Able to graduate in 4 years?

Colleges and Universities A-Z The University of Texas at Austin
1

<p>Is this true of UT? </p>

<p>(from the 'colleges that change lives' website):</p>

<p>MISPERCEPTION: Large research-based and Ivy League schools have better course selection, and they can attract more talented faculty members.</p>

<p>REALITY: It’s no use having hundreds of courses if students can only get into a few, and huge lecture courses taught by graduate students make learning impersonal at best and impossible at worst. Many larger universities now publish 5-year graduation plans in their own course catalogs to acknowledge the difficulty students have in registering for the classes they need to graduate. Nationwide, fewer students are graduating in four years from larger schools, and they’re lucky if they ever get to talk with a professor outside of class. The great scholars at many major universities are busy researching or publishing, not teaching—especially not undergraduates—and there’s not much chance of independent study or undergraduate research.</p>

2

<p>The main reason students take more than four years to graduate is because they change majors. Classes that they have already taken do not apply to their new major. Students that graduate in the major they started out with are in the minority in college. If you want to graduate in four years, take required courses common to most degrees (e.g. English, history, government) before taking electives.</p>

<p>The five year graduation plans that are published may be for double majors or for majors such as engineering which typically require more hours for a degree than a B.A.</p>

<p>There are also some students that like it there so much that they aren't ready to go out into the real world. I have known of a few students who can graduate in the Spring but will come back in the Fall and take additional classes so they can attend football games. If fact I know of one person who passes up a starting position that paid millions of dollars to return college in the Fall to take a dance class and to attend football games. When he finally graduated, he was no longer considered to be the top graduate in his "field" (sur"passed" by a UT grad) and ended up taking a job that paid him millions of dollars less than he would have received if he had graduated on time. The UT grad could have done the same thing but he wisely decided to take the money and "run".</p>

<p>If students are taking four years to graduate, being closed out of classes is a minor factor in that. They can always be waited-listed for classes, get in during the drop/add period, be forced into a class by an instructor, or attend class w/o being registered for the class and wait for someone in the class to drop and be added at that time. Just because a class is listed as closed doesn't mean you can't get in it. Learning to beat the system is part of the college learning process. If there is a will, there is a way. </p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with being taught be graduate students in introductory classes. All profs started out as graduate students. There is nothing about being a prof that inherently makes them better instructors than graduate students, although many of them think so. One could make the argument that some graduate students are better instructors than profs because they relate better to undergrads. The courses where profs would make a difference would be in upper level classes where they have expertise in the field.</p>

<p>If a student wants a prof instead of graduate student, they have the opportunity to choose a prof at the time they register. Instructors are listed in the course schedule. Students can also research instructor performance through Course Instructor Survey, UTLife, and Pick-A-Prof to select classes based on the instructor that they want.</p>

<p>Taking the initiative to interact w/ an instructor is a student's responsibility. Most profs go into teaching because they enjoy being in a college environment and interacting with students. I don't know of any profs who do not have office hours. If a prof is not student friendly, you can find that out through Course Instructor Survey, UTLife, and Pick-A-Prof.</p>

<p>Learning to navigate the maze and refusing to take no for an answer is part of the learning process at the big U. If a student does not take the initiative, they will be passed by those who do. That's as true in college as it is in life.</p>

<p>I have not read "Colleges That Change Lives" but I have heard of it. I know that the colleges that are mentioned in the book use it as a recruiting tool. But think about - don't all colleges change lives?</p>

<p>As for big schools vs small schools. You can make a big school small through living, learning communities such as Plan II and Freshman Interest Groups at UT, but you can't make a small school big. </p>

<p>There a oportunities and resources available at the big U that small schools just can't offer such as the trading floor at McCombs, the opportunity to get together w/ 80,000+ of your closest friends for a party at Memorial Stadium on Saturdays in the Fall, and being able to network with 400,000+ other alums.</p>

3

<p>Well you have put things into perspective - thanks!</p>

<p>I like to always cross-reference everything; look at all the angles. </p>

<p>What you said is very helpful!</p>

4

<p>
[quote]
If fact I know of one person who passes up a starting position that paid millions of dollars to return college in the Fall to take a dance class and to attend football games. When he finally graduated, he was no longer considered to be the top graduate in his "field" (sur"passed" by a UT grad) and ended up taking a job that paid him millions of dollars less than he would have received if he had graduated on time. The UT grad could have done the same thing but he wisely decided to take the money and "run".

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That was cute.</p>

5

<p>You can definitely graduate in 4 years, especially if you stick with the same major. Also, I don't know how receptive people are to this buy if you do summer semesters you can easily knock some hours out, you can do about 18 hours a summer, which can help tremendously.</p>

<p>I'm starting my sophomore year at UT and I already have 46 UT hours, after this semester I should be able to have the junior classifcation and take upper div courses.</p>

6

<p>I second everything m1817 said. In addition: Our son probably won't graduate in 4 years but that's because he has a double major in unrelated fields. However, by his senior year, he will have enough credits to graduate with a degree in one of his majors. If he decides to go to graduate school or if he is tired of going to school, he can always drop his second major, graduate, and move on to the next phase of his life. </p>

<p>Overall, if a student is flexible, most large colleges offer enough choices that s/he will be able to get decent classes and graduate in 4 years.</p>