Yoooo.
So I'm a biochemistry and molecular biology major, which is as close to a double major that a single major could be. Most people finish in 4-5 years- I did it in 3. Did I do it? Yes. Did I make the GPA I wanted to? Not really, it's good but could be better. Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY NOT. No way.
I wanted to see if I *could* finish a degree in 3 years. I wanted to save money and be a gunner so I finished in 3 years. I came in with 20 credit hours of AP courses and took 15-18 credit hours every semester. I also took summer courses even though I had a "full time" job working like 50 hours a week. I was also in the honors college and all of the work that comes with that.
I survived, but I didn't get the grades I wanted to. I got B's in classes that I easily could've gotten A's in. I almost got a C in a class that's an easy A. My GPA survived (I think I'm graduating at a 3.6?) but it could've been much better.
I also got sooooooOOoooooOoOo close to burn out every semester (this semester included) and I
did burn out Fall of my Sophomore year. And burnout + other preexisting mental health issues hit me like a ton of bricks. Almost dropped out of college as a result. My mental health definitely struggled because of it. And I had made this outrageous goal my freshman year that I was going to graduate in 3, and I felt that I was constantly letting myself and my family down if I didn't.
So here are the courses I took:
Year 1: Chem 1&2, composition, Biochem research, ANSI, Speech, all of the humanities, Econ, plant science
Year 2: Ochem 1&2&Lab (8 hours), Animal Biology, Microbiology & Micro Lab, ethics, Nutrition, communications, more humanities
Year 3: Biochem 1&2&Lab (9 hours), genetics, physiology, physics 1&2, statistics, more humanities (why did my school require so many humanities omg)
On top of that, Year 3 I joined a research lab at the vet school to strengthen my application, to write my thesis, and to get research experience (holy cow research is so cool y'all). I'm also working 10 hours a week pet sitting and on the executive board of my sorority and of another vet related organization. Since getting accepted, I had to drop out of the honors college, stop writing my thesis, and I've been so ill the last 3 weeks, so I've essentially had to quit my research.
The moral of this stupid long post: yes, you can graduate in three years. But you need to really consider what you might be missing out on. (One thing that's actually really sad to me is that I'm never going to be able to go to the bars and drink/ have fun with my undergrad classmates and friends because I won't turn 21 until after I graduate.) As a result, I don't have super fun college memories to take with me- a couple parties here and there, but my life was revolved around graduating in 3 years, and I don't have that many great IRL friends because of it.
Yes. It's totally doable. But it's gonna be really really hard, and you realllly need to make sure that it's something you want to do. (Sorry for the long post, I'm oddly descriptive tonight)
