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Carmen Lookshire is halfway through her first year of college, but she already has her studies mapped out – and is looking at graduation in just two more years.
The art history major is one of the first students to take advantage of the new three-year college degree at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y. – part of a growing number of such programs designed to help students shave tuition costs and get to the job market or graduate school faster.
Yup. I took enough classes at the local jr college when I was in high school that I was able to graduate in just 5 semesters. It meant that I didn't have to take out any student loans.
I wanted to stick around, just to spend time with my friends and take "fun" classes (those semesters were packed with degree requirements, and no electives), but there was no way to justify a $15k semester to take gymnastics and mythology classes, when I had a perfectly good double major in the business school already completed.
I would support a 3 year college plan if it meant you needed fewer credits to graduate. Trying to fit 4 years worth of credits into 3 years is excessive. I might be able to graduate in 3.5 years if I take enough summer classes. But that's 3.5, not 3.
Reducing the number of credits needed to graduate isn't necessarily a bad thing, either. I know students that completed all the classes in their major but had to take useless easy electives just to reach the required number of credits.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyers29
How about they don't go to private schools in the first place?
How about they don't go to private schools in the first place?
Or at least make sure they are getting a huge % of tuition in scholarship if they do go to a private. I went to a private for UG, but I only paid <30% of the sticker price.
Yup. I took enough classes at the local jr college when I was in high school that I was able to graduate in just 5 semesters. It meant that I didn't have to take out any student loans.
I wanted to stick around, just to spend time with my friends and take "fun" classes (those semesters were packed with degree requirements, and no electives), but there was no way to justify a $15k semester to take gymnastics and mythology classes, when I had a perfectly good double major in the business school already completed.
Oh come on now, you know those mythology and gymnastics classes are the quintessential to making you "well rounded"
Heck, I had the credits and required courses to graduate in 2.5 years thanks to taking college classes in HS, AP/IB tests, and taking the max number of courses allowed by the school each semester. However, I had a 4 year scholarship I didn't want to waste so I spent the last year and a half adding a second concentration to my major and minoring in geo for fun while taking random classes.
If I hadn't had the scholarship, my school would have allowed me to graduate a year early, so it's nice to know that other people have this option.
The funny thing is, at my alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, you could do this 40 or more years ago, in some majors, mostly in the college of arts and sciences. However, I do not know one person who did so. What is the point, unless you're planning to go to med school or get a PhD?
I think most colleges should work a little more on getting students graduated in 4 years before looking at 3. The University of CO has an abysmal 4 year graduation rate.
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