I currently attend community college in Stockton as a sociology major. I will be finished with my requirements by the end of fall 2018 and plan on applying to CSU Stanislaus and Sonoma State as a spring transfer. I know this is a bit dumb, but I don’t really like the idea of graduating a semester early (from a 4 year) and not going through senior events and ceremonies. I know you can participate in the ceremony before or after your graduation, but it’s just not the same.
I wanted to know what your thoughts are on this. Also, would it be a bad idea to try to graduate year early? The roadmap for my major includes 15 units per semester, so maybe I could fit an extra class into other semesters and take electives during the summer? I know that may be pushing it but I’m still just exploring options.
Edit: Another option I was thinking about was taking that extra semester and using it to take on a minor or maybe an internship. I know a lot of people discourage minoring in something as its not as important but I feel like that would be a good use of time. I’ll likely go to Stanislaus as a commuter (it would take me about 30-40 min to get there) so the cost would not be as significant as at other schools.
There’s pros and cons to both sides. The pro to graduating a semester early is the $3-4K in tuition savings from a CSU which is a nice chunk of change.
Actually there aren’t many cons to graduating early other than missing out on being with friends.
At my former CSU, I was in a year-long club that cumulated in an event in the Spring and every year we had 2-3 seniors who graduated in fall but stuck with it until spring. They still stuck around campus, participated in other events, and lived in the same apartments it’s just they were not taking classes. The only option was to walk in Spring and they were fine. I really don’t think it makes a difference but you can always try to take up a minor, study abroad, or if nothing else take a reduced course load.
I know Sac State just held their last December graduation, i suspect that’s a trend but, perhaps a few still offer the option. The CSUs I am familar with are happy to have you come back the following May so you can walk across the stage. I don’t know enough about your situation to advise you on graduating early. I will say, spending the Spring semester on an internship, career fairs, job hunting, and perhaps a minor sounds like a very valuable use of the time. A minor that validates a skill - say Spanish, marketing or something tech based certainly wouldn’t be a waste of time.
Thank you all for your replies!