Graduating in 2.5 years (Taking under 18 credits/semester)

[Steven Phillips]

Hey guys,

So I currently have 15 credits of college credit from high school (taken at a top 100 university) and 15 AP credits (non-prereq) that I can transfer as well. Technically I could graduate a year early taking only 15 credits per semester while I could also graduate a 1 1/2 years early taking 17 credits per semester (and doing full time research over break for credit). Would this be advisable? All my prereqs would be taken at the university I'm currently in (a top 15 school) except for one semester of math, which would be transferred from the university I took calculus in at high school. However, would med schools frown upon the fact that I only took 75 credits at the top 15 school I'm currently in (since 30 were transferred and 15 will be research credit)? On the otherhand, is there a chance they might be impressed by this ? (since all 17 credits would be hard science classes for the most part).

I would use the extra year and a half to do clinical research as well as gain clinical, shadowing and volunteer experience to bolster my application (as well as save $80,000). Would this be a wise plan?


The other option would be to graduate in 3 years. But I feel this would be too lax as that would only require me to take roughly 12-13 credits of classes per semester (since I get credit from the research lab I'm currently in). However, I could focus a lot more time on volunteering and research over the span of my college career. Would that be better than having an extra half a year to focus strictly on extracurriculars?

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[md-2020]

Sounds fine if you can get good grades and a good MCAT. Prioritize those first over graduation date, but if you end up being able to get out early that's great too.

 

[mr.mkitty]

Just my opinion, but I'd say graduate in the 3 years rather than 2.5.. Gotta enjoy college man! You'll already have saved time.. especially seeing as many ppl go for more than 4 years

 

[eteshoe]

As long as you're a full time student it doesn't matter. If taking 12-13 credits/semester means that you'll come out with a really high GPA, then I say do it (I was also a 3 yr UG). Spread your ECs over your college yrs and if you want to take the "4th yr" to do research or whatever, that's also fine. Also crush the MCAT

 

[Turambar]

Be calculating in your choice of med schools and read into admission requirements/prereqs far ahead for those you prefer, not all schools will accept AP credits from high school even if your undergrad allowed them to transfer.

 

[Steven Phillips]

Be calculating in your choice of med schools and read into admission requirements/prereqs far ahead for those you prefer, not all schools will accept AP credits from high school even if your undergrad allowed them to transfer.

All my prereqs will be taken through college level courses. Unless do you mean that some med schools do not like it when you use AP credit to replace non-prereq courses?

 

[bobjonesbob]

Be calculating in your choice of med schools and read into admission requirements/prereqs far ahead for those you prefer, not all schools will accept AP credits from high school even if your undergrad allowed them to transfer.

After being accepted this cycle (and having quite a few AP credits), I haven't really found this to be true. Some schools may have more strict requirements but even if you AP out of first semester biology they won't care as long as you take something else like genetics or human physiology that you can use to fulfill their 2 biology class requirement.

 

[Turambar]

All my prereqs will be taken through college level courses. Unless do you mean that some med schools do not like it when you use AP credit to replace non-prereq courses?

Not at all, you're golden. My mistake.

 

[MaxPlancker]

There is no advantage in admissions whether you graduate in 2 or 5. What matters is your GPA from those years and the experiences that you went through. If you can manage to get everything on par, graduating early is not a bad option (I would say just to save yourself money) but it won't impress anyone that you took 17 credits (that's probably not far from the average?). Some schools don't accept AP or only accept 5's so check your school list. I think it's much better to spread your ECs over 4 years rather than do 2.5 mainly courses + 1.5 of ECs. For one, what you do in the 4th year hardly is on your application unless you take a gap year; also, long commitments and quality is preferred over short term and numerous commitments. I see your reasoning for saving money which is important but also there's no real need/benefit otherwise of graduating early. I would actually say you would probably have more opportunities if you remain a student.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

I always thought there was some rule about needing to take 90 hours at university level? Not sure how that's work with credits from high school. Anyone familiar with this?

