if you play as much as i do, it only takes 9 days to get to 50. im leveling an operative right now and i started on april 1st and right now im at 35, planning on 50 monday.
i skip flashpoints/heroics because looking for people takes to long, i do all the quests, bonus quests (like kill 20 __ ), the bonus series, the new space missions, and the warzone dailys. seems to work great!