<p>ok let's say a kid goes to college uses all his AP credits and is able to start as a sophomore, he graduates from college in 3 years.</p>
<p>is this bad for grad school admissions or no?</p>
<p>You will be competeing with graduates who have had an extra year to do research and be involved in internships. They will also have had more opportunity to get to know their profs for recommendation letters. In addition there are many undergrad awards that it may be more difficult for you to compete for.</p>
<p>If money is not an issue, you might consider going the four years and really getting involved in some awesome research since you won't have to take geeneral education courses.</p>
<p>If money is an issue then make the most of the three years in the above areas. Tough decision. Besides no one really knows....just my opinion.</p>
<p>nope- a degree is a degree. i finished my BA in 3.5 years, but spent the last semester on campus taking electives, because who wants to leave college early?? (and also finished my masters a semester early), and it doesnt matter. also, people may do the opposite- take a year off from college, go parttime, etc., and thats ok too.</p>
<p>I have to agree with ConanFan in part and huskem in part.</p>
<p>Graduating in 3 years isn't necessarily bad. It's just rather self-limiting. It cuts away the year that most people really get some good research in, get to know their profs, and really put that icing on the cake.</p>
<p>It won't necessarily be an awful thing, but it's not really "helping." If money isn't an issue, use your fourth year as an opportunity to really make yourself a hot commodity.</p>
<p>I personally don't think 3 years is bad. I know a 3 year person, but she had a tripple major. She went to school all year long, summers and winters. My school has an academic winter session.</p>
<p>The only problem is that most "major" universities don't believe AP is equivalent to actual college course work. Plus, you might find the upper-level classes to be more difficult. I know many people with AP credit that still took the 101's. One friend told me its a great GPA booster.</p>
<p>That's correct, the AP classes are rarely ever on par with college courses. I came in to my school with junior standing and i am taking some of the introductory courses (chem, calc, etc) over again just to be assured my GPA will stay high.</p>
<p>It doesn't look bad at all if you graduate in 3 years; in fact it may be a plus if you maintained a high GPA while taking a heavy courseload and doing research, which of course is easier said than done. Obviously, you'll have one fewer year to garner research experience and faculty recommendations, but how many people really do anything meaningful in their freshman year anyway? I graduated in 2.5 years, and I know 3 other EE PhD students at Stanford who graduated in 3 years as well.</p>
<p>I'm not sure. I graduated after three years and have no doubts that it was the right things for me to do, I am thrilled not to have to stay another year. I did get into graduate school, in fact, into a school I didn't think I would. On the other hand, I did get rejected from all my Ph.D programs (I applied to Ph.D programs in history and masters programs in IR) and some people (ie my mother) think it is in part because I graduated early. Maybe. Or perhaps it was simply that I was applying to programs that are almost impossible to get into anyway. I had no problems with upper level courses, in fact, I found them easy, and I had a very high GPA. I know, however, this is an atypical experience. The best advice I can offer is to take a few classes before deciding whether to graduate early, if you can do well then go for it, if you find upper level classes hard then maybe take some lower level classes and spend the extra year (assuming that it isn't a financial issue.) Just my two cents.</p>
<p>Or you could just stay in school for 4 years and double major? 4 years and a double major probably opens you to many more opportunities than 3 years and single major. If not any more opportunities, certainly not any less.</p>
<p>I had the same issue and did a certain double-major in 4 years that is generally considered insane at my school. I also took some grad-level courses. I was advised by many people that graduating before I could legally buy alcohol was not necessarily a good idea unless I was planning on putting it in my apps that it was a financial issue, which it wasn't. Their main argument was not what other people have been commenting on, but rather that some schools would think that I would not be able to integrate as well into the grad student body having had less time to mature and socialize with other people. It takes time for certain things to soak in and it takes time to practice certain skills such as research habits, engineering problem solving and design.</p>
<p>My first official grad school class starts tomorrow and b/c of that double-major, I've been told that I'm more prepared for grad school than most of the other applicants they've received. Possibly unrelated but maybe not, nearly every faculty member I've talked to is interested in trying me out in a lab rotation.</p>
<p>Even if you graduate in 4 years, are you at a big disadvantage in the admissions process if you don't want to take a year off before grad school? Then no one will see grades, research experience, advanced coursework, etc from senior year, even though that's the year you're capable of doing your most sophisticated work. I guess a lot of other applicants are in the same position, but there are a lot of older applicants too</p>
<p>I think the only degree in which it is a disadvantage to not take time off is if you're doing an MBA, because experience is really what counts there. In your grad school app they ask you what courses you are currently enrolled in. In your personal statement you talk about your research or any anticipated accomplishments. You will send them a final transcript as soon as it's ready. There are plenty of people who go directly to grad school in science and engineering. In general, I think it's more common for humanities-type people to take time off b/c they need to have a more focused idea of what they want to research. If people don't do anything in their time off tho, that doesn't help.</p>