Graduating in three years

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>I'm coming to berkeley once I graduate from high school, and I've set my sights on graduating in three years. I'm trying to plan ahead and get a sense of what needs to be done in order to accomplish this and was wondering if anyone knew anything specifically about how I could graduate in 3 years (I plan on being an Econ and Asian Studies major), or about where I could find that information?</p>

<p>I have taken 3 AP Tests to-date:</p>

<p>AP Euro: 3 (10th)
AP USH: 5 (11th)
AP Eng Lang: 5 (11th)</p>

<p>And I am taking 6 this year:</p>

<p>AP Government
AP Comparative Government
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
AP English Lit
AP Biology</p>

<p>I am also taking a philosohpy class at a local community college, but I don't think the class is UC transferable...</p>

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<p>Err. This doesn't answer your question, but why would you want to take a year off of the best part of your life?</p>

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<p>im considering the same thing, except possibly graduate in 2 yrs, because i have so many college credits already accumulated. i heard that the first two yrs of classes at berkeley suck anyways because they are impossible to get into and are HUGE. </p>

<p>I want the early grad thing because I don't want my college credits to go to waste, I want to save money, and I want to make sure I'm not burned out for grad school. Why would you suggest staying all four years? (I'm still trying to decide if I want to bypass the core curriculum stuff, so input is helpful).</p>

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<p>How do you think graduate schools look at students who graduate in two years? Many graduate and professional schools are filled with older applicants, and many want mature students who are used to working hard. Working for two years in college might not be able to show that you are capable of that, and your young age would probably make them wonder how mature you are compared to much older students.</p>

<p>You can't bypass the core curriculum. If you're in L and S, you have to take the breadth requirements on campus. If you're in engineering, I can't imagine that you could graduate in two years, as it would be nearly impossible.</p>

<p>What sort of graduate school are you considering? How do you know that two years of college will prepare you well enough for graduate school? Why would you leave many of the best aspects of college life two years early?</p>

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<p>DRab, I wanted to make sure that the focus of this forum remains 'how to graduate in 3 years,' and doesn't shift to 'how does graduating in 3 years affect your chances at grad school (an interesting topic too, no doubt--especially since I do plan to go to grad school, but one better suited for another forum perhaps) as I know digressions are a favorite of CCers lol. </p>

<p>But, to answer your question (and break my own rule), I think that the two-year scenario is not the best way to look at it, seen as the number of people that graduate in two years is relatively small (not that the number that do it in 3 is super large, but it is big enough to warrant differentiation).</p>

<p>If you look at it through the 3-year option, I would think graduate schools would appreciate the drive the student demonstrates by graduating so quickly, but might worry that the student did not fully take advantage of the personal growth college allows an individual to experience. However, demonstrating a high level of involvement in on-campus, around-campus, and/or campus-related extracurricular activities could easily minimize that effect.</p>

<p>And then there is the awe-factor that comes from graduating in three years. It separates an individual from countless others that did it in 4. On an application to a competitive grad school, being able to differentiate yourself in a favorable manner is a valuable asset. </p>

<p>For example: </p>

<p>Student A graduates in 3 years from Top University, majoring in Philosophy and Asian Studies with a minor in Japanese. In order to do this, Student A had to take 5 classes a semester and summer school. While fulfilling his academic requirements, Student A also starts writing for the Top University newspaper (eventually becomes an editor), gets involved with a variety of on-campus clubs and attains leadership positions in most, and helps Famous Professor complete A, B, and C research projects (this is modeled after someone from my own life, but I didn’t ask him/her if it would be okay to use him/her as an example, so I tweaked a few of the personal details and made others more general, but the achievement level is the same). </p>

<p>Student B, does much of the same, with slightly more time invested in ECs and maybe even a leadership position or two more. </p>

<p>Both have 3.5 GPAs</p>

<p>When an adcom is reviewing these two applications for grad school, don’t you think he/she might feel compelled to say, Wow! Student A did all that in 3 years? Not, Gee, I like that guy that did it in 4—he musta really gotten the ‘college experience.’ </p>

<p>So, while you might be reducing your tenure in youthful paradise, I don’t think you’d be harming your application very much by choosing to go to graduate after 3 years instead of 4. </p>

<p>Now could someone please tell me what sort of things I need to do to make sure I can graduate in 3? I really appreciate the help, and thank you DRab for raising an interesting topic for discussion (which will hopefully be continued in another forum if others wish to pursue it).</p>

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<p>What do you mean by graduate school? If you want a PhD in an academic field, or want a JD, or an MD, you are in very different situations.</p>

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<p>"Now could someone please tell me what sort of things I need to do to make sure I can graduate in 3?"</p>

<p>You need to plan your schedule for the next few years now. You will need to speak with your advisor if you truly want to follow this route.</p>

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<p>Yah, I was talking more about pursuing the academic route--the masters-then-PhD or masters/PhD-combined route.</p>

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<p>Do you have any idea what the field is? Or at least, humanities, social sciences, or science?</p>

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<p>I'm planning on getting a PhD in economics.</p>

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<p>its not hard, in fact, i'm considering triple majoring, or maybe double majoring and then minoring + a lot of free time to do internships/jobs/business classes</p>

<p>its a matter of how much you want it =D</p>

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<p>Why would someone want to graduate early?</p>

<p>Because possibly they are paying for their education and they want to save $24,000.</p>

<p>That said, do study abroad instead, it's definately worth the $$.</p>

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<p>Who do you talk to to plan your schedule to see if you can graduate in 2-3 yrs? Do you have to be enrolled at Berkeley now? Also, how would m.s./phd. programs consider your gpa if ~1/2 of your undergraduate grades were credit/no credit (from AP classes) or from a community college?</p>

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<p>I'll tell you some advantages of staying for an extra year. Assuming you're capable, you can enroll in economics graduate courses. That resource is truly amazing. Your ability to do research as an undergraduate could be a significant factor in your graduate school admissions, your knowledge of the right program for you could be better figured out, your letters of rec could potentially be stronger, from more well-known professors, and more personal if you develop closer relationships with more professors (which could very easily happen over the final year). You greatly limit yourself in terms of courses that you consider taking, locking yourself up very much academically and limiting your ability to explore options. Also, you can get a broader economics education, before you hyper-specialize in graduate school. Graduate schools might be impressed by a student who graduated early, but they might be more impressed by a student with a few extra research papers and better letters of rec. But really, to find out how much graduating a year early affects graduate school, talk to econ professors, or grad econ acceptance committees. They really know, far more than any of our speculation will account for. Just call and talk to them, or you could wait until you're in school and can talk directly to a prof/advisor, but the sooner the better, as you may need to start planning now.</p>

<p>But you're interested in graduating early, so what I would say is plan ahead, know what's going to be offered when as best you can, know what you have to take to fulfill what you want, know your limit of units you can deal with and stick to the higher end of that each semester, be prepared to use summers for a few classes, and try to develop relationships with professors as best you can. Do research, perhaps the sooner the better, although I'm not sure how professors feel about using students with no college econ classes on econ research.</p>