One student who is pursuing five majors said he feels like he’s “gaining a lot more in terms of learning.”

Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | Jacob Wackerhausen and Tomwang112/iStock/Getty Images | Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post/Getty Images

As a high schooler in the Bay Area of California, Sophia Duran took eight Advanced Placement courses and three dual-enrollment courses at the local community college, hoping the advanced coursework would help her stick out to college admissions officers. When she later enrolled at Syracuse University, though, she realized her college-level studies had had an unintended side effect—she already had more than a year’s worth of college credits.

“My adviser said that I could graduate a semester early or triple major,” she

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