Graduating with BA and MA

To Jamie: How did you go about completing your bachelor’s and master’s degrees in three years? Was it a matter of overloading on classes every semester, taking many courses throughout the summer, taking courses that counted towards both degrees, or something entirely different?

Hey Anonymous!!

Coming into Harvard, I had 10 A Levels. By having at least 4 A Level A*, I was able to qualify for advanced standing. This lets you place out of 8 of Harvard’s 32 graduation requirements for undergrads. I then opted to pursue the AB/SM program (Bachelors and Masters) which adds a further 8 units -> I am now back to 32 units.

Fall Semester Freshman Year - 4 courses
Spring Semester Freshman Year - 5 courses
Fall Semester Sophomore Year - 6 courses
Spring Semester Sophomore Year - 6 courses
Fall Semester Junior Year - 6 courses
Spring Semester Junior Year - 6 courses

4 + 5 + 6 + 6 + 6 + 5 = 32 courses

When doing the AB/SM program, each course can only count for one of your two degrees so you cannot accelerate through smart double counting. However, I did use this strategy in my Masters programs at Stanford!

Great, thanks Jamie!