Hi I will be attending a university next year as an incoming freshman as a chemical engineering major. In the orientation, my advisor said I can graduate in 3 years with my AP and dual enrollment credit, and I was wondering if that is a good idea. With my scholarship and FAFSA, all the cost is covered, so money is not a problem for me. If I choose to graduate in 3 years, I will have to take an extra class next year (I signed up for 18 credits for my first semester). I don’t know if graduating in 3 years is worth doing the extra work, but the main thing I like is that my school offers the courses of the first year of graduate school for you to take on your senior year. If I take required classes early, I will be able to take the graduate courses on my senior year even if I don’t graduate in 3 years. So, my question is should I take the extra class to have an option to graduate in 3 years(do you think taking 18 credits is manageable?) or should I slow down so that I can focus more on GPA? Thank you!
As someone who could have done this, I will say that it is not worth it. Though it sounds like you could graduate with a relatively manageable schedule, when you have it paid for there is really no reason to hurry. You can probably take as many graduate courses as you want as long as you qualify for them anyways; schools generally aren’t all that strict on that point.
Long story short: instead of graduating early, use the opportunity to do something impressive. Develop a better research project, find another internship, do a co-op, take a wider range of classes, or even double major if you are capable of it. Of all the people I know who had the opportunity to graduate early, only one chose to do so, and he was very much so the least impressive of the bunch. The rest took advantage of the opportunity to do something interesting.
Unless there is a good reason to be in a hurry, the extra year is more beneficial than most other ways you could choose to spend that time. Though if you plan to stay as a PhD in the same school and you are 100% certain that that is what you will do, you might as well graduate a year early and do the same thing as a PhD instead of as an undergraduate. As a further suggestion, as long as you properly keep up with the coursework, you can always apply for jobs as a junior during your sophomore year.
Thank you for the answer! That was very helpful, and yeah, I think I will drop a class and have more flexible time especially for my first year in college. I am actually not sure if I really want to become a chemical engineer, so I will be more relaxed and see other opportunities. Well thank you!
Take the chance to explore other engineering majors during your first year. You might find you like one of the other ones more.
I’m not suggesting you finish early and certainly wouldn’t advocate massive stress in order to do so, but choosing to go 4 rather than 3 years, even if everything is paid for has a real cost. You will lose the opportunity to make a salary during that year. So, do what’s right for you, but realize, opportunity cost is an important factor and one we all frequently forget to include. For a typical engineer, that will be $60,000 give or take. The calculation you need to make is whether or not the intangibles of going a fourth year (possibly less stress, the ability to explore other fields, the chance to take more classes, etc.) are worth the salary you’ll forgo.