Reply to Graduating college a semester or full year early?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Let's not kid ourselves, there can be real downsides to graduating early.  Obviously the big upsides are saving tuition and starting your career sooner.  Some downsides are:

(1) Less time to do undergrad research and publish to build your resume for a grad program

(2) Less time to build relationships and ith faculty to get the best recommendation letters

(3) Less time to take extra classes that fill knowledge gaps for your intended career, but which aren't strictly required

(4) Less of an opportunity to try courses in other fields and discover what interests you most

(5) You lose the summer internship opportunities either by taking courses or by having fewer summers.  Many internships are only open to students so you can necessarily get these opportunities back.

(6) It's harder to fit in a study abroad or co-op

(7) Less time to build lasting relationships with classmates

(8) Missing fun senior year experiences that you cannot get back

(9) Reduced opportunities to take the really interesting capstone courses in your major(s) or minor(s)

(10) At some schools, a lower likelihood that you can finish an undergrad thesis to get an honors degree[/quote]

Sorry, I just disagree.  UVA even awards special gold stoles at commencement to the 60 or more students who do it every year.  It's very cost-effective for parents - the cases I know of the kids (through their hard work) saved a year's worth of tuition and costs by doing this.  And they ALL entered top grad schools.  Not one experienced the 10 things you cite above.  In an era when a single year of law school can cost $110K, yes, trying to knock out core requirements at the high school level makes a lot of sense.[/quote]

Well said. I’m always amazed by how everyone complains about the cost of a bachelor’s degree, & when you give them a roadmap for graduating in 3 years (saving a year of tuition & giving them an extra year of working fulltime) they pull all these objections out of their butts. If money is a major consideration, graduating in 3 years is the first thing I would shoot for. [/quote]

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