 

[MaxPlancker]

Yep, if OP does exactly what he says then he will have 90 (75 + 15 research) at his school + 15 AP (which don't count for the 90) + 15 from his university that he took courses from while in high school for a total of 105. Good point though, OP needs to make sure to get that covered.

 

[LizzyM]

Agree with GPA and MCAT being important. Plan on a gap year during which you are working in a clinical or research setting. Keep in mind that teamwork, leadership on a team, and mature responses to stress (having demonstrated an ability to decompress in a safe and healthy way through fun activities, fitness, or faith or family) are also important. I've heard adcom members say, "but what does he do for fun??"Just classes and research makes for a boring application.

Oh, and putting off shadowing, volunteering and other clinical activities until after graduation looks like box checking. You should shadow early to determine if this is a good career for you and if you want to help people you should do more than just give it lip service.

 

[akaCobee]

I'm kinda in the same situation. I came into my undergrad with about 30 credit hours (completely from dual-enrollment at a community college; none are from AP) but they are all from non-prereqs. So when I started this past fall, I took only 1 more general studies I needed and was about to start my pre-reqs (gen bio, gen chem, and calc). I plan to graduate in three years total because my family carry a lot of my debt and I thankfully just secured a scholarship this semester that will support my last two years (currently finishing up my first year). If I choose to stay for four years, then I can postpone the scholarship since it can only support me for my junior and senior year but I'll be causing much more debt for my family, even with me working two jobs. I didn't originally plan to do a gap year because I've already started building up some research experience, volunteer experience, and will be spending this entire summer shadowing different physicians through the SURE I will be in and hope to continue to do so when I return to campus. I'm confident that I will be able to keep a high GPA and achieve a good MCAT score. But should I still consider a gap year?

 

[DokterMom]

Your volunteering and ECs are supposed to be [or at least look like] things you want to do, not just things you need to do to get into medical school. If you truly wanted to do them, you would start a variety of activities early and keep a few - the ones you like - long term. And yes, absolutely some that are just for fun. If you can combine service with fun (Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Camp for All?) then so much the better.

Use your relatively light academic requirement load as an opportunity to prioritize other areas as well. It's likely to be pretty obvious that you're unusually bright. Just recognize that for the double-edged sword that it can be and pay attention to the 'well-rounded, balanced and fun person' aspects as well.

 

[Steven Phillips]

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[Steven Phillips]

Agree with GPA and MCAT being important. Plan on a gap year during which you are working in a clinical or research setting. Keep in mind that teamwork, leadership on a team, and mature responses to stress (having demonstrated an ability to decompress in a safe and healthy way through fun activities, fitness, or faith or family) are also important. I've heard adcom members say, "but what does he do for fun??"Just classes and research makes for a boring application.

Oh, and putting off shadowing, volunteering and other clinical activities until after graduation looks like box checking. You should shadow early to determine if this is a good career for you and if you want to help people you should do more than just give it lip service.

Thanks for the reply Lizzy!

I by no means am pushing volunteering, research etc. back. I already have 2 different research experiences and a basic science publication underway as well as 10+ hours of volunteering per week. (and going to do shadowing and clinical research this summer).

My question is would it be better to take 13 academic credits per semester and graduate a year early while doing more volunteering and club related activities (ex: 15 hours volunteering/week) or would it be better to do 17 academic credits per semester and graduate 1 1/2 years early while doing a bit less volunteering and clubs (ex: 6-7 hours volunteering/week). There are also no hospitals or clinical experience opportunities near my school so any clinical related experience would be done over summers and breaks (that's another benefit I see in graduating earlier, so I can get more clinical experience).

Also, considering I take a gap year (and make good use of it) and have the same life experiences as other applicants, would the fact I graduated a year and a half early be impressive to adcoms (considering that my age, research, shadowing, clinical experience and etc. are all the same)?

