<p>One of the initiatives of President Sullivan is in the process of being expanded. It is to offer more Bachelors/Masters degree programs. The goal is to allow students to reduce their time and expense of getting a master's - particularly for students with many AP credits.</p>
<p>U.Va</a>. Expands Accelerated Bachelor's-Master's Programs</p>
<p>I came in to UVA with 42 credits. I still had to do a summer session at home and at UVA to fit in everything for the 5 year BAMT program because of the ridiculous amount of scheduling conflicts. Beyond that, 4th year is a huge cohort relationship development time and 5th year is not at all like actually going to school with student teaching and writing a master’s paper. I think doing it in 5 years is still commendable and I am glad I did not try to push it further. In addition, I used my free time to work 2 jobs, volunteer, be involved with Brown, perform in 2 choirs, spend time with friends, etc. I think it is a big balance and definitely take heed when they say it is not for everyone. I was done my major and everything by the end of 3rd year but 4th year in Curry is all education class (or used to be) which makes it hard to accelerate, you are already doing a 2 year master’s in 1 year, you basically have to finish everything with no electives in 2 years to do all of that in 4 years. I loved all of the foreign language, astronomy, cs, curry/independent study, and other electives I took (fiction writing? bioethics? teaching courses through Brown? cool stuff), especially since there were conflicts with classes (there is usually only 1 section of anything required in Curry and if it conflicts with your major too bad) whether I liked it or not.</p>
<p>I know a friend who did a 4 year math ba/masters through college science scholars.</p>
<p>Also PBK is awarded to top 12% of 4th years but only top 4% of 3rd years so that definitely would affect your ability to get that…</p>
<p>I think pushing students to do more in less (or the same amount of) time is a good thing. On the other hand, I’m skeptical how much these programs will do to accomplish that. It has always been very possible to graduate from UVa early. I came in with 46 AP credits, got a BA in Econ in 2 years, then an MS in Commerce my third [timeframe: 2008-11].</p>
<p>UVa has made it harder to get AP credits for US History, so many incoming students this year had 6 fewer AP credits than previous students.</p>
<p>I’ve been told that today many students could graduate early, but they choose to stay all 4 years and do a double major, because they like being at UVa. A master’s degree would be more marketable than a double major.</p>
<p>That is an understatement lol . My S started UVA with alot of AP credit and a plan to study abroad for a year (which is difficult with his science major) Now he is planning to stay at UVA all four years, double major, study abroad during the summer so as to not “waste” any time at UVA and then go on to get his masters. He really loves UVA, prior to going there his sole focus was study abroad.</p>