<p>How does graduating college in 3 years look to graduate schools? Like I'm rushing? My major gpa is a 3.63 but my overall gpa is only 3.57. For what it's worth, I'm majoring in Linguistics and would like to pursue a Ph.D. in that field. My top choices for schools are Brown, UT Austin, NYU, Penn, Stanford, Berkeley and UMich. Does anyone know what the caliber of the linguistics programs are at those schools, whether my GPA is prohibitively low...anything useful.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>More time allows for more research/writing opportunities.</p>
<p>If a graduate school sees two applicants with the same relative statistics (similar GRE scores, similar GPA, similar major coursework, etc.), but one of them graduated in three years and the other took four…the difference probably won’t even show up on their radar. If they even notice that one student graduated earlier than the other, they won’t put any effort into asking themselves why this happened, unless it was brought up in the statement of purpose or there were some very odd circumstances.</p>
<p>The difference, you’ll find, is what you would be able to accomplish in a fourth year. That’s an opportunity to take some (more?) graduate courses, gain more research experience, develop closer working relationships with faculty members (who may be able to write even better letters of recommendation), etc. Comparing you now to another student who did the same in four years isn’t going to really show much of a difference. However, the applicant you would be after another year of research experience and advanced coursework is probably much more likely to get into more competitive programs than you would be able to get in now.</p>
<p>I have to note that I graduated in three years. It was the right decision for me because almost all of my friends were graduating, and I didn’t want to pay for another year of undergrad to have to make new friends and take graduate courses I could be getting graduate credit (and funding) for. I could have probably gotten into a better program had I spent another year as an undergrad, but it just wasn’t for me. You have to look at both sides of the sword.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this info is useful, but my son completed his undergrad in 3 years and went on to grad school. It was not a problem at all. His grad school liked his GPA and were happy to have him in their program.</p>
<p>If you can graduate in 3 years, then you’ll have more money for grad school. Sounds like a huge plus to me.</p>
<p>If you want to graduate in 3yrs, I recommend that you take at least one year off to work in a related field (and maybe take grad classes). Age can sometimes be a factor in admissions, especially with very young individuals. You will probably be fine if it is one year. If you are 2+ years younger you may have problems. Grad programs like mature and experienced individuals. Taking time off will improve your application on both fronts.</p>
<p>Undergrad years are some of the best years of your life, why would you want to leave early?</p>
<p>Often times, the sort of student who is considering graduating in three years is one who is already taking several graduate-level courses in their major. Thus, instead of paying for a fourth year of undergrad, they could be taking the same courses in a graduate program (which would get them started in their graduate program earlier, thus getting out of it sooner, which is a goal for many people who will be spending a large number of years in grad school).</p>
<p>That was part of the decision for me, but another large part was that my friends were mostly a year older than me and graduating after my third year, so staying a fourth year would require me making a new set of friends for just one year.</p>
<p>Some might say that graduate school wouldn’t really be a strong competitor for the best years of your life, but if you’re already taking graduate courses as an undergrad, there’s not much more pressure in jumping to grad school.</p>