<p>I am currently a junior in high school in the United States. I am a Florida resident, yet still an English citizen (I moved here 7 years ago). This August I will be applying for Florida State, and I am having trouble debating what I should do about my situation.
For the first 2 years in college, I will pay for in-state tuition due to residency. Once I become 21 I will have to apply for a Student Visa to attend school. This is unfortunate, because although I will still be able to go to school, I will then be classified as an International Student (despite living here for years.. <em>sigh</em>), and tuition is then immensly larger than what I would have previously been paying.
Long story short, I would like to get as much work done as possible before I turn 21 (the september of my junior year in college). I am practically racing against time. My mother isn't too fond of the idea of taking summer classes, but I don't see any other option (and summer classes don't sound too bad, in my opinion anyways). What do you all recommend I do? Is it doable to receive my B.A. in 3 years as a pose to 4? And how many classes would I have to take over the summer to achieve this?
Thank you!</p>
<p>I don’t know how all that visa stuff works, but if what you say is the case, here’s what I’d check out. Go to your high school guidance counselor tomorrow and see if you can do dual enrollment at a community college or public university near you. Check if you can begin taking a full load of FSU transferable college courses beginning this immediate summer and also your senior year in high school. Meantime, call the advisor at FSU in charge of the FSU Degree in Three program and seek her advice too. You probably can get a degree before you turn 21 this way. Too, if you can get in the dual enrollment courses while in high school–they’ll probably not even charge you for tuition or for your books. Good luck!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.degreein3.fsu.edu/[/url]”>http://www.degreein3.fsu.edu/</a></p>
<p>Depending on the program, it’s very doable to get your degree in three years instead of 4. </p>
<p>You would need to total at least 120 credit hours. In 3 years’ time, that’s 40 credit hours per year. Assuming no incoming credits from high school, and a 15 credit hour per Fall/Spring semester course load, you would need to take at least 10 credit hours over the summer. </p>
<p>However, what you are likely going to find is that the course offerings for summer are often rather limited. They might not be in your program, but overall they are very limited.</p>
<p>It’s certainly doable. You can just take an extra class per semester and take summer classes, and as a previous poster mentioned–take some dual enrollment classes.</p>
<p>You might also look into the CLEP program to knock out some of the basic, general education requirements.</p>