capstone class as a junior.

We also had a lot of alternative credit classes - instead of taking the leadership class, I went on a week long leadership retreat. Instead of the advertising (or something like that) class, I took the trip to NYC. I got the 3 credit hours without having to sit in class for a semester. A bit of an upfront cost, but nothing compared to the savings of leaving a semester early.

And I can't know for sure, but I believe that graduating in December vs May gave me an advantage in getting my current role simply because there are few December graduates looking for internships than there are May