<p>How do winter graduation ceremonies at universities compare to the larger spring ceremonies? Is it worth it to go an extra semester just to be able to participate in the larger graduation ceremony?</p>
<p>No, try to graduate in the least crowded time of year. It's so much better, you don't have to wait 3 hours to get your diploma. When 3,000 other people are graduating too, and you have to sit there it sucks, and it definitely sucks for your family who has to watch all the really boring people before you and after you get their diploma. Try to graduate in summer or end of fall/winter. Those are less crowded than spring graduation.</p>
<p>I haven't graduated yet from college but I can surely tell you that yes Spring Graduations (although held in the summer occasionally) are alot bigger. Are you graduating? If so Kungratulations, I'm still in awe at how people manage to get through college even though I'm in my second year. Whatever floats your boat. If your school is going to have an honarary guest speaker present during spring graduation then take it easy for another semester, but if money is an issue graduate in the winter if possible.</p>
<p>I guess times have changed since I graduated in winter -- so few students at my university graduated in winter that they didn't even have a ceremony. They mailed me my diploma. I went back in the spring for the ceremony -- there was the big ceremony in the stadium with the speakers, but then there were diploma ceremonies in the individual schools. Nobody had to sit through all thousands of students getting their diplomas.
I got to visit with all my friends again. Better than a small ceremony in winter, I think.</p>
<p>As others have said, winters are smaller, and ceremonies shorter.</p>
<p>If trying to decide whether or not staying for an extra semester is worth it, it'll be dependent on your unique situation. What sort of traditions does your school have surrounding graduation? At many of the smaller schools where friends have attended, "Senior Week" and similar sort of things are a huge deal (which I guess technically you'd get to enjoy the previous spring). I have many friends who attended the University of Kansas which has some extremely unique and very strong traditions associated mainly with Commencement exercises ("Walking down the hill", passing beneath the campanile for the first time, etc). Other schools may have some very unique things that are limited by weather or whatever to just the spring.</p>
<p>The other thing to consider is what you're doing after graduation. Will you have a job lined up and ready to start? Are you going on to a professional or graduate school that won't start until the following fall? Can you start your grad school at semester? (my pledge son in my fraternity graduated at semester and immediately started his MBA in January, that may not be possible at all places)</p>
<p>There of course could be a lot of other things you have to worry about, but I won't speculate. Just in general, like most everything, you'll need to weigh the benefits and decide for yourself.</p>
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Is it worth it to go an extra semester just to be able to participate in the larger graduation ceremony?
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<p>Feh, no. I don't really want to go to my own graduation ceremony (sitting out in the hot sun for hours != fun), but my Mom wants me to, and since they are paying most of my tuition...</p>
<p>At my school, winter graduation has been so small; the last few years they didn't even have a speaker. Summer is also usually small.</p>
<p>I found a blurb in my school's graduation literature about people who graduated in other terms being able to sign up to walk in the spring ceremony, which leads me to believe that there's only a ceremony in the spring. Its a smallish school and its on a quarter system so I don't suppose it would be practical for them to hold 3 extra ceremonies for a couple hundred people each year. Guess it depends on what your school's ceremonies are like and when they're held, and how much you actually care about attending them. I don't particularly care a whole lot, personally, and I never really paid attention to see if there are any 'senior week' sorts of activities.</p>