Graduating Early

[Determinedandnervous]

Hello all. I have a question, because I noticed this came up on the FAQ of one of the schools I am applying to. They say they do not treat three-year bachelor's degrees with the same consideration as four-year degrees. However, the degree that I am getting is a four-year degree. I just happen to be graduating a year early because of AP credits and taking a couple of summer courses. Should I clarify that somewhere in the application so that they don't think it was a three-year program?

Also, out of curiosity, would graduating early be a boost to my admissions chances or would it have no effect?

[TakeruK]

Yes you should clarify this.

I don't think graduating early would be a boost, but that's just information based on my field. 

[serenade]

I have no clue how my BA degree factored into my PhD applications because I got an MA after the BA (both at the same institution) so I may not be very helpful here. But like you, I also finished a four year BA program in three years because of AP credits and summer classes (and extra-full loads every semester etc). I think that this is definitely something to mention somewhere in your applications, maybe in your statement of purpose. It's undoubtedly an accomplishment and you don't want committees to assume you attended a three year program when you actually attended a four year program. Clarified that way, I certainly don't think it could hurt you whatsoever. How much it helps is probably dependent upon how highly ranked your BA institution is (mine is abysmally low ranked so I don't know that it necessarily helped me but it also didn't hurt). Good luck!

[Edotdl]

I'm not sure how common it it is in PolySci but I'd assume that if your institution/program is fairly well known the adcoms should know whether or not it's a 3 or 4 year program. Coming from engineering, although I'm also graduating in 3 years, it would feel strange emphasizing that my engineering degree is 4 years.

In regards to whether it helps, I'd presume that given everything else equal it may tip things in your favor but would not help compared to actually having more experience.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Edotdl

[Determinedandnervous]

Thank you for your advice. I think I will definitely mention it somewhere, my program is not that well-known.

[Oshawott]

Shouldn't it specify somewhere on your degree that its a 4-year bachelor's vs a 3-year bachelor's? The distinction's in the number of credits required to graduate given that people can take more or less than the amount of time "suggested" by the name.

[rising_star]

Most transcripts have something which explains a bit about the type of institution and the grading scale. Have you checked to see if such information is included with your transcripts? If it is, then you don't really need to say much about completing a 3 year vs 4 year bachelor's in your statement of purpose.

[zipykido]

I agree that you don't need to say much about whether your degree is a 3-4 year program. If you're finishing with a BS, most institutions will recognize that as a 4 year degree regardless if you finish in 3 or 4. If you're finishing with a BA in 4 years then you might have to explain why it took you so long to finish (but that doesn't seem to be the case). Also your transcript should have credit hours shown on it which any school should be able to see and calculate out since it'll include your summer credits as well. 

[Demeter]

I finished my UG degree in three years. It was 126 credits. It was never a boost for me. I wanted to make sure I made hay while the sun shined, and had funding to finish my degree. I was petrified towards my senior year that my external funding would run out. So I took extra of 21 credits one semester, and loaded up my summers. As you can see from others in this thread, it's not an uncommon thing.

I never mentioned it. I did put down the number of credits on my CV for each degree I have. They would have seen it on the transcripts anyway, but I had to because I'd picked up credits in Basketweaving (not really), as opposed to my major, at another school, mostly for fun. My  school was pretty well known so there was a common knowledge that came from being at a rather well known school. 

However, since you want to mention it, perhaps include it in the "Is there anything else the committee should know?" question, however that might look on your app. In my field, that was separate from the SOP most times. Otherwise, your SOP might be a good spot. 

 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Demeter
I edited to remove name of UG school. 

[ZeChocMoose]

They also might be talking about international degrees because there are some countries that have standard 3-year bachelor's degrees instead of four.

[Demeter]

^^^ This. Exactly this, IMHO. I know a person who chose to do an extra year or so of study for a BA after doing a three year BA for exactly this reason. They wanted to go to grad school, and the BA from their home country's school wasn't accepted only because it was a three year BA.