For the most part, your speed thru college will not have a major impact on the adcoms. While it may impress some academically, others may see the 30 credits prior to college as not part of the college experience without the accompanying rigor. Often the question that comes up with super bright, super fast students is are they more than just academic geniuses. It will be more a question of showing you have the wide range of experiences that adcoms expect to show you are more than a academic

I guess the 30 credits would be prior to college, but 15 of those 30 credits were taken at the rigor of a top 100 university. Also, I'd have a much greater chance at garnering multiple publications (clinical research) in those 1 1/2 years (as well as lots of shadowing/clinical experience) which might put me ahead of the game? In general would graduating early be impressive if I really put those 1 1/2 years to good use and do impressive things with them (ex: get pubs).

 

[LizzyM]

Graduating early usually means that you are young. Being young usually means having less life experience. Will that impress adcoms? Not likely.

 

[Steven Phillips]

Graduating early usually means that you are young. Being young usually means having less life experience. Will that impress adcoms? Not likely.

Thanks for the reply Lizzy!


Also, considering I take a gap year (and make good use of it) and have the same life experiences as other applicants, would the fact I graduated a year and a half early be impressive to adcoms (considering that my age, research, shadowing, clinical experience and etc. are all the same)?

So say if I spent the extra year and a half that my peers would've used finishing their bachelor's degree on life experiences (and I matriculate at the same age as my peers), would adcoms see the fact that I graduated from a grade deflating top 15 school 1 year and a half early be impressive (also considering I maintain a 3.9+ GPA)?

 

[MaxPlancker]

So say if I spent the extra year and a half that my peers would've used finishing their bachelor's degree on life experiences (and I matriculate at the same age as my peers), would adcoms see the fact that I graduated from a grade deflating top 15 school 1 year and a half early be impressive (also considering I maintain a 3.9+ GPA)?

NO!!!

Someone who gets a 3.9 and 40 MCAT over 4 years will be much more impressive than someone who graduates in 2.5 with a 3.9 and 35. This is NOT a sprint. Nobody cares (within a reasonable time frame) how long it takes you to get through. What they care about is whether you have the experiences that justify you being in one of the best, most rewarding, humbling professions out there. Getting through undergrad in half the time is hardly impressive...it just probably means your priorities are not on point. You go through more material than all of undergrad in a few months in med school...

 

[Steven Phillips]

To expand this, adcoms are not impressed with finishing early, taking a double major, adding minors or other academic factors as such for several reasons.
Medical admissions is essentially a negative process where several thousand applications are whittled down to a few hundred acceptances so they are looking for reasons in essence to cut people. So while something may seem a positive to an applicant may make an adcom wonder about the negative implications . So someone who takes many college credits in HS, then speeds thru undergrad with top grades, or who graduates with a hard double major and near perfect GPA may beg the question did they spend their college years with nothing but their nose in a book? Do they have any other interests but academics? Do they have any experiences outside the lab? I have met applicants who were "sheldon" level geniuses, in some cases arrogant, insensitive brilliant people who had disdain for everyone not as smart as he was. Others who came off as full humans with compassion and experiences to match, in addition to superstar academic.

Now expressing the position that going thru an expensive college fast to reduce debt is reasonable. Living at home and/or working in a worthwhile endeavor for a gap year or two to spend time in volunteering, healthcare exposure, etc is fine. But positioning yourself as somehow impressive by finishing fast by itself is meaningless.

Ok maybe I wasn't clear with my question, I'm asking whether graduating early in itself is a plus factor ignoring everything else.

In other words let's say you have two premeds. They are both EXACTLY THE SAME (they have the EXACT SAME gpa, EXACT SAME mcat, EXACT SAME research experience, EXACT SAME clinical experience, EXACT SAME hobbies and passion and etc.), but one of them happened to graduate early. Would the premed who graduated earlier be more impressive? I would think so since graduating earlier shows academic talent and ability to handle a larger courseload which seems to be important in med school. But med school admissions officers are strange (since you guys apparently state they don't like that).

Also why do you guys correlate early graduation with academic bookworm nerd. If I were to graduate a year and a half early I would still be taking less than 18 credits per semester and would still participate in a lot of volunteering, clubs, research and etc. I also have hobbies and stuff I like to do outside of studying. Besides, 18 credits isn't even that much compared to my engineering friends (who are taking 20-21 credits).

