<p>So I received my AP grades today and thankfully I passed the ones that count. I have 27 or 30 credit hours (depending on whether I get credit for a dual enrollment econ class I took). As far as my understandment goes, this is sophomore standing (Or I could be totally wrong hah). I know many parents/students on these boards who went into UNC with 30+ hours and have first hand experience with graduating early. Is it possible to graduate early without rushing/losing my "college experience"? I will be a journalism major/poly sci minor in the fall hopefully heading to law school :)</p>
<p>You can graduate early with the AP credit but unless it has real financial meaning to you and your family I believe that you will find (like my about to be a senior son) that you won't WANT to leave Chapel Hill any earlier than you have to. Also you don't have to actually claim/declare sophomore class status early unless you want to. There are advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is sophomore status for class registration, the disadvantage is having to declare majors earlier than you might be ready to since you must declare a major at the end of sophomore year. My son entered UNC with 43 AP credit hours and chose not to declare higher class standing because he wasn't ready to decide on a major(s). </p>
<p>The AP credit will also allow you to double major more easily or take some classes that just interest you.</p>
<p>I do not know why all of these students are in such a hurry to get out of high school and then they are in a hurry to get done with college. I would say slow down and enjoy your college life. Life goes by too fast anyway so enjoy it. Please don't be in such a hurry to be ahead of everyone else that you miss your college experience. This is not a race to see who gets done first. Sometimes it looks like some of these students did not even have a social life at all in high school. Please don't let it happen in college. Remember what happens after college - WORK - JOB!!!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, alcook, not all of us can afford staying in school as long as we'd like. I chose UNC because I wanted the best education possible, but that also means it costs me around $10,000 more a year than if I lived at home and went to school in town. If I can graduate a year early and save $15,000, then yes, I will sacrifice my college life. </p>
<p>annn- I think it's 30 hours for sophomore status, but I have been told before that you can't apply to graduate early during your first year there. I'm not sure how accurate that is because it's so hard to get a straight answer from advising sometimes.... I'm also not sure if JSchool will be too demanding for it as well. Definitely good questions to ask!</p>
<p>Yeah, unless money is an issue, I don't see why anybody would want to leave Chapel Hill early: ) College isn't a race or a competition. I've waited ages for college, and I plan to thoroughly enjoy all four years of it. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to having loads of AP credit.</p>
<p>Wait, how did you receive your AP grades so early?</p>
<p>you can call and get your scores for $8. check the collegeboard site for the number</p>
<p>Yea I did that last year but it's not July 1st yet</p>
<p>some years you can get them a few days early. they started giving them out either yesterday or the day before</p>
<p>when do we get them in the mail? I don't wanna give collegeboard any more money than I have already given them</p>
<p>around the 3rd week of july i think</p>