Nicholas LaBry will earn three bachelor’s degrees from the 鶹ҹ during Spring 2015 Commencement ceremonies Friday – in chemistry, electrical engineering, and physics.
The 22-year-old, who took up to 24 credit hours per semester to complete all of his degree requirements, said he gets a common response when most people learn that he has earned degrees in such academically demanding disciplines in four years.
“ ‘You’re crazy!’ is generally the first reaction,” LaBry said, with a chuckle during a recent interview. “They usually say that they’re very surprised, and then comes the standard congratulations.”
LaBry, who has a 3.7 GPA, said the key to his success is taking everything in stride. “I learned not to stress a long time ago,” he explained.
His father is a physicist who conducts underwater acoustics research. His uncle once worked on a design project for Boeing while attending MIT. “I grew up surrounded by science,” said LaBry, a Lafayette High School graduate.
An innate intellectual curiosity and wide-ranging interests left him unable to decide on one major, or even a double major, before he enrolled at 鶹ҹ in Fall 2011.
“Picking three was me narrowing down my scope,” he said.
LaBry chose to attend 鶹ҹ, in part, because the University was able to accommodate his intention to pursue a triple major.
“My advisors and professors were willing to work with me, and not a lot of schools would allow that,” he said.
LaBry was able to absorb a lot of the material that was presented during class lectures.
“I don’t have to study a lot, so anything I have to do at home is mostly cramming the night before a test,” he explained.
This fall, LaBry will enroll in a five-year doctoral program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a private research university in Troy, N. Y. He’ll receive a tuition waiver, a yearly stipend, and the chance to once again pursue a multi-disciplinary curriculum.
He is in the process of developing that curriculum with faculty members at the institute.
“I’ll probably be taking classes in inorganic chemistry, quantum and particle physics, microelectronics circuits and maybe a little power engineering,” LaBry said.
LaBry said he ultimately wants to become a researcher at a university or private institute.