If you are thinking of going to community college then you might be wondering whether or not you can finish it in one year.
This post will show you that it can be possible to finish community college in one year, how to go about doing it and what to consider.
So, can you finish community college in one year? To finish in one year you will need to do something such as take 21 credits in the fall and spring, 9 in the summer and to have another 9 credits credited for AP classes.
There are actually a number of ways that you could go about finishing community college in one year. However, there are some caveats and there are a lot of things that you can do to make it go more smoothly.
Have a number of AP classes that you can get credit for
To finish community college in one year it will almost certainly be necessary for you to have some AP classes that you can transfer in and get credit for.
Ideally, you would have at least 3 AP classes that you can transfer in and get 9 credits for. That way it would be possible for you to take 21 credits in the fall, 21 credits in the spring and then another 9 credits in the summer and finish in one year.
Take CLEP exams
If you don’t think that you will be able to transfer in AP credits then an alternative option for you would be to take CLEP exams. These are exams created and administered by the College Board. They are college level exams and your community college will likely give you credit for taking them.
If you don’t have enough AP credits then you could take these exams before going to community college and transfer them in and get credit for them. There are 34 different CLEP exams to choose from that you can take at 2000 different testing centers.
Take 21 credits each semester
In order to graduate from a community college in one year, it will be necessary for you to take more classes during the fall and spring semesters.
The most that most community colleges will allow you to take is 21 credits and that is the amount that you would probably need to take unless you are able to transfer in a lot of AP and/or CLEP exams.
Take some classes in the summer
In addition to needing to take 21 credits in the fall and spring, it will also likely be necessary for you to take 9 credits in the summer.
This is because most community colleges will require 60 credits to graduate. If you can transfer in 9 credits from AP or CLEP exams, take 21 credits in the fall and spring then that will give you 51 credits leaving you needing another 9 credits. If you can transfer in a lot of AP or CLEP exams then it might not be necessary to take the summer semester but you would likely need to transfer in at least six classes.
Plan out your classes early on
At community colleges, many classes will only be offered in one semester each year. In order to graduate in one year, it will be necessary for you to plan your classes in advance so that you can ensure that the classes that you need to take will be offered when you need to take them. It would likely be necessary for you to speak with an academic advisor when planning to do this.
Choose the best professors
Since it will be necessary for you to take more than a full-time course load in the fall and spring semesters it will be necessary for you to take as many measures as you can to ensure that you have the smoothest experience possible.
One factor that will impact the difficulty of the classes is the professor. Before scheduling your classes it would be helpful to look at ratemyprofessors.com to see whether or not you can get a professor that other students recommend.
Consider whether or not the classes transfer into the 4-year college
If you are thinking of transferring to a 4-year college, an important thing to consider is whether or not the classes will transfer into the 4-year college that you want to go.
Before going to the community college and trying to complete it in one year it would be worthwhile for you to check that you can transfer all of your classes into the major that you want to get at the 4-year college. If some of the classes won’t transfer then it wouldn’t be helpful to take them in order to finish in one year.
You might find that it won’t be possible for you to finish community college in one year if the classes that will transfer into the major are only offered once per year.
With that being said, if your goal is to transfer to a 4-year college anyway then it might not be necessary for you to graduate from the community college. It could just be enough for you to take as many classes as you can, in a year, that transfer over well into the major you want and then just transfer into the 4-year college anyway.
You won’t have a lot of free time
Another thing to consider is that taking 21 credits in a semester will put a large strain on your time. You will likely find that you will have very little free time and you will, likely, find it very difficult to work as well if you want to.
You can make things easier for yourself by doing things such as:
- Use ratemyprofessors.com to get the most highly rated professors. Make sure to schedule classes early since the classes taught by the better professors will fill up fast.
- Ensure that you study throughout the semester so that you don’t need to cram the information in at the last minute.
- Planning out the semester so that you can plan your work schedule more easily.
It might hurt your GPA
As mentioned above, taking 21 credits in a semester will be more than a full-time load. You might find that it will be very difficult for you to keep up with all of your course work. This could negatively impact your GPA which could make it hard for you to transfer to a 4-year college when you are done.
Some classes need to be done in sequence
Another thing to consider is that many of the classes will need to be done in sequence. This will especially be the case if you want to study a STEM subject.
It will be necessary for you to plan your classes ahead of time so that you can account for classes that need to be taken in sequence. It would also help to look at the requirements of the 4-year college so that you can take classes that fit into the sequencing of that degree as well.
Some community colleges will limit you to 18 credits per semester
It might be the case that the community college that you will be going to won’t allow you to take more than 18 credits in a semester.
If it won’t then it would still be possible for you to graduate in a year but it will be necessary for you to transfer in 15 credits from AP and/or CLEP exams and then to take 9 credits in the summer.
