http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/do-it-now.htm
When I first read this, I thought he said he completed his two degrees in 3 YEARS with no summer classes, but he says 3 semesters. So ok, is this even remotely possible? Adding up all the mundane things and ignoring the fact that it would be nearly impossible to schedule university classes to fit in one semester, he would simply run out of time. Eating, shopping, preparing food, etc. What do you think? Loon, Liar, or super student?
IIRC, too many classes have prerequisites to do this. He’d have to have finished courses A,B, C and D in sequence, not concurrently.
Didn’t see where he says what school, though - and some “Mail-Order” degrees will let you do just about anything!
I don’t see why you’d find this so hard to believe. A couple years ago, I was a full-time (nights) student, full-time It Professional, with a spouse and toddler at home - I managed a 3.8 over 10 classes in 12 months. If I didn’t have to work, spend time with my family, and all the other responsibilities attendent to being a white-collar worker and family man, I think I could have easily doubled my courseload. Just my 2 cents.
According to the longer article called “The Meaning of Life” on his site, the school was Cal State University, Northridge .
Hmm. The more I think about this, the more skeptical I get.
Depends on the program as well. If it is a certification or some pansy technical school it is one thing, a university program is another.
I find this hard to believe for these reasons:
1.) He claims 30-40 hours a semester, which suggests a variance. If he did take 40 hours EVERY semester, it would only be 120. Most Universities (in the U.S anyhow), require something like 126 credits for a B.S, and something like 160-180 for a double major.
2.) Computer science isn’t I.T. You have to take Calculus I-III, Physics and a whole bunch of other technical classes. With a Mathmatics Double Major, you have many other math classes. This guy claims normal intelligence. There is no way a normal guy can get a 3.9 or whatever he claims he go, while taking 40 hours of classes with many, many math classes. The prereqs alone would stretch him out to at least 6 semesters.
3.) Scheduling is impossible. Getting in 18 credit hours is hard enough, doubling that isn’t possible, unless night classes are taken, and courses aren’t always set up perfectly so you get out of one class, walk to the next and take it. There are conflicts, some classes aren’t offered some semesters, and most of the time classes overlap. Many colleges won’t even LET you take over a certain amount of credits.
4.) Good luck with Finals. Taking 4-5 classes often presents conflicts with overlapping finals.
5.) Did I mention a technical school or online college isn’t a University? Community college standards aren’t even up to a regular state college, homework, labs, recitations, etc. Those night classes are tailored to the working adult, “unnecessary” stuff is cut down, homework is limited, and tests tend to be easier.
Oh, and he also mentions working a 40 hour job the last semester, while taking 37 credits, having a social life, sleeping 8 hours a night and working out, etc. Oh, did I mention he was a Vegan, so preparing food probably takes longer than your average college students “pop in a hot-pocket.”
A quick perusal of his website shows that he believes he (and you) can make him/yourself $1 million richer simply by thinking real hard about it.
The California State University system has a pretty good reputation, but apparently some stuff slips through the cracks.
Me too. I got my associates degree in computer programming (65 credits) in 3 semesters plus a summer session while I worked as a security guard. The job allowed me to study about 6 hours per night. It would have been very difficult to fit more credits into that period. I faced a lot of resistance to my plans by the college, and sheduling was difficult because of prerequisites. This guy is talking about twice the load I carried. I’m not claiming that I am in the top 1% in terms of capacity or anything, I just don’t see how it could have been done, in terms of scheduling and prereqs.
Eh, sorry- I really don’t feel that strongly against technical schools or online schools, but I do know from aquantinces that Vatterot, Devry, and University of Pheonix Online isn’t super tough, and know from experience that the Community College I went to was much easier and less strict than University of Missouri-Columbia, and it is a state college. So sorry about the “pansy technical college,” and the asumption that your I.T program was from one of them.
No worries, man. I know where you’re coming from. I was talking about BS/MIS at a State College.
Here’s the breakdown of how he says he did it. First semester, 25 credits at Cal State and 6 credits “off campus” , second semester 39 credits, third semester 37 credits. That adds up to 107, which seems pretty sparse for a BS degree, let alone a double major. The current CSUN catalog says it take 123 credits for just a Computer Science degree.
In Wisconsin, where I went to secondary school and college, high-performing high schoolers could take university classes their junior and senior years, or take advanced placement courses and tests, to receive college credits - perhaps he got some early credits in this manner?
Still, even with early credits, it seems way too fishy.
I took 21 hours my last semester in undergrad to counteract some previous educational malfeasance, and it was skull-crushing agony. I can’t wrap my head around someone doing double that repeatedly, especially while holding down a regular job and maintianing any semblance of a social life. It would be like claiming to have run a marathon in under an hour. I just can’t see it.
No comment on whether the guy’s lying, but you can take CLEP tests that give you a certain amount of college credit. I think I got 17 or 21 credit hours that way.
I graduated from UW Milwaukee in less than three years while working full time and it was tough. But to be honest I could easily have squeezed in a class or two more without suffering too badly. That would have pushed me closer to 27 credits a semester, but I’m pretty sure I could have done it, and I could probably have handled even more if I wasn’t working.
While I only started with 3 credits from high school I graduated with people that had 19 & 21 credits after high school. If I would have started that way I probably could have graduated in 3 semesters, not counting winter and summer sessions. Well, I could have tried anyway…
That being said, the max credits you could take is 18 (21 with advisor approval). I think this guy is full of it.