Posted on 09/20/2006 2:18:11 AM PDT by leadpenny
CHARLOTTESVILLE (AP) - With college tuition rising to record levels across the country, one University of Virginia student figured out a way to save himself from the crush of student-loan debt.
The solution? He finished college in just one year.
David Banh, of Annandale, is the first person ever to complete U.Va.'s traditional four-year bachelor's program in a single year.
"I was impressed _ I would say amazed," said Donald Ramirez, vice chairman of the mathematics department.
Banh, who turns 19 later this month, graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria in 2005. A year and a summer later, he was a U.Va. alumnus.
Thanks to a mountain of advanced placement credits, Banh was already ahead of the game.
"I flirted with the idea back in high school, and thought I could finish college in a year and a half, in three semesters," Banh said. "But after my first semester (at U.Va.), I realized I had all this extra time, and that if I stayed for a second year I didn't have a way to pay for it without taking out loans."
So he went for it _ taking 11 classes in the spring of 2006 to complete his bachelor's in mathematics.
"It was amazing more of the classes didn't overlap," he said. "Only two of them did, where they were both scheduled for the same time."
One of the subjects dealt with an area Banh was already familiar with from high school, so he was able to pull it off, and passed both classes. At the end of the 2006 term, Banh had completed his degree in math, but realized he was only three credits short of double majoring in physics.
"I really wanted the physics," he said. So he took one final class over the summer and graduated in August with a double major.
Now he's gone on to the graduate program at U.Va., and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in mathematics.
Banh said he was already halfway to his degree before stepping foot on campus. He had a whopping 72 credits from advanced placement exams in high school.
"I basically took the entire gamut of AP credits," he said. "I just took everything I could."
U.Va., however, allows only a maximum of 60 such credits to be used toward the 120 it takes to obtain a bachelor's degree. So Banh started the clock with 60 when he arrived in Charlottesville.
"I think it's safe to say I've never seen a person with that many advanced placement credits before," Ramirez said. "Many times we'll see someone come in with six credits, or sometimes 15 at the most."
Banh, then, could have breezed through a normal schedule of classes, and he would have still finished in two years. But he said he thought a year and a half would be a better timetable. He signed up for 23 credit hours his first semester at U.Va., but found the workload wasn't as bad as he thought it might be.
"I found myself sitting around a lot with free time," he said.
Banh's parents, first-generation Vietnamese immigrants, did not have enough money to pay for both his education and that of his siblings. He could have taken out loans for a second year, or taken on a part-time job while completing his studies. But he said it seemed to make more sense to just finish the degree in one year.
The university has regulations concerning how many classes students can take, and Banh had to obtain special permission from the School of Arts & Sciences to continue. While that request was making its way through the chain of command, he signed up for all the courses he could to complete the majors, and left the other classes for when he got the word. Then he waited. And waited.
"I got approval the day before the second semester started," Banh said.
While he may have been busy, Banh said he never had much of a problem making friends, thanks in large part to living in a dorm. And he continues to live in undergraduate housing in the Lambeth Field residences, even though he is now a graduate student.
"If I wanted to, I could probably recreate the four-year U.Va. experience for myself," he said. "I still live with the same friends I had last year only now I'll be going off to do research, and of course I pay zero tuition."
Banh's professors were impressed. "From the very beginning, I was amazed," said Irena Lasiecka, a mathematics professor who taught Banh. "He was definitely the best student in the class, and also the most mature even though he was younger."
Lasiecka was so impressed that she helped Banh achieve admission to the Ph.D. program.
"Some of the other grad students still consider him a big kid, because he's so young," she said. "But his abilities are great. It's obvious that he's exceptionally gifted."
As for what's next for Banh, he is continuing his studies in mathematics, but is also considering going to law school instead.
Ramirez doubts he'll see anyone else accomplish what Banh did as an undergraduate.
"I've been here 39 years, so maybe it will happen again in another 39 years."
Thomas Jefferson High School is probably the best in the country, certainly one of the best. They only take kids who are very bright, and hard working.
My own kids made the initial cut for Thomas Jefferson, but not the final cut. I think because they were slackers. My husband always told them that a B was as good as an A.
UVA is one of the top public universities in the country, too.
Although, for math, I don't see why he didn't do Virginia Tech, instead.
This is what comes from multiple choice tests.
"I don't see why he didn't do Virginia Tech, instead."
Good point.
Maybe it would have taken him an extra week or two? :)
.............. hmm, not too much time left for pep rallies.
;-)
A very impressive acheivement. Quite a good idea on the AP classes. Maybe it will catch on. Not to this extent, of course, but I had no idea there were even that many AP courses you could take.
Good job Mr. Banh!
PS and yeah, I feel pretty lazy and worthless too right now.
Excerpted from WashPost:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/19/AR2006091901779.html
"He's one of a kind," said Vicki Doff, his counselor at the competitive magnet Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County. "Absolutely amazing kid academically, incredibly persistent, bright, focused and determined. His academic record was second to none. I've been here over 20 years, and I've never had a student take the course load he did in his years here."
She used to worry he was doing too much. "And he usually proved me wrong."
Banh was born and grew up in Fairfax, the eldest son of parents who came to the United States from Vietnam in the 1980s.
Even in elementary school, he was trying to get ahead.
...
His parents pushed him. He liked learning new things rather than repeating what he already knew. He had a sort of low-key competition with a smart girl at his school. His uncle helped tutor him. "It was nice to be a year ahead" in math, he said. "It made me feel special when I was little."
...
His mom said she is proud but sometimes worried about the track he was on. "He didn't have time to do a lot of stuff," she said. "He [would] just go home, do homework, take another extra homework and do it. He ate dinner for 15 minutes or ate dinner still looking at a book.
"I said, 'No, I do not want this.' But I guess it's helped him [in] that he believes he can do things. That's the most important to me."
I realized the same thing and did it in 2 years.
bump
One of my favorite bumper stickers . . seen on the back of a young fellows jeep:
"I think I'm in college!"
Education ping.
Let McVey, JamesP81, or me know if you want on or off the education ping list.
No offense intended for Math majors, but what is he going to do with the degree? I know he's getting a Ph.D. (Piledhigher & Deeper), but seriously what is the marketability of a math major? even with a Ph.D.? Perhaps I'm being cynical, but I see so many of my contemporaries graduating with (what I consider) to be useless degrees and no work ethic. One feather in this kid's cap however, is that he's proven that he has a good work ethic, which will take him farther than the degree will.
I granduated with an engineering degree, and I can't think of how it would have been possible to graduate in less than two years, no matter how many credits I had going in because so many classes were staggered and were pre-requisites for other classes. I imagine the same would be true for many other degree programs.
E-mailed the story to my graduate student daughter.
And he had such promise. 8-)
A YEAR!!?? SLACKER!!!!!
/sarc
Thanks for the info.!
He probably lettered in a couple of sports in his spare time.
Well, he could be doing a lot of different things (double major in math and physics?!) besides chasing ambulances. LOL
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