<p>I think I might have enough passed AP's to finish in 3 years if i take a few extra credits a semester.
Bio- 5
Language- 4
Lit- 4
Physics- 3
Gov- 5
European History- 3
Calc AB- 5</p>
<p>However, I don't know if i should, since i'm planning on applying to grad school, and i want to have a better GPA for a better chance to get accepted.</p>
<p>Some grad schools may not accept your AP credits.</p>
<p>define graduate school. Medical and vet school have very different standards than English PhD or a Physics PhD which is also really different compared to law school. </p>
<p>And more importantly, time to degree is irrelevant. What matters is what you know. Learning what you need to know in 4 years is much better than not learning anything in 3 years.</p>
<p>Aside from all the academic reasons, finishing college in 3 years may not satisfy you at a personal level (extra curricular achievements, social life, legacy, etc.). Many will look back and regret finishing in 3 years instead of the regular 4.</p>
<p>What about the fact that one of the most frequent reasons students say they are not going to grad school is student debt from their undergrad degree? If you could finish in 3 years, well, that’s money in the bank you can use for your grad degree. I assumed that most grad degrees looked for the undergrad degree, not if some of those undergrad credits were obtained through AP or CLEP for that matter. Does anybody know of specifics where this is not true? and if so, how wide spread is the practice? I think graduating early is a great idea, many schools are now offering ways to do this and have specific advisors for this type of student. If you are worried about cutting short “the experience”, you’re looking to go to grad school anyway, more educational experiences await you.</p>
<p>I personally would look to get more involved instead of looking to get out. Many times the people that push too hard burn out or miss the whole point of college. If all you want from a college degree is to quote facts like a parrot, then maybe you will not mind.</p>
<p>More than likely you are going to learn a whole lot about yourself over the next few years and will graduate a completely different person than you are now. Dont rush it.</p>
<p>My two cents as a parent of an incoming freshman…and I DID graduate from my university in three years, due to testing out of a year of school through CLEP exams:</p>
<p>Don’t kill yourself trying to graduate in three years! Sure you could probably do it, but as others have said, give yourself a chance to enjoy the experience of college too. I graduated from college at age 20 and started working a few months later. I really do regret not having more fun in college! Adult responsibilities come soon enough. Even with your grad school plans, I would advise you to not burn yourself out during your undergrad years.</p>
<p>You don’t have to decide right away how soon you will graduate, ease yourself in and then decide what is best for you. Good luck!</p>
<p>
Its unclear what, exactly, you’re asking/saying. In general, most programs don’t care what you’re undergraduate degree is as long as you are prepared for graduate level work. For example, you don’t need to be a biology major to get into (and more importantly, succeed) in medical school. On the other hand, it’s going to be pretty hard to convince a physics PhD program that you’d make a great physicist if you’re undergraduate degree is in English literature and you’ve only taken freshmen physics. </p>
<p>
Be careful. a lot of programs have moved to 3 year programs for [budget</a> reasons.](<a href=“Ohio Universities Told To Develop 3-Year Degrees : NPR”>http://www.npr.org/2011/04/19/135545481/ohio-universities-told-to-develop-3-year-degrees)
The problem is people (ie employers) still expect you to have the same knowledge as the person next to you (who probably got a 4 year degree). And unlike the European system, most high school students don’t go into college knowing exactly what they want to do/prepared to do so. If you (the OP) know what you want to do and can do it in three years, more power to you!</p>
<p>lastly: you don’t have to plan out your schedule this early. chances are, you’ll be able to decide if you want to leave after three years at the beginning of your third year-ish. Just go with the flow. if you get to your third year and you want out, you’ll be able to make your schedule fit (except for certain majors, mostly engr I think)</p>
<p>start first and see how it is and go from there! you might not want to leave once you start attending :))</p>
<p>On the topic of graduate school, I’m going to say it’ll feel more like a job than yet another college experience. I’m in my MSEE program right now hoping to advance to candidacy after this year. Although I do get the perks of being in school rather than working, life is definitely not the same. In addition to those notions about making sure you have a social life in undergrad, you’ll find that these friends/networks one gains during undergrad will stick with you in your social life AND career forever. Also, you tend to meet only those in your field in graduate school. No more GEs =P. But there are socials that make up for it.</p>