I’m currently a sophomore at NYU majoring in economics and minoring in data science. Through summer classes, AP credits, and dual enrollment, I’ve managed to accumulate 75 credits so far, even though it’s only my second year. This means I can graduate a full year early if I wanted to, making me a junior right now, but there’s a problem…
I’m interested in recruiting for internships in competitive fields like consulting and PM. With those internships, I’d need to apply as a junior, however if I was to apply right now (and I’d have to, if I wanted to graduate a year early) I’d be competing with people that have a year of extra experience. Plus I’m not sure if I have the skills to be able to pass the interviews, as usually those require a few months of practice. With that being said, I’ll ideally want something after my three years of undergrad to give me the time I need to prepare. Here are the options:
Graduate in 3.5 years instead of 3 years. This would make me identical to a regular 4-year student in terms of recruiting, but I’d be spending an extra semester taking classes that I don’t need. Plus NYU is notoriously expensive.
Graduate in 3 years and spend the last year pursuing a one-year masters program. Since my background is in economics, I’ll probably apply for more technical masters like stats or data science. I also plan to pursue an MBA someday, so this would be a good way to get technical credentials before that. There also isn’t really any opportunity cost, as I’d be finishing my Masters at the same time as most finish students their Bachelors. The downside is that I’ll need to apply for these masters programs next year, and if I don’t get in, I’m pretty much cooked.
NYU does offer a BA-MA program where you complete your bachelors and masters degree at the same time, finishing both within four years. The downside is that I’m only eligible for the BA-MA in economics, and since I already have an undergrad major in econ, I feel like it’s pretty redundant. Plus taking graduate courses along my undergrad classes might tank my GPA.
What do I do? I’ve been thinking about this decision for months now. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks sm!
Not knowing anything else about your situation, this is what I would recommend. You can work for a few years and see if you want to pursue an MBA or possibly go in a different direction. I am sure you can find some subjects during the extra term that will help you with your goals and make it worthwhile.
I agree with Publisher, but it is an option that will cost you more money at NYU’s very high tuition rates. Another option would be to take a gap year, working in the a job that would get you the most relevant experience you can find and which would enable you to earn money instead of spending money on tuition. This would put you on track for a 4 year plan and you could pursue the internship on a normal schedule.
If you can do it in 3 years, do it. It gets you ahead because it shows motivation and also time management, which consulting and PM interviewers like. You’ll have one more year to get real experience or work on projects that actually enhance your resume instead of doing random extra coursework. Grad school can wait. My friend did a one-year master’s straight after undergrad and disliked it because it was hurried, costly, and wasn’t really worth it without work experience. You’ll appear more favorably graduating early and spending that time getting some real experience under your belt.
evidence? That cutting off 25% of your bachelor’s degree education shows motivation? And time management is typically proven by getting fantastic grades in a tough major while juggling significant out of classroom experiences (job, leadership role in campus organizations, commitments to service projects, entrepreneurship, etc.). Getting AP credits is great- but is not a replacement for an entire year off a four year degree program.
Surely there are things that interest you that could fill another three years of college, let alone ONE extra year? If you’re interested in econ, have you taken classes on the geopolitics of the Roman Empire? Do you understand the underpinning of chattel slavery and how economies ranging from the US (pre-Civil War), Brazil, the entire British Empire prior to the 19th century, the Spanish Portuguese empire managed this form of labor? Have you taken a class on Marxism? Have you taken anything in the Psych department- Behavioral Economics is an important field right now? Have you taken an econometric sequence? That will get you MUCH further in consulting and finance interviews than an AP class you took in high school!!!
No one can answer because you can be there four years and not get an internship. You can also get one after second year. And people land all sorts of jobs with no internship.
I’m not a fan of graduating early but if you are paying full pop, that’s a $90k or $45k difference. It’s a lot of coin.
If you want to stay, I’d do a Masters. So I agree with the others.
I’m not sure it gives you any sort of assurance.
The most important thing is you get an internship after this year - whether or not it’s in consulting. Experience begets experience.
Btw if you have 75 credit and can graduate a year early you are likely classified by the school as a Junior.
Get an internship THIS summer. You are a junior. If you do, you can get out early.
Will you get the dream job. Maybe not but there’s no guarantee later either.
