Atlanta, Georgia — Most college students spend several years working toward a bachelor’s degree, but 19-year-old Ivanna Poliashenko had a very different plan.
The Georgia State University math whiz completed her undergraduate degree in mathematics with a statistics concentration in just 14 months, turning what would normally be a four-year journey into an extraordinarily intense academic sprint.
Poliashenko began her degree at Georgia State in June 2025 and completed it in August 2026, finishing the required coursework across four semesters. Her achievement was made possible through careful planning, advanced placement credits and an unusually demanding class schedule.
She Planned the 14-Month Degree Before Starting
Poliashenko, a graduate of Atlanta’s prestigious Woodward Academy, began thinking about the accelerated program before she had even taken her first Georgia State class.
With assistance from undergraduate director Leslie Meadows, she developed a detailed academic plan designed to complete the mathematics and statistics department’s required coursework as quickly as possible.
Rather than simply telling her that a four-year degree had to take four years, Georgia State officials worked with her to determine whether the ambitious plan could actually be completed.
“I do really love math. It’s genuinely one of my favorite things,” Poliashenko said.
She said the university’s willingness to work with her played an important role in making the unusual academic path possible.
Advanced Placement Credits Gave Her a Head Start
Poliashenko already had a significant advantage when she entered college.
She had earned college credits through Advanced Placement classes during high school, giving her a “sizeable chunk” of the university’s core requirements before beginning her undergraduate program.
She also tested out of several mathematics prerequisites, allowing her to move directly into more advanced coursework.
Her four-semester schedule began relatively modestly with six courses during the summer of 2025. Then the workload increased.
She took seven classes in the fall, followed by an exhausting eight-course spring semester, before finishing with another six classes during the summer.
Her Eight-Class Semester Was Brutal
The spring semester proved to be the most demanding portion of her accelerated journey.
Poliashenko said she would wake up at approximately 7:30 a.m. and head to Georgia State’s STEM Tutoring Center, where she worked as a tutor for about an hour and a half.
Her classes then ran from approximately 10:30 a.m. until 6:45 p.m. But her academic day did not end when lectures were over.
She would use her train ride home to study, then continue working after arriving home until around midnight.
“It was a painful but rewarding schedule,” she said.
The intense routine eventually paid off, but Poliashenko admitted she initially worried that moving so quickly through college might leave gaps in her education.
Math Award Confirmed Her Hard Work
Those concerns were eased when Poliashenko received the university’s V.V. Lavroff Calculus Award.
The award is given by the mathematics department to students who earn a 4.0 GPA in all of their calculus courses, providing a significant academic recognition during her brief time at Georgia State.
Poliashenko also spent time studying material that could not fit into her accelerated course schedule.
Professor Florian Enescu met with her once a week for five months to help her learn abstract algebra through an independent side project.
She said those experiences helped demonstrate that accelerating her degree had not necessarily meant sacrificing the depth of her mathematics education.
Next Stop: Georgia Tech and a Doctorate
Poliashenko’s academic journey is far from over.
She has been accepted into the Georgia Institute of Technology’s master’s program in mathematics, where she plans to continue toward a doctorate.
Although she hopes to become a researcher, Poliashenko has also discovered a strong interest in teaching.
“I would love to be a researcher, but I also learned that I love teaching,” she told 11Alive.
She said she could see herself eventually becoming a professor or even a high school teacher because of the opportunity to influence younger students.
For now, the 19-year-old math whiz has already accomplished something remarkable: completing a four-year undergraduate path in just 14 months while maintaining a 4.0 calculus record and preparing for the next stage of her academic career.
What do you think about Poliashenko’s extraordinary 14-month college journey? Could you handle a schedule like hers? Share your thoughts in the comments below.