<p>Right now I'm at an interesting point in my college life.</p>
<p>It's finals week, and I'm finishing my second year of college. However, everything is all set for me to graduate next year. It's already changed in the computer system, and I'll have enough credits by the end of next year to put me over the graduation requirement. Also, I'll have finished a major in Linguistics and a minor in Asian Studies.</p>
<p>But I'm wondering whether to go through with the 3-year graduation or not. </p>
<p>Financially, I'd be saving $45k of tution/fees. Socially, it's a little different. I was originally in the class of '09, but all of my friends are classes of '08 and '10. Graduating a year early lets me graduate with some of my friends. Either year I graduate, I'll be sad to leave my '10 friends behind (and any possible class of '11 friends I make next year). I don't really have any friends in class of '09.</p>
<p>I guess I'm worried some. People have told me that I'll be missing out on a year's worth of experiences and "amazing classes" that I'll never be able to get back.</p>
<p>And I'm a little worried about life after college. With my major/minor combination and set of work/experiences, I'm not sure if I can do all that I want to do. I'm interested in the area of sustainability and international social justice. The only work experience I've had so far has been babysitting and various jobs on campus (linguistics TA, usher/stage crew, etc.). This summer I am planning to have a job for the first half, and the second half I plan to be living and working on an organic farm in Japan. I'm kinda worried that if I can't find a job for the first half of summer, I'll be lacking in "work experience" on my resume. I've never done an internship, because I've gotten turned down for the ones I've applied to. </p>
<p>Socially and in terms of life after college, what should I do? What are the pros and cons of graduating early/graduating "on time"?</p>
<p>$45k is big money, and the only thing that keeps you back, from what i've gathered, is your fear of graduation!
Unless you have something you're very interested in doing in college (research, internship), you should probably graduate early.</p>
<p>yeah, after graduating, why don't you go on to graduate school? that gives you more time to get some work experience, PLUS you'll have that extra education to put on a resume. Find a cheaper college to go to if you can, so you can spend the 45k you saved by not doing an extra year of undergraduate study on a good graduate school.</p>
<p>I don't think I want to go to grad school right after undergrad. I personally don't feel like I'm decided enough on one thing to be ready for grad school, and I think I'd rather have more experience in the world before going (peace corps, research/learning abroad like with fulbright/watson fellowship, etc). I don't feel that I would be a good competition/classmate with older students who have had more experience (according to my career services office, a lot of grad students tend to be in their 24-27 years old, and I'm only 20!)</p>
<p>And as for getting an MS from the same school--it's not really possible. I go to Swarthmore College, we don't have a masters program here.</p>
<p>First, have you studied abroad yet? If you haven't, you may want to consider spending a semester or year studying abroad, since it sounds like you wouldn't have trouble fitting it in to your degree. Also, a lot of grad schools in international fields prefer applicants to have international experience of some sort, so it could help you when you decide to apply for a masters program.</p>
<p>I think that for a lot of jobs in international justice and sustainability, you'll need a masters degree, but a lot of the masters degree programs in that area prefer 2-5 years of work experience in applicants. So, I would definitely second the getting some work experience before you go on to grad school idea. I think that the Peace Corps or Fulbright would be great options. I believe that both are well thought of in IR and IDev programs and after you get a couple years of work experience, you'll have a better idea if it's what you really want to do long term before you invest the time and $ in a masters degree. </p>
<p>If neither of those work out for you, other options might include teaching English in a foreign country for a couple of years or taking your fourth year and doing an immersion language program. These are perhaps less impressive than Fulbright or the Peace Corps, but could still be advantageous. </p>