15 Ways to Graduate Faster

Sometimes, all you really need is a degree. You don’t care what it is as long as you can get in and get out fast. (These methods will also work if you are interested in graduating with more than one major, but will obviously require more time.) Whatever your reasons, if this sounds like you, I’ve got the information you need to start sprinting.

(For the record, I love CLEP tests. You pay 75 bucks, sit at a computer for an hour, and find out immediately whether or not you just added to your college credit stash. It’s great! I got 18 hours of college credit from CLEP tests alone!)

• Load up on credit in high school. AP classes can make you a sophomore off the bat.
• Take a class or two the summer before your freshman year.
• Choose your college wisely.
  • Search for schools that have very generous ACT/SAT equivalence credit offerings, and are more forgiving to lower AP scores.
• Choose majors with generous electives.
  • Some suggestions are political science, history, sociology, foreign language, and psychology.
• Don’t change your major and don’t transfer schools. The instant you start changing things, your graduation date gets pushed back.
  • (Tip: if you choose a major with plenty of electives, you may be able to switch without being behind after your first or second semester.)
• Take classes which fulfill a graduation requirement, even if they don’t interest you.
• Don’t worry about a minor. You don’t really have time, unless it happens to be corollary.
• Take summer classes. They are expensive, but they get you through quickly.
• Don’t fail. Even if you have to beg for a D, the last thing a sprinter needs to be told is “*BZZZZ* DO IT AGAIN.”
• Apply for special permission to overload, or take more classes than is normally allowed.
  • Generally, you won’t be able to do this unless you have a stellar high school record or are an upperclassman.
• Take online classes and regular classes at the same time. This makes overloading even easier because you don’t have an inherently conflicted schedule.
• Once you are friends with some members of the credit approval committee, apply for some life experience credit. It doesn’t matter if it is approved or not; it is worth a shot. (This is a no-brainer if you are an older adult just starting or going back to school.)
• Once you get the syllabus for each class, drop those that will conflict with your goal of obtaining the most credit the fastest.
  • Dangerous assignments such as high percentage tests and papers make your chances of failing more likely.
• Use RateMyProfessors, other students, and any other resource available to find the professors that will be stepping stones and not stumbling blocks.
• Take whatever placement tests your school offers or accepts.
  • CLEP, Foreign Language, and DANTES are a few examples.