<p>What are your thoughts on graduating a year early? The student would still graduate in May, meeting the deadlines of many employers, but would only have three years of college. What are your thoughts on the potential pros and cons, and has anyone here done this? What was your experience?</p>
<p>Pros: Saving money, getting into the workforce/earning a salary sooner. Moving forward with your life a year early; maybe you’re looking to marry or start a family, or put yourself in a better financial position by saving and investing at a younger age. Maybe you have family pressures to help support parents or siblings, or maybe other personal reasons for wanting to do so.</p>
<p>Cons: Less time for electives, internships, and/or research experience. Rushing the college experience. Facing the real world, bills, and responsibilities sooner and at a younger age.</p>
<p>You have to decide how much value you place on each of the above to determine if it’s the right decision. Some people care more about saving money than having the “college experience,” whereas others would rather use the year to explore elective courses and not worry about bills and such. It’s a personal choice based on your specific circumstances.</p>
<p>I graduated a semester early.</p>
<p>I second what NovaLynnx said.</p>
<p>Two years out, I still believe it was the right decision for me.</p>
<p>I went straight into a presidential election campaign job, though, so there was no waiting around on job applications.</p>
<p>One of my high school friends transferred schools (twice), changed fields, and still graduated in 3 years. He got married right after graduating and landed a job as an actuary in Chicago. He is very driven. (Though I never expected he would be the first of our group of friends to get married!)</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I came in with enough credits from IB/AP to graduate in 3 years, but instead I have opted for a 5 year program that gives me lots of full-time research experience and lets me take a minor and electives that will prepare me for graduate school. Since I have a full tuition scholarship, the money part is less of an issue.
Another reason was that I was not entirely sure what I wanted to do for awhile. I started out uncertainly as pre-med, and it wasn’t until my third year that I decided completely to aim for graduate school instead. Now, I am very confident in my decision and know that the extra time I put in will give me a really fantastic grad school application.</p>
<p>I used to be very much in the camp of pushing forward and getting through things as young and quickly as possible. Now I am less in that camp. I think the right decision varies depending on what you are studying, your experience, and how certain you are of your goals. If graduating early would leave your somehow under-prepared for your post-grad plans, it’s not the best choice. But if you are confident that your reduced time would still make you just as well qualified as someone who spent more time, then it’s worth considering (though still think of the social aspects of college as well).</p>
<p>Some great responses above… here’s my take…</p>
<p>Being in position to graduate a year early is phenomenal and speaks volumes about your ability to get things done, so now you get to choose. For me, senior year was the best year of my life, and the value I got from it was incredible, so I’m glad that I pushed out graduation to December of my senior year - I was able to have a semester with only 3 real classes, and then I had a nice three month gap where I was still living at school but had no classes, before I started my full time job.</p>
<p>Financially, it’s an obvious choice, and if finances are a primary concern, you should go for it. If finances are less important, then think about the other aspects of college: do you enjoy college? do you think you will gain value from an extra semester or year of college? are you desperate to get into the working world? are you prepared to come face to face with student loans, bills, employment responsibility, etc? It’s okay if you don’t know the answer to these questions, but they are legitimate ones, and different people are at different stages of their lives. If you can’t fathom being out on your own yet, maybe an extra year isn’t a bad thing; on the other hand, if you can’t wait to be out on your own, an extra year would be a bit of a waste.</p>
<p>This is a very personal decision and is one that should be approached both critically and cautiously. Good luck!</p>