<p>Hi I am a junior in high school right now taking Calc III at a local community college and next semester I will be taking Diff Eqs and Linear Algebra. If I take two higher core math classes by senior year then how long would it take to get a BS or a BA?</p>
<p>Just as a background, I really enjoy maths and would like to pursue an grad degree in math in the future. </p>
<p>Well, if you have 5 university Math courses, then it is about one semester worth of classes but poorly balanced as you will still have to take all of your general education classes. So the time to degree will be at least 3 and one half years.</p>
<p>Are the GE classes just one year and then I can pursue what I want to pursue? Or is there a requirement to take a minimum amount of credits of GE classes and then finally go to get a degree?</p>
<p>It depends on where you end up going. </p>
<p>What are their distribution requirements? Are you going to have transfer/AP credit for any of them? What are their requirements for majoring in math (I’m assuming that’s what you want to do)? If your community college credits transfer, will they count toward those requirements? Do they offer both a BS and a BA? If so, which one do you want? Do you want to have a minor and/or a second major? These are some questions to consider.</p>
<p>As an anecdote, I took the classes you mentioned as well as Introduction to Number Theory, Numerical Analysis, and Abstract Algebra at a state university when I was a senior in high school. I go to a private college now (I say this because some people will say you can’t transfer dual-enrollment classes to private schools, but that isn’t universally true and you need to look at the policies of the specific school you’re attending), and I was able to get transfer credit for seven classes that count toward my major. I also have credit for some of my distribution requirements, based on five AP exams I took in my junior year.</p>
<p>I have eight more classes to take for my major (complex analysis, two real analysis classes, three physics classes, a chemistry class, and a linear algebra class I didn’t get credit for) and six or seven more classes to take for my distribution requirements. It might be possible for me to graduate in fewer than four years, but I would like to take more advanced classes and hopefully get research experience. If you want to go to graduate school, you should do more than just meet the requirements.</p>
<p>
Distribution requirements are part of the requirements for the degree. Different colleges have different requirements. You don’t have to finish your distribution requirements before taking classes in your major, although a lot of people try to finish them as early as possible. </p>
<p>If the only credits you have going in will be the listed math courses, you can probably shave off a semester if you take normal amounts of credits, possibly two semesters if you take a slight overload. If you have additional other credits (e.g. non-math AP credit that is accepted by the college), there is potential to shave off more semesters. Of course, this depends a lot on the school’s policy with accepting transfer and AP credit, since some schools are stingy with credit units for transfer and AP credit.</p>