The thing is if I were to graduate a year early instead of a year and half early I would be able to do more volunteering and other premed activities considering I would only have to take 12-13 credits per semester (which is extremely light for me).

The reason why I want to graduate a year and a half early is because the cardiac surgeon I am planning to do research with has told me that I could easily get multiple publications with him if I were to work full time with him for at least half a year straight. Graduating a year and a half early would give me this additional opportunity to get pubs (as well as saving $80k) for my med school app. Do you guys think it's doing this?

 

[MaxPlancker]

Ok maybe I wasn't clear with my question, I'm asking whether graduating early in itself is a plus factor ignoring everything else.

In other words let's say you have two premeds. They are both EXACTLY THE SAME (they have the EXACT SAME gpa, EXACT SAME mcat, EXACT SAME research experience, EXACT SAME clinical experience, EXACT SAME hobbies and passion and etc.), but one of them happened to graduate early. Would the premed who graduated earlier be more impressive? I would think so since graduating earlier shows academic talent and ability to handle a larger courseload which seems to be important in med school. But med school admissions officers are strange (since you guys apparently state they don't like that).

Also why do you guys correlate early graduation with academic bookworm nerd. If I were to graduate a year and a half early I would still be taking less than 18 credits per semester and would still participate in a lot of volunteering, clubs, research and etc. I also have hobbies and stuff I like to do outside of studying. Besides, 18 credits isn't even that much compared to my engineering friends (who are taking 20-21 credits).

The thing is if I were to graduate a year early instead of a year and half early I would be able to do more volunteering and other premed activities considering I would only have to take 12-13 credits per semester (which is extremely light for me).

The reason why I want to graduate a year and a half early is because the cardiac surgeon I am planning to do research with has told me that I could easily get multiple publications with him if I were to work full time with him for at least half a year straight. Graduating a year and a half early would give me this additional opportunity to get pubs (as well as saving $80k) for my med school app. Do you guys think it's doing this?

No.

Everyone has different circumstances, you are comparing two distinct applications. It's not a comparison to beat someone out. What if one applicant didn't have the privilege of attending AP courses and dual enrolling in high school? What if one applicant fell gravely sick and had to take a semester off? Wouldn't you think the person who overcame all those things and had the EXACT same profile be more impressive?

 

[Goro]

This is a fool's errand question. Admissions is not a zero sum game. We don't interview two candidates for one seat.

We get the fact that finishing early is important to you, but it's not to us.

Ok maybe I wasn't clear with my question, I'm asking whether graduating early in itself is a plus factor ignoring everything else.

In other words let's say you have two premeds. They are both EXACTLY THE SAME (they have the EXACT SAME gpa, EXACT SAME mcat, EXACT SAME research experience, EXACT SAME clinical experience, EXACT SAME hobbies and passion and etc.), but one of them happened to graduate early. Would the premed who graduated earlier be more impressive? I would think so since graduating earlier shows academic talent and ability to handle a larger courseload which seems to be important in med school. But med school admissions officers are strange (since you guys apparently state they don't like that).

Also why do you guys correlate early graduation with academic bookworm nerd. If I were to graduate a year and a half early I would still be taking less than 18 credits per semester and would still participate in a lot of volunteering, clubs, research and etc. I also have hobbies and stuff I like to do outside of studying. Besides, 18 credits isn't even that much compared to my engineering friends (who are taking 20-21 credits).

The thing is if I were to graduate a year early instead of a year and half early I would be able to do more volunteering and other premed activities considering I would only have to take 12-13 credits per semester (which is extremely light for me).

The reason why I want to graduate a year and a half early is because the cardiac surgeon I am planning to do research with has told me that I could easily get multiple publications with him if I were to work full time with him for at least half a year straight. Graduating a year and a half early would give me this additional opportunity to get pubs (as well as saving $80k) for my med school app. Do you guys think it's doing this?