# Pros and cons of completing college in three years?



## jbking (Jun 4, 2010)

vanillaicecream said:


> @_jbking_
> Ok... So... By 4th year course, do you mean that they're higher level courses? Or that the pre-reqs for those classes would typically take 4 years? Would you say this would apply to most degrees? Thank you for the information!  I hadn't thought of honors or general degrees, I'll look into that.


When I was in university, the general flow seemed to be like this:

1st year - Establish a common base on which students can be expected to have some basics nailed down. For my Computer Science courses this was an Introduction to Programming and Principles of Computer Science. In a weird way as my high school system in Ontario had a Grade 13, some of this was a repeat and thus quite easy to get As for me.

2nd year - Now let's dig deeper into those basics. In this case it was about learning how programs are constructed, the Software Development Life Cycle, testing basics, and how code goes from the human readable stuff into instructions for a machine. This was just a bit more intense and quite interesting to see what is behind the scenes as now that the introduction is over, a deeper dive can still be done.

3rd year - Now let's open the flood gates and get a broad view on most of the pieces of Computer Science. Where the first 2 years were just 1 course per semester, here there were 6 courses at this level. Data Structures, Concurrent Programming, Digital Design and Architecture, Operating Systems, Theoretical Computer Science and Numerical Analysis being the 6 I had that every CS major had to take. This is often where there would be a lot of courses within each department as now that the basics are done, general courses at a higher level can be done.

4th year - Now let's get specialized again after the general stuff of 3rd year. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, Symbolic Computation, Compilers, Real-time programming, Computer Graphics, Computational Complexity, Algorithm Design and Analysis. A way to think of these as these are the big cool courses that near the end you can finally take. The Real-time course for example had a series of trains that one would write some code to control the switches to prevent collisions as there would be a "Zombie" train added that just ran all over the course that one had to keep away from the other trains. I didn't take the course but it was known as one of the big three: Real-time, Compilers and Graphics. These were courses where it could be expected that students would spend 40 hours a week getting the big project done as the work required was similar to a real job.


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## elixare (Aug 26, 2010)

Faster is always better


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## Yobi (Jun 17, 2013)

vanillaicecream said:


> I'm a senior in high school and am really starting to think about what I want to do in college. I'm thinking about majoring in Microbiology, which at the school I'm thinking about is a 120 credit hour major... And I think I can get a quite a few of the credit hours required by taking CLEP tests and summer classes and be able to finish the major within 3 years.
> Well, I read that a lot of people don't recommend trying to finish in 3 years, why is that? They were saying stuff like not having time to study abroad, but I don't have enough money to do that anyway, so what else isn't good about finishing in 3 years?


 Well basically, you want to be able to take in and absorb all of what is being taught to you at the same time. If you take only 3 years to complete college then it will all go straight into your short-term memory and you'll forget everything. It's not just about the grade, it's about learning the material and trying to be able to find ways of teaching that material to other people if that was your major.


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## Diauxie (Nov 17, 2012)

If you're interested in microbiology and want to go into medicine but won't(or can't) go full MD you might also want to look to see if your university offers medical/clinical laboratory scientist/technician training programs. These programs prepare you for certification for working in a clinical lab and typically offer internship opportunities as well.


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## Antipode (Jul 8, 2012)

Pro: Finish college and start life early.

Con: Finish college and start life early.


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## senlar (Jan 8, 2012)

First I would like to let you know about college. College is not like high school. In high school, if you do your homework, you will do well on the tests. If you do well on the tests, you will do well on the final. I rarely had to review in high school. In college, I had to review before each test and before the final (all my notes - several times).

Also in college the classes are bigger so if you don't get something, it's difficult to ask a question unless you go to the teacher during their office hours. College is harder.

