Carly is a Marketing Associate in the Boston Area. She graduated from the University of Delaware in 2008.

I attended college with two goals in mind:

1. Graduate with a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 4 years or less.
2. Compete at the North American Young Rider Championships.

Although goal number one is fairly common among individuals of my age, goal number two definitely set me apart from my fellow classmates.

While the average college student does not participate in sport that involves riding horses at fast speeds over large obstacles through fields, water and the woods, they are more than likely trying to manage a variety of different responsibilities while trying to earn their degree. Whether it be working an outside job to pay for their education, raising a family, or training and competing in a sport (as in my case), time can seem very limited- and four years to a degree can suddenly seem very short!

Most students want to graduate with a degree in the shortest amount of time possible. Although there will always be a few “super-seniors” roaming every college campus, the majority of students are seeking to join the work force and start a career of their own as soon as possible. I should also mention the fact that the longer it takes for you to earn your degree, the more money it costs (most traditional schools’ tuition rates are configured on a yearly basis). Graduating in a short period of time is definitely in your best interest!

So how do you do it? Well first of all, college is a lot of work no matter where you go and how you go about earning your degree. There are, however, ways that I figured out how to manipulate my course schedule to allow me to continue working towards both of my goals. For me, online courses proved to be the key to earning my bachelor’s degree in 4 years.

Consider this example: In order to be eligible to compete in the championship I wished to attend, I needed to make several trips up and down the East Coast to participate in qualifying competitions. Quite often I would need to leave for competitions on Thursday evenings, as most of the events started on Friday and continued throughout the rest of the weekend. This made class room courses almost impossible to attend, especially if they met on Fridays.

In order to ensure that I would graduate in four years, I needed to take a full course load each semester. This usually amounted to 5-6 courses. For most of the classes I needed to take, there were multiple sections that I had the option of signing up for. Each section would meet at a different time. In many cases, one of the sections listed would be an online version of the course. I quickly discovered that if none of the classroom sections of a course fit in with my schedule, the online option was my best bet. Some semesters I would even take 3 out of my 6 classes online.

The bottom line is in today’s world, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in four years can be a challenge, especially if you have other responsibilities outside of the classroom. Online classes, whether taken alone or in conjunction with campus courses, are an excellent way to obtain a degree on your own schedule. I am proud to say that I did accomplish both of my goals, and I have moved on to the next.

Could online courses or degree programs be what it takes to help you reach your goals?