PantherSigEp wrote:Unless these guys are coming in with a significant amount of college credit from high school I'm not sure I've heard of any athletes graduating in 3 years. I don't see how it's possible unless someone is in a patsy program that requires significantly less credits. At UNI I'd estimate that the average degree requires about 120 credits. So if you take the minimum credits allowed to still be a "full-time student" of 12, each semester, you would graduate in 5 years (10 semesters) assuming you brought in no credits from high school (I think many students bring in at least a few if they went to a school that offered dual-enrollment options). Now the maximum allowed is 21 credits/semester which means they could theoretically earn a degree in about 3 years but that requires a huge commitment from a normal college student, much less a student who also has to worry about practices, travel, etc...I'd have to imagine that no coaches actually allow their athletes to take that type of class load every semester while also competing.
I'm sorry, do they not have summer semesters in Iowa? Or do they close the school over the summer so you can work the fields? >=) I kid, I kid.
There are not two semesters in a year ... there are three. Hell, in most western states, they have four quarters for an academic year rather than semesters (my wife earned her AA degree along with her HS diploma through dual enrollment in Seattle ... graduated from the University of Washington a year and half later, barely 20. She would have barely made it past her redshirt year if she'd played sports instead of writing for the school paper
).
If you take 12 credits a semester, you will graduate in 10 semesters. 9 semesters would be this magical three year mark that's apparently so unbelievable. 5 semesters of 12 credits each = 60 credits. 4 semesters of 15 credits each = 60 credits. Combined, 120 credits. You don't even have to take the maximum of 21 credits ONCE to graduate in three years ... you just take one extra class in four of your nine semesters. And 21 credits would be an insane amount ... I took 15 in some semesters, and that was my limit.
If you bring in dual enrollment credits, as I did and many others do, you might not have to take a single semester with more than 12 credits. All you would need are four classes of dual enrollment, which is extremely reasonable ... I did it, and I would absolutely encourage my children to do the same. Hell, I'd encourage my kids to take summer school, too, to graduate early, but we'll see how that works >=)
I don't understand why this is so confusing. And I don't understand why ANYONE who can handle the academic load while on an athletic scholarship would not attempt to graduate in three years and earn their Master's in their fourth (and fifth if RSed). This isn't magic ... manipulating scholarships and credits to maximize the benefit to you is common sense.
How much does a damn Master's degree from Creighton cost? $50-75 thousand? Why WOULDN'T you get that while on academic scholarship if you could?
Any further questions, while I'm acting as your guidance counselor?