Many graduate in 3 years - to save money - I’m not sure you can afford not to.
But you’ve got to start working hard now for an internship. Apply to three a day - every day - in your desired area but also other areas of interest. You need an internship….
I have a few unpaid internships/externships/volunteering projects on my resume and I actually just secured a paid internship in data analytics for sophomore summer at a pretty good Fortune 100 company. I could stick with that company if I wanted to, but ideally I’d also want to recruit for consulting/APM roles, and having two future recruitment cycles to work with instead of one would be really useful. There is, of course, the opportunity cost of earning ~75k… but this could be mitigated if I pursue a strong one-year masters program outside of NYU, plus I’d have an extra year to work on deferred MBA applications.
The issue is that I don’t know if I’ll get accepted into a good masters program, so I was thinking of using option 1 as a backup in case I don’t get into one. An extra semester would allow me to finish the honors track of my major, do research, and potentially study abroad, which would be pretty valuable. What do you think?
I actually already have an internship secured for next summer haha. I did the math and I’ll be able to pay the loan back within a few years, so I don’t think that’s too much of a concern right now (as long as I save diligently as soon as I have income). I still think that graduating later than 3 years is valuable, though, for reasons described in the earlier comment.
You won’t get into a good mba without two years work experience.
Now that you mentioned loans - my opinion, it’s too much risk for the unlikelihood you land in a top consulting role. By the way those run the gamut from a skills pov - what type of consultant would you be.
As for returning to the company next summer, how do you know ? You haven’t worked there yet. If it happens, great.
I’m cautious. You are building up debt - I’d rather see you work. Not sure you’ll need an mba but you could get a data certificate if it interests you later. You may pay off the loan but you may not have a job or it may be an underpaid job in an expensive city confidence is good but load debt spirals and strangles. Be fearful of it
Seems to me you don’t need to make a formal decision for another year.
Get through the summer. You are lucky to have a paid internship lined up. See if they offer you a return. You needn’t decide anything today.
Actually the internship already told me when they admitted me that I would be given a return offer as long as I show up and complete the program. Luckily we don’t have to worry about that. The entry level salary for the role is 75-80k which isn’t a ton for such a HCOL area but it’ll probably be enough to pay off my debt assuming I live frugally for a few years and get raises.
As for the MBA, I want to apply to deferred MBA programs, which admit people in their senior year of undergrad and allow students to “defer” their MBA for up to 5 years while gaining work experience. This option is really nice since it gives you the flexibility of knowing you have an MBA without being committed to anything.
The unfortunate thing is if I do graduate in 3 years, I’ll essentially no longer have opportunities to recruit for internships next summer. Even if I can’t find anything, I can still return to my company to do another internship, so there’s no downside (other than the cost of an extra semester or masters program). Even if I don’t have to make a formal decision right now, masters programs applications take time (GRE exams, letters of rec, SOPs) so I want to decide as soon as I can.
Yes a few programs have a deferred mba now but guess what, guy can still do it the old fashioned way - work, apply later. That’s how most are doing it, even at top schools.yiu can apply next year regardless.
You might just keep working, do an exec mba later or something else. I’ve known many that do this. One lived in TN but did the program at Michigan. Another UNC. These people aren’t execs - schools take people with years of experience into exec programs.
How many degrees are you planning on getting== and if money and debt is an issue, why, why, why?
You don’t need a BA AND a “strong one-year masters program outside of NYU” AND a deferred MBA application. All the while struggling to pay down your undergrad debt, plus incurring more with every degree.
If you were my kid I’d tell you to slow down. Focus on undergrad. You already have an internship lined up for the summer- terrific. Knock the cover off the ball. You have no idea what the economy will look like in July (if you believe Jamie Dimon, we’re likely to be in a recession) so focus on what you can control. Get the very best, most rigorous education you can possibly get right now– where you are currently enrolled. Worry about MBA’s and one year Masters and all that jazz down the road.
There are no guarantees. Even if your internship employer says “show up and we’ll make you an offer for next summer”- do your homework on what happened in 2009/2010 when offers were retracted left and right. Just knuckle down, take the most interesting, hardest classes you can handle, become the best student that you can be. Business School isn’t going away.
