I am currently a second year student at UC Santa Barbara majoring in Computer Science. I have the opportunity to graduate in three years, if I spend this summer or the summer after my third year at school finishing up classes. However, this would mean forgoing an internship opportunity one of these summers. Ideally, I want to go to grad school for a joint CS and MBA program. I have already had an internship last summer and kept my grades up well so far, so I was wondering how graduating in 3 years might affect my chances of going to the grad school of my choice.
Thanks in advance!
Whether you graduate in 3 or in 4 years makes no difference in your application to grad school. Your application will be considered with the same standard as other candidates.
Can you get a part time research assistant job during school year?
My D (CS) got a research job the first summer and continued with the same lab until she graduated in 3 years. When she graduated, she’d had 2 years of research experience. This tremendously helped her grad school application.
She faced the same question as you do now. So she filed petition to graduate in 3 years, and at the same time applied to grad schools, with the idea that if no grad school admitted her, she would change her graduation plan, staying another year concentrating on research work and would apply to grad school the following year. It just happened that she was admitted to her first choice.
I’m going to give some contrary advice: unless money is an issue or you hate UCSB, I’d say, take 4 years. You will never have the opportunity to be an undergrad again. Take advantage of it. If you fulfill all your requirements by the end of your junior year, you could take some “fun” classes in your senior year (maybe pass/fail so you don’t have to worry about your GPA.) Consider a semester abroad. Just – have fun. Enjoy being 21 or 22. Why rush the stresses of grad school and work? You have the rest of your life to be serious and focused.
Grad schools want experience. @Pentaprism’s D had experience all the way through; from your post you have 1 summer. @katlia also has a good point about the underlying benefits of college that are worth considering.
IMO (and based only on the variables that you gave), between using a summer to get experience and using that summer to take regular classes to graduate early, the experience will get you farther with grad schools.
The latter generaliy requires work experience. …
Interesting. This was what my sister told my D when she heard that my D would finish undergrad in 3 years and continued with grad school. My D just said thank you.
My D (19 when starting grad school) later told me (and constantly does) that she enjoyed grad school more than she did undergrad:
- She no longer had to take required classes that she didn't like.
- Her work is more interesting with seminars and research projects, meeting with more interesting people.
- She was making more money during school year (funded PhD program) and during summer than undergrads.
- She was traveling more than she did in undergrad for conferences and summer jobs, most of the times with expenses paid for.
@Pentaprism Ph.D. programs are quite different, especially in finding, than professional master’s programs which is what the OP seems to be interested in.
agreeing with all of @Pentaprism’s points, but saying to the OP YMMV: you have to weigh up the pros & cons for you, including the relative value of the experience you would get for your field and the programs that you are interested in, the particulars of funding, etc.