Accelerated, Multi-Discipline Approach for Prachi Patel

“Accelerated” isn’t just the term for the classes Prachi Patel took starting in middle school, it’s been her whole approach to education. Patel sees life as one big interdisciplinary world, so when she loved everything she was doing and discovered more passions during her fast-track educational journey, she didn’t switch lanes, she simply added on. This December, after just three and a half years of college, Patel is graduating with three degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Math, a Bachelor of Science in Finance, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics.

Growing up, Patel looked up to her older brother, who has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from UNC Charlotte, and “he’s the reason why I didn’t do computer science,” she said, laughing. “My brother is a genius– he was building computers in middle school– so I was too intimidated and I thought ‘I can’t do that.’” Little did she know what she was capable of.

“Starting out I didn’t know what I wanted to do, that’s why I did finance, it was general and would get me into the real world, and it’s applicable in a lot of places.” But when considering a minor, her accelerated nature kicked in and she thought “why do a minor when I can just do a major in econ?”

While working on two degrees, Patel wanted to maximize her experience and looked for opportunities to learn outside of the classroom. “My second semester I started working for the library, and then I saw that a TA [teaching assistant] position was open for Calculus I, and I got introduced to Dr. Desire’ Taylor and Dr. John Taylor. I TA’d for them for a good amount of time, and it was Dr. John Taylor that convinced me to do my bachelor’s in math.”

Patel recalled the conversation, and marveled about how it happened. “I told him it’s far too late, I’m in my third year, it is not possible! And he told me to come by his office and let’s see what we can do. So he set up a plan for me, he said ‘you can test out of these classes, but you’re going to need to learn the material in order to do that.’ So, I sat in those classes and I audited them– I even took the tests and did the homework, even though I knew they wouldn’t count– but that was me trying to determine if I knew the material.”

Patel learned the material, and when she was eligible for the Early Entry Program for a Master’s of Science in Mathematical Finance, the Taylors were there again to write her a letter of recommendation. She stacked her classes and kept the pace, even with adding the master’s classes. “I was taking seven classes –they allow 21 credits [per semester]– but I needed more to get my major in math. I was testing out of classes, so I had eight classes at one point with master’s courses, and summer courses while I was working full time. There was a lot.”

“So when I got to Calculus III, I realized I wanted to do engineering. And it’s too late to be switching majors at this point” said Patel, laughing again. “It is so confusing, because I love everything I do.”

Loving everything doesn’t mean that it came easy. Patel  worked through learning to code because her internship at Bank of America and co-op at Wells Fargo showed her the need for this critical skill. She struggled in a class to learn C, the programming language, since it was something she stayed away from earlier in her education. Patel said she dropped the class, “wiped my tears,” and picked up a Java class to start with the basics.

Patel built her coding knowledge by learning Java first, and moved on to C again the next semester. “I knew what I was doing and I felt so much better, and realized I definitely could have done computer science. It’s a process; it’s determination. There have been points in my life where I wondered if it was really worth going through all this, but when I think about what I wanted to do, it was all of this. Finance was what I needed for my major, and then I loved econ and I loved math more.”

For now, three bachelor’s degrees will just have to do– until May 2024, when Patel will cross the stage again, next time with her master’s, and for the job offer that’s waiting.