If you want to obtain a 4-year degree in only 3 years and cut your educational costs by 25% or more, this is how you make it happen:
Schedule
Take classes during the summer and during seasonal breaks and vacation times. Also, take an extra class or two during your normal semesters, as well. You’ll likely take the maximum allowable number of classes each semester.
Sleep
You will find yourself lacking sleep if you try to juggle your coursework and social life while on an accelerated timeline. You may want to use those free hours to catch up on zzz’s instead of hanging out with buddies.
Social Life
You may have to skip the extracurricular activities if you’re stuffing your schedule to shave off a year. Otherwise, you may find yourself either falling behind in your coursework or seriously sleep-deprived. You will have to cut down on social activities to make room for the extra coursework or substitute “fun” for “sleep.”
Stress
You will be finding yourself under more stress than a little bit, depending on how challenging your coursework becomes. Try to fit healthy eating, regular exercise, and enough sleep into your busy schedule to keep your stress at a level you can manage.
Certain schools actually offer predesigned schedules and programs specifically for students who wish to earn their degree at an accelerated rate while other schools do not, and you’ll end up having to design it on your own.
Academic advisors can help you arrange your schedule to meet the needs of your accelerated timeline. They can also act as liaisons between you and the scheduling coordinators of your school.
Also, if you take advanced placement classes in high school, this can eliminate the requirement of some of your basic classes in college—and sometimes this can shave off a full semester’s load of work.