Communicating Early Graduation in Resumes and With Recruiters

I’m Class of 2020 but I’m expecting to graduate in May 2019. I’m hoping to get an internship the summer after sophomore year (in my field) and so I’ll be applying and interviewing for that in a few months.

Should I indicate in some way that I’m intending on graduating one year early in my resume or should I just write “May 2019”? Should I put down the high school graduation date?

I heard recruiters often ask you what year you are because some prefer juniors because of the return-offer issue. Although, I won’t actually be a junior, effectively I will be both in terms of being relevant for return offers the next year and according to semester standing status at my school by the number of credits. How should I respond if this comes up? Should I just say, “A sophomore, but I’m expecting to graduate a year early”?

I’m thinking it will beneficial to communicate it simply on the resume itself so there aren’t any misunderstandings and everyone will know right-off-the bat where I stand and what my plans are. Otherwise there may be confusion about such things and they’ll also probably get the transcript and wonder why there’s only two semesters worth of stuff based on the expected graduation date.

Put your expected graduation date on your resume, and make sure your actual high school graduation date is on there as well. It does help to stand out against competition to show that you are completing a four-year program in three years.

For all intents and purposes, you “skipped” your freshman year, so you are currently a sophomore.