Better to graduate in Fall v. Spring term?

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>I just transferred into Columbia University School of General Studies and brought in two years worth of credits with me so I have about 2 years of schooling left to get my bachelor's.</p>

<p>The problem is if I graduate in 4 semesters, which would mean I'd be done after the Fall '14 term, I'll be averaging 5 classes a semester (Which isn't bad) but 3 of those 5 will be 3000/4000 level courses in Economics (majoring in Financial Economics) which I think might be pretty challenging and might result in taking a hit on my GPA.</p>

<p>I'm wondering if it would be better to space out my courses over one more semester, so that I would graduate in the following spring term (May '15). This would probably be helpful in earning a better GPA, although how much better is hard to guess.</p>

<p>I'm wondering if it will benefit me to graduate after the fall semester as opposed to the spring semester in terms of typical recruiting/hiring cycles (i.e., if the majority of undergrad's graduate in May, then maybe I'll have a leg up if I'm graduating a semester early, is what I'm wondering), or if spacing out my credits over 5 semesters instead of 4 and just graduating in Spring like most students would be a better move.</p>

<p>Currently I'm planning to work in finance but am also considering law school after I graduate and work for a couple years at a law firm as a paralegal or something.</p>

<p>Let me know if I left any details out and I'll add them as soon as possible...thanks for reading.</p>

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<p>It all depends on if you think you can handle the upper level courses. 5 classes is pretty average for a college student but I feel ya on the economic classes. Those can get pretty tough. I’m currently taking 18 credits right now with 300/400 level classes and it’s very tough but doable. I don’t have much time for partying, except this spring break haha. I would personally do the 5, though. I’d like to just get it out of the way and it’ll save you money too. </p>

<p>As far as graduating in december vs. may I’m not sure. I had a friend who is accounting major and graduated in december and still hasn’t found a job. Obviously, that is a bad example because that is just one person but I’m not sure what month would be better to graduate in. I’m leaning towards May because during the fall career fairs of senior year, companies don’t even get back to you for interviews until nov/dec.</p>