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Get out!
Remember when college students actually were able to graduate in four years? Remember when being a senior actually meant you were in your fourth and final year, about to head into the real world? Have you heard all the horror stories of being in your fourth year of college and still completing general-education courses? Who really needs to know the inner structure of a rock formation when you plan on writing for a magazine, anyways?
At the University of Minnesota, more than three-fourths of freshmen arrive believing they will graduate in four years. Only about one-fourth actually do. Graduating on time may seem too good to be true for many college students nowadays.
Lola Lopes, associate provost for undergraduate education at the University of Iowa, says it takes incoming freshmen an average four and a half years to graduate from college. But graduating in what used to be the traditional four years can happen. Really. And you don’t have to move into the library and skip all extracurricular activities to do it. Many colleges have even designed plans to help you graduate within a reasonable timeframe.
The University of Iowa has developed a four-year graduation plan that 70 percent of the incoming class signed up for last year. “That is a very high number of students using the program,” Lopes says. “We expect about 50 percent of those 70 to stick with the program and graduate in four years.”
I wasn’t done with college in four years; I was done in three. I had a life outside of my academics. I was an active member of a sorority. I wrote for the college paper and even had time to hold a retail job at the mall. I graduated with a decent GPA, and so can you, if you take my advice by reading my top 10 ways to graduate in four years or fewer!
10. DO RESEARCH FOR A PROFESSOR.
College professors are always working on projects. Other professors may offer credit for a semester of research. In college, I did an independent study for the general manager of the Illinois State University newspaper. This part-time professor wasn’t looking to publish my research paper, but was willing to help me throughout the semester to see how I did working on my own. My research taught me how to work well on my own timeline. And I earned credit hours for it, too.
9. CONSIDER SUMMER SCHOOL.
Attending a communications course on statistics may not sound like the best way to spend a summer, but summer on college campuses can be fun. You can always find people heading off to a pool or park. One summer, I took a full load of classes that put me a semester ahead. Summer courses are much shorter in duration—some only take up four weeks of a three-month summer.
8. START TAKING COURSES FOR YOUR MAJOR IMMEDIATELY.
Some majors are more popular than others, which means their classes fill up fast. Unless you want to be begging each professor for an override to let you into class, get your required major classes out of the way as early as possible. This will prevent you from having to stick around an extra semester because you couldn’t get into a class you needed to graduate. Lopes says that, for some classes, you’ll need to check if prerequisite courses are needed.
7. DON'T PROCRASTINATE.
Nearly every professor gives out a syllabus, a schedule that details what assignments and projects are due throughout the semester. Work ahead of time to get projects done early. Then, while everyone else is pulling an all-nighter, you can be hanging out with friends and having a stress-free night.
6. NETWORK.
Get to know everyone in your class, whether or not you think you could actually become friends. These classmates will be helpful study partners or tutors if you need help with an assignment. Also be sure to network with your major’s faculty. They could help you get that internship you need to graduate.
5. GET INVOLVED ON CAMPUS. By not procrastinating and being ahead of schedule, you will have more than enough time to join a Greek organization, band, a sports team or one of the hundreds of clubs available. Getting involved is a great way to work your networking skills (or to escape from yet another research paper). Extracurricular activities also look good on your resume.
4. READ ALL THE FINE PRINT IN THE COURSE CATALOG.
Just like you should do before ordering the too-good-to-be-true exercise contraption on late night TV, read the fine print in your course catalogs. Find out what prerequisites are needed before taking your major classes. “The key is always planning ahead,” Lopes says.
3. DON'T VISIT YOUR COUNSELOR EMPTY-HANDED. Most students are required to visit their counselors every semester until they are juniors. Always visit your counselor with a plan for your schedule. Counselors may be helpful, but they aren’t there to plan your life completely. Bring a copy of your transcript and a list of questions for your adviser.
2. USE YOUR PLANNER WISELY. You don’t need to go out and buy some leather-bound planner; any simple assignment notebook will do. “Good planning is the core of a four year graduation plan,” Lopes says. Whenever I had an assignment due, I actually wrote it in my planner a week earlier than the actual due date. I then had a whole week to work on other classes or enjoy some extra, much needed free time.
1. GET STARTED NOW. Your high school guidance area is a haven of books and magazines with college-related material. Make use of them. You don’t need to plan out your whole life, but it definitely pays off to at least take a glance. Graduating in four years or fewer eases the financial burden of extra tuition. It also gets you into the working world earlier, so you can explore different career paths. (Or gets you to Europe earlier for that backpacking adventure you’ve been dreaming about.) Article provided by 
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