<p>...she is a student athlete and wants to play the full four years. She is a govt major/econ minor and will be finished after her junior year. Should she double major (econ) or pick up another minor. Would it be wasteful to take classes "just for fun" (but would also give her the opportunity for more in depth knowledge on a particular subject)? Future plans include law school and she is aware that GPA is important.</p>
<p>Would it be wasteful to take classes "just for fun</p>
<p>No, why would it?</p>
<p>Since when would taking classes that are educational be wasteful???</p>
<p>IMHO education isn’t wasteful. College isn’t a matter of getting a credential in the least amount of time for the least amount of money, at least not unless there are special circumstances. (A married breadwinner with a family, for example, who needs the credential to get a better job.)</p>
<p>I can’t see cutting her education short if you can afford it, unless she is eager to move on for some reason. Some people are.</p>
<p>My DS is in the same boat. Found out on Aug 19 that he could have graduated Aug. 4. Since he is on a merit scholarship ride; we said “sure stay for your 4th year” since he loves his college experience. He decided to pick up a minor that will make his major more marketable and to take some GPA boosting classes for fun like “Beer and Wine.”</p>
<p>So far it is going well although he does complain that the minor turned into a lot of work. Makes me unbelievably happy- done with college in 3 years at no cost to us other than his study abroad which we gladly paid for. Congrats on her finishing early.</p>
<p>My older son easily could have graduated in 3 years, but he stayed for the forth…took Italian classes, jogging, physical conditioning, an extra Spanish class, a math class he didn’t need, but thought sounded interesting (he was a math major)…and some others that I’m not remembering. </p>
<p>Frankly, if the student will be applying to law, med, grad school during senior year, then it’s nice if that year is an easy year.</p>
<p>I could have graduated in 3, but chose to get a double degree rather than a double major. Do I regret it? No, not even a little bit. Is the double degree pointless? Pretty much but it allowed me to stay on scholarship through my fourth year and I took a lot of really fun and interesting science and ethics classes. </p>
<p>It’s not “just for fun” if it’s giving her more indepth knowledge. If she wants to go to law school, maybe take a few classes that will prepare her (indirectly) for the LSAT or something.</p>
<p>I was in the same boat and decided to pick up another minor. It’s always looked good on my resume so I don’t regret it in the least.</p>
<p>I think it’s a fine idea. Some of the classes I remember the most are the ones I took just because I was interested in learning more about a topic that had no relation to my major.</p>
<p>I think it comes down to a couple of things - whether she wants to stay an extra year, and whether whoever’s paying for it is willing to pay whatever that cost is. </p>
<p>At a basic level it seems silly to me to stay at college an extra year just to play a sport (unless maybe it’s likely to lead to a lucrative professional career). From the little bit you posted it appears that her primary motivation for staying an extra year is to play the sport and she’ll just take random classes in order to be able to stay and play that sport.</p>
<p>On top of that, law school is generally quite expensive and takes another 3 years to complete so that factors in as well.</p>
<p>However, there’s nothing wrong with taking some additional courses for interest and either getting a minor, a second major, or just take them for the sake of interest in the courses. </p>
<p>It’s really a personal decision with no single ‘right’ answer.</p>
<p>I could have graduated in y4ars but chose to do it in 3 to save money for my parents</p>
<p>Depending on the college, co-terminal grad degrees may be an option. I could have received my bachelors at Stanford in 3 years. Instead I entered two co-terminal masters programs, allowing me to simultaneously pursue 3 degrees. In some cases, I was able to use the same course for requirements across multiple degrees, making degrees in parallel more convenient than in series. I also liked being able to balance out my schedule with courses in multiple fields, instead of having the vast majority of courses related to one major. I ended up finishing the BS and 1st MS in under 4 years. After 4 years, I left for a job in SD and finished the remainder of the 2nd MS via long distance.</p>
<p>It seems a no brainer for your DD to stay extra year. I left after 3rd year, but I was less than thrilled with big U.</p>
<p>I’ve seen student athletes get or start graduate degrees.</p>
<p>It sounds like she has created options for herself through hard work and diligence: graduate early or stay. If she wants to stay the last year, then stay. Meeting graduation requirements doesn’t mean a student should leave. </p>
<p>There is no reason she can’t take more than the minimum number of classes required for her major or minor. I would say, it looks much better to take more than the minimum requirements. She can see if she is able to take graduate level classes or seminars.</p>
<p>Take into account that the extra year is not only the cost of schooling but also a year of salary (by entering the job market a year earlier). Easily at least an 80K decision to play a sport.</p>
<p>My son needed the seasoning that a fourth year of college provided. Three were not enough.</p>
<p>My daughter chose to graduate after 2.5 years (IB credits!). I told her not to be in a hurry and certainly not at the expense of her GPA, but she wants to get a Masters so she is just going to move on to that…so she is still in “college” but just not undergraduate. Also this way she could convince us to pay for her Masters since we won’t be paying for the equivalant undergraduate classes. </p>
<p>But if she was in a sport or anything like that I would push for her staying.You only get one chance to do that. Law school will be waiting.</p>
<p>My comment is that while preparing for the future is important, living in the here and now is important, too.</p>
<p>Many students work on a Master’s during their last year of their athletic scholarships. This will give them some added flexibility in allowing them to switch colleges and play immediately (if they want to try a different set of coaches/team).</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. I should have included that D is on a full merit scholarship and money is not an issue. DH and I support her staying for the fourth year because she is thoroughly enjoying her academic experience as well as her sport. She was asking us for suggestions on what to study in that last year. I suppose that’s a good problem to have.</p>