USA 3 or 4 years of undergrad to complete 150cr?

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Hi,

After searching for forums on accounting, I found this website. Looking through it for the past half hour, I definitely can tell this will be a great place for reading and learning.

I have an interesting puzzle.

I have an opportunity to graduate in 3 years, April 2013, with 152 credits from a small but AACSB accredited university. Thanks to my ACT and high school GPA, I am able to get all my credits paid for, and will graduate with no debt.

To get done this fast, I will be taking 8 credits in the 7week spring semester, 8 credits in the 7week summer semester, 16 credits in the fall, and 17 credits to finish in the winter. I have taken this amount before, with a part time accounting internship and leading 3 academic extracurricular activities. I currently have a 4.0 GPA, but I have not taken the GMAT, GRE, or even looked into the CPA exam yet.

My scholarship grants me a total of 136 credits to spend. Because of AP tests and community college gen ed classes I took in high school, I have 62 credits left to spend. If I stretch undergrad to four years, I will be able to write a thesis for the honors program and study abroad. However, due to my limited amount of credits left, I will not take any summer classes, and take no more than 4 classes per semester.

To me, it looks like I have three equally good choices:

1) Graduate in 3 years and hopefully land public accounting job on path to CPA
2) Graduate in 4 years and participate more in my local, small AACSB university then find work
3) Take GMAT/GRE and apply to Macc programs to teach in the future and (is this true?) make myself appear more mature with the extra schooling. Can do this after 3 or 4 years, whichever is smartest.


Note: My school offers next to no extra curricular activities pertaining to econ, finance, or accounting. I have done what little there is to do other than study abroad for a business internship, which is by no means easy to get.


TL;DR - Will a 3.8-4.0 GPA and 150 credits in 3 years in anyway be disadvantageous?


I apologize for writing a wall of text as my first post. I appreciate any advice you can give me!
 

kirby

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Since the schooling has no cost, the choice between options 1 and 2 is that under option 1 you may begin to work for 1 full year more than option 2. That extra dough - plus the work experience gained - is the winner. (Option 3 has the same 3 or 4 year path as 1 and 2, so I am ignoring it.)
 

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