Well, the time has finally come: graduation season is officially here! After just three years at UCLA, I’ll be graduating this spring with a major, a minor and College Honors. Here’s how I did it (and how you can do it, too).
Before I get into some tips on graduating early, there are a few important things I should make clear. First, graduating in three years is not the right choice for everybody; there are a lot of factors to consider when deciding if it’s the best option for you. If money is a major concern, finishing college early can save you a lot of tuition money and will allow you to jump into the workforce a little earlier. Also, a lot of people have family circumstances that make graduating in three years preferable. But it’s also important to think about the fact that college is a unique and exciting experience, and you shouldn’t necessarily rush to leave it behind unless you have specific reasons. People who graduate in three years are no better or worse than those who graduate in four years (or five, or six)—they’re just in different situations. So, think carefully about which path works for you and your needs.
I’d also like to acknowledge that graduating early was easier for me than it would be for most people because I had a lot of AP and IB credits that transferred in, and my major and minor (sociology and professional writing, respectively) don’t have nearly as many required classes as some other programs of study. So, if you’re an engineer or you’re planning to go to medical school, it’ll probably be a lot harder. But, in any case, if you decide that graduating in three years is right for you, here are some strategies that can help you make it happen.
One of the most important things you should do is make a three year plan as soon as possible. Seriously, if you don’t have one already, do it now. Make a list of all of the requirements for your degree (including major/minor requirements, GEs, foreign language classes, writing classes and anything else you’ll need) and then decide when you’re going to take each of the classes. Create a spreadsheet and plan out each quarter so that you know exactly how many classes (and which specific classes) you’ll take in certain quarters. This plan will ease a lot of your stress when it comes to choosing classes because you’ll know that you are picking the right ones that will allow you to fulfill every requirement within three years. It’s also a really helpful tool to have when you go in to talk to your academic counselors, so they know exactly what your goals are and can help you ensure that you’ll meet them.
Once you have a preliminary plan laid out, see if you can cut down on the total amount of classes you’ll have to take by checking to see if there are some classes that fulfill multiple requirements at the same time. That’s really the key when it comes to graduating early: be as efficient as possible in your course choices. For example, all of the honors classes that I took also counted toward my major or minor requirements, so I didn’t have to take any special classes to graduate with College Honors. But I was only able to do that because I did some research and figured out exactly which classes could work for both of those requirements. Similarly, you can take GEs that also count as major prep courses or that satisfy the diversity requirement as well.
Finally, make the most of your summer. I didn’t personally have to take any summer classes, but lots of people are able to graduate early by knocking out a bunch of courses during summer sessions. And don’t forget that you can fulfill a ton of lower-division requirements by taking community college classes, which are much cheaper than UCLA courses (just check with your counselor to ensure that the credits will definitely transfer over).
With those things in mind, you’re now ready to graduate early! But don’t forget that every person’s college journey is different. However long it takes you to graduate, try to make the most of your experience, and don’t forget to enjoy the ride.