In my 3rd semester, I started doing badly but then I decided to review before every test and before every final exam. And even more importantly - you need to study with OTHERS! You will not understand everything in a quick lecture so it's better to form / ask to join a group that studies together so they can all explain what they did understand. Each person understands a different 30-80% of a lecture. If you put them in a group, then everyone understands 100%. I made these changes in studying style (not reviewing -> reviewing before test/final, studying alone -> studying with others) and then made a huge improvement.

If you are able to do it in 3 years, great. If not, don't kill yourself over it. College is harder than high school. See how it is and then you can decide if it is possible.

Cons
1) You may stress yourself out. Microbiology / medicine is not easy. If you burn out, you may actually have to take a break for a semester and that would put you behind schedule by a semester.
2) You will have to manage your time very well each day. Higher efficiency / productivity means less free time and more sticking to a plan and not what you feel.

Pros
1) If you are going to stay in a dorm, you will save money by cutting living and food costs for 1 year.
2) You will start working earlier and start paying back debt or building a career & savings earlier.


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

For me I completed a bachelor's degree in Technology Management in 2.5 WHILE working full time. It can be done and you can have a social life too. It's all about priorities and also finding efficient ways to get things done. There was a semester I wasn't working at all (new management and a good old company shakeup). I took 29 credits that semester.

The thing is it does suck when you're cramped for time but what are your ultimate goals? For me I was already working full time in the industry so a degree just meant a piece of paper that ultimately doubled my pay. That was a huge incentive to get in and out. It also looks good to employers that you are efficient and get things done (aka produce results) in a manner faster than your peers.

One thing I would advise if you do take the fast route is to try to get out there and meet as many people as you can. Networking is huge and will provide you open doors in the future. College is a good place to start and you can form lifelong friendships. Also, try to find things that are relevant to what you want to do someday. Be active in clubs or find internships. You will need real life experience in addition to your degree in order to be considered for a job. Anyways, good luck!


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## vanillaicecream (Jun 24, 2012)

@PowerShell
Oh wow, 2.5 years? How did you manage to take 29 hours? At the schools I'm looking at the limits are like 19-20 hours/semester. Aah ok... For ultimate goals, I'm not too sure. As of now, I'm kind of thinking about going to medical school, but I don't know if that will change. 
Thank you!


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## PowerShell (Feb 3, 2013)

vanillaicecream said:


> @_PowerShell_
> Oh wow, 2.5 years? How did you manage to take 29 hours? At the schools I'm looking at the limits are like 19-20 hours/semester. Aah ok... For ultimate goals, I'm not too sure. As of now, I'm kind of thinking about going to medical school, but I don't know if that will change.
> Thank you!


During that semester it was all online business classes. It was pretty easy overall since business classes are basically common sense. Also, I was able to do it on my schedule and didn't have to sit in class. Also, when you're used to going all the time between taking 16 credits and working full time, when you're not working at all after that, it seems like you have all the time in the world. I just used that momentum and pushed my way through. I'm trying to spark that energy again so I can learn on my own with programing and such so I'll be able to launch a web startup.


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## passion4education (Aug 9, 2013)

Ok, so here are my two cents about all this. Do it the 3 years with CLEPS and do it even faster if you can! It is the smartest way to do it! I earned my BA in less than 2 years (one of my classmates was 17 and did it in less than 1! An accredited BA!!!)! I spent less than 5K and I am now getting my masters at USC (a top 25 college of the nation). I will try to get into University of Pennsylvania next semester and with $ 0 in student loans, I can still afford it! When I first started people tried to tell me that my degree would not be worth the same. This one guy from UTexas made fun of me, but I laughed last when I got into EVERY grad program I applied for in 1/3 of the time and 1/10 of the cost than everybody else! You can't CLEP any master level credits, so you will have two years during yours master to all the student fun you missed out on. Also, CLEPS are just a tiny part of the world of fast-track degrees. There is a whole different world out there called the test-out degree. Few know of it and that is good this way. 

Check out the site called the-smart-degree. All you need is on this site


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