Quickest Route to a Bachelor's Degree

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Florida
1

<p>Hey Guys,</p>

<p>I have been accepted to Cornell, but as I will likely decline my NROTC scholarship, the $160,000 tuition is becoming a problem. I am hoping to become a doctor, so my dad (also a doctor) says it is foolish to attend an Ivy League school for undergrad and rack up six-figure loans. He says to attend state school and state medical school, then try for an Ivy League residency. My dad is a genius, and he did this. State school --> Yale residency.</p>

<p>(1) How do you feel about this situation? Should I decline Cornell's acceptance for purely monetary reasons?</p>

<p>Now, my main question, is it possible to get my bachelor's degree at UF in a year? I was admitted to the honors college, btw. I understand that with high enough AP/IB/CLEP exam grades I can skip classes. </p>

<p>(2) Am I able to skip enough classes to enter as a Junior? I remember hearing that kids have done this before.</p>

<p>(3) Assuming yes, is it possible to cram my junior and senior year courses into a single year (including summer) so that I can graduate after just one year at UF?</p>

<p>I feel that the only way to justify declining Cornell is to graduate very early. I am hoping to become a surgeon, which means many years after high school. It seems to be a good idea to skip as many comparatively easy undergrad courses so I can start my career soon enough.</p>

<p>(4) How do you feel about this?</p>

<p>So, overall, is it possible to get my Bachelor's in a year? (assuming I can handle the coursework, which I believe I can) Also, please don't lecture me on how I should "Enjoy my college years". I couldn't care less!</p>

<p>If not with UF, are there any other ways to get my Bachelor's quickly?</p>

<p>Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Your dad is right. If you rack up 200k in debt for undergrad you will have another 200k in debt for medical school. Also, I’d say the chance of you getting your BA in one year is less than 1%. I’d even say your chances of finishing in 2 years is very small. I doubt you have enough high school credits in high school to give you 60 credits that UF actually counts toward your degree. Unless you already took 2 semesters of bio, physics, chem, and organic chem in high school, you won’t have the correct credits because you are on the premed track. Plus you need to take the MCAT. You may be a genius for all I know, but you definitely can’t handle about 25 credit hours your first semester in college, especially when they will be all junior/senior level courses. Take your time. Aim for 3 years and maybe 2.5 if you go every summer and get a lot of credits to transfer. Enjoy the ride because in med school, the fun will end.</p>

3

<p>You will not finish in one or two years. I agree that you’ll need at least 2.5 years with summer terms. Here’s why: when you heard people talking about ‘skipping classes’ they mean courses like CHM1025 or College Algebra (which can be skipped through placement tests) or other courses which you earned AP/IB/DE credit for (ex. Calculus).</p>

<p>One thing they don’t tell you in high school is, time-wise, how little those extra AP credits matter in the long run. Over the course of 1 year in high school you can be working on maybe 4-6 AP credits, but in reality, steadfast students in college are completing those same credits in a single semester in college (which is traditionally even less than a single semester in high school!) Not that AP isn’t valuable - after all you are getting college credit in high school - but remember that you need ~120 credits to graduate with a bachelor’s… :slight_smile: How many credits do you have?</p>

<p>By the way you definitely need to call advising and speak to them about this. They can give you the fastest track towards graduation.</p>