Hello everyone, I need some advice. I’m a 3rd year who will graduate, at the very least, a quarter early… but I’ve been struggling with whether or not I should graduate this fall (which means I would have finished my degree in 3 years) or next winter (4 years). I’m torn on whether I should finish two quarters early (fall) and get going on my career path or if I should stick around in the winter and continue my internships, take this one class I’ve always wanted to take, etc.
The way my degree requirements are set up, I need four classes which are spread out in fall and winter (3 in fall, 1 in winter). OR I can take two of the classes (the one offered in winter and one of them offered in fall) in the summer and graduate by the end of fall once the last two classes are finished. However, theres also a fun-but-tough-to-get-into film production class where, if you’re chosen, can pull together your own crew to make a film to be shown in festivals, in front of industry professionals, etc. I have always wanted to take it and make an animated film, but the problem with this class is 1) it’s a two quarter course from fall to winter and 2) there’s a chance my pitch won’t even be chosen aka I won’t get the class. If I don’t get into the class, then my winter quarter would only have one required course and two or three random classes (this is if I do not take summer) to which I feel this is not the best use of my time.
My advisor also told me that I should not take the film class with one of my fall requirements due to too much work. He recommended I take one of the fall required courses during the latter half of summer. If I take just the one fall required course in summer, I could stay for fall and winter to finish up the other requirements and take the film course… but theres the chance I won’t even get into the class. My mom says I should take the winter requirement in the first half of summer as well since I’ll be at school in the summer anyways, but then I would have to decide whether to stay for winter just for the film class that I might not even get into (since my winter requirement would have been completed in the summer).
I feel like I’m weighing my graduation too much on one class that is not required but that I really wish to take… plus the idea that I can have my internships last a quarter longer. Does a quarter longer with internships even matter much? Side note: I may actually be able to continue them online since the work I do does not require me to be physically there, so maybe the internship idea has nothing to do with this all.
What do you guys think? Is it worth staying through the winter to continue internships a quarter longer, take a fun class I really want that is not even required, etc. or is it better to take the requirements in the summer, graduate by the end of fall, not take the film class, and get going on my career path (and maybe go get an MFA)? Is graduating early even worth it (I know employers don’t care when you graduate, but do you think I may miss some opportunities)? Sorry if any of this was confusing and thanks for the read!