How common is it to enter college with sophomore status?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS and many of his friends are going to be sophomores when they start college.

Aren’t you special!

dp.. the poster isn't special, but there kid and their friends are.

Aren't you jealous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How's being first year sophomore different from eventually graduating as a junior?

I'm not from the US but my DC will in all likelihood got to college in the US, so would be interesting to understand how these things work.

And, just to confirm, this issue arises as High School Students get college credit by taking classes labeled college level, and also if they go to camp at a college during summer?

Welcome to our confusing system. Many of you know this info, but this person isn’t from here & needs an explanation. The credits most often come from 2 sources:

(1) scores on Advanced Placement exams students register for through their high school. These usually follow a high school class in the subject which is supposed to have been taught at the college level. But if your kid knows a subject or a language well, they can take the exam without having taken the course. Exams are graded 1-5, & it’s up to each college how many credits it will grant for which score.

(2) The second most common way is taking actual college classes from a college while still in high school. These are very often taken at community colleges, but could be from other colleges. They can be taken in summers or during the school year. Again, it is up to each college if they will accept these classes, with the most trouble coming if a class counted towards their high school requirements, if the class was taught by a high school teacher, or if it was taught on high school property. Any of these factors might give a college a reason to not accept a class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1,166 of 6,170 at UMD this year entered with at least sophomore status. Besides the advantage of graduating one year early and earning an income instead of paying tuition the fourth year, entering as a sophomore also allows the candidate the option to graduate in 4 years with a master’s.
https://irpa.umd.edu/CampusCounts/Admissions/apps_ug.pdf

16.7% in 2023.
13.1% in 2022.
9.9% in 2021.

There are two ways to look at this number.

1. There are a lot more high achieving kids choosing to go to UMD
2. There are a lot of community college transfers in the second year.

I'm thinking it's #1.

2. Falls under transfers. Page 1 of the attachment only talks about first time matriculating students. 1. Probably is true and in addition, in MD at least, the Blueprint legislation pushes school districts to pay for all AP exams and lowers the grade requirement barrier for students to take community college classes.

[Anonymous]

My friend graduated from Harvard in 3 years. Not sure how.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS had enough credits to graduate in three years but was not considered a sophomore or “second year” at Uva. What schools actually slot you in as a sophomore?

That's odd. My son's best friend (Governor's school - top kid - 6.20 + GPA due to the college credits) entered as a second year. She graduated in three, saving a huge chunk of money for her parents, and is now in law school.

[Anonymous]

Seems even more common to graduate a semester early.

[Anonymous]

Both my kids were technically sophomores when they started - it's great for getting the classes you want and also helped them both graduate with double majors in 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My law school friend entered Harvard as a sophomore. She hated the school and applied elsewhere for law school (we went to Berkeley).

dp.. wow, my friend did the same. Hated Harvard. Went to Cal next.

My friend managed to do her 3rd year of law school at Berkeley because she hated Harvard so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's really no such thing as sophomore "status" or "standing." I entered college with the number of credits (AP + CLEP) most earn in their first two semesters on campus, but I was still a freshman (and I still took 4 years to graduate).

There certainly is at UVA. I know of several who entered as second years and graduated in three. There's even a name for them (about 60 graduate like that a year) but I forget what it is. They get a special gold stole at graduation. Saves parents a lot of money. https://college.as.virginia.edu/early-degree-completion

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My law school friend entered Harvard as a sophomore. She hated the school and applied elsewhere for law school (we went to Berkeley).

dp.. wow, my friend did the same. Hated Harvard. Went to Cal next.

My friend managed to do her 3rd year of law school at Berkeley because she hated Harvard so much.[/quote]


liking or not liking harvard has nothing to do with it. You have to petition harvard law with a very good personal reason (usually death in the family, etc.) to do a year away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why rush getting out of college, you get so much more out of 4 or 5 years than 3, academically, socially, fun, etc

I would rather my kid take a biology class at a university taught by a well respected college professor than some disgruntled high school teacher with 3 years on the job and no real world experience with a world class lab.

DD is a freshman at University of Minnesota and is taking a freshman biology class with over 300 students from a teaching assistant. Professors don't teach intro classes at university. LOL.....

Considering some of these places cost $93K a year now, you get a LOT by graduating early

[Anonymous]

WM does social class, which I like. DD went in with enough credits to be a sophomore. But was a “social class freshman” and needed 2 semesters on campus to be a “social class sophomore”. Keep kids together for housing, registration, meal plans etc.

[Anonymous]

If they come in with enough IB or AP credit, it’s very common. Most will graduate a semester, some a full year early.
For the donut hole families, it may actually be part of an application strategy to private schools, if you have a high stats, high test scores kid, the total cost of attendance in 3 years vs 4 years could make a private school do-able. I didn’t put any pressure on my kid to graduate early, leaving it up to them to decide what they would like to do, they walked in with 20 credits.