How I’m Graduating a Semester Early

I am so excited about today’s topic.  I recently found out that I am graduating a semester early.  This means that I am graduating in December!  I am so excited and also very nervous because I am going to need to start seriously adulting soon!  I was never necessarily planning to graduate early, but it kind of just happened instead.  So, I am going to share with you how I did it, in case you want to save some tuition money or get a head start in the job market.  Or, if you are just interested in hearing about how I did it.  Anyways, let’s get into it.

How I’m Graduating a Semester Early

(These tips are in no particular order)

Tip #1: I established my major early

One thing that can set people back in terms of graduating on time/early is switching your major too late.  Now don’t get me wrong, if you feel like you are in the wrong major, absolutely switch because you don’t want to end up graduating and then wish that you changed it.  My senior year of high school, when I was narrowing down my options, I had gone into college wanting to be a Business major, minoring in Marketing.  After learning about my school’s Communications program, I instantly knew it was what I wanted to do.  To be honest, before entering college, I didn’t even know what Communications was.  So moral of the story, do your research and explore all of your options.  There are so many majors out there that you might not even know about.  So definitely do some research before picking your major so you know exactly what you want to do.  After picking Communications, I have never questioned if I was doing the right thing, and I absolutely love it!

Tip #2: See what you can get done in high school

In high school, I took a few courses that counted for college credits, so I ended up coming into college with 16 credits.  To put that into perspective, you usually take around 15 credits per semester. It makes sense that I am now in a position to graduate a semester early, since I basically came into college with a whole semester done.  If you are still in high school, check and see if your school offers any courses like this, and try to take them if you can because they will benefit you in the long run!  It could also save you some money because you are taking college classes for free!  Another perk is usually these high school classes will cover what you would be taking as Gen Eds in college, so then you can get right into your major when you get to college. 

Tip #3: Be prepared to take some extra courses if you need to

If I had just majored in Communications, I would have been able to get out of school probably a year early, but I ended up picking up a major in Writing and a minor in Business.  I am really glad that I did this because I love writing, (obviously) and I honestly didn’t know that was a major either!  But I am so glad that I double majored because my Writing courses are great and now I have two majors instead of just one.  The point of this story is that in order to do this, there were some semesters where I had to take six classes instead of five.  I looked back at my transcript and there were two semesters where I had to take six classes.  It was a lot of work, but manageable for sure.  You just have to stay organized and make sure you are on top of your homework. 

Tip #4: Picking the right classes

It can be so overwhelming trying to figure out what the right classes to take are.  It is easy to take classes that you don’t actually need.  Since the beginning of college, I have had a giant spreadsheet where I wrote out all of the classes that I needed and all the classes that I had already taken.  That way, I always knew exactly what I needed to take.  I would highly recommend doing this to keep yourself organized.  Also, if you are not sure what to take, ask advisors and friends that you have in your major.  Ask questions and figure out exactly what you need to do to stay on track.  

Tip #5: Working hard in all of your classes

This may seem like a simple tip, but it is so important to stay on top of the classes that you are in.  It can be easy to slack off and fall behind.  If you fall behind in your classes, it is possible that you may have to take the course again, which could put you behind. 

I hope that these tips help some of you!  I can’t wait to share with you what life looks like after college.  If you are in school, keep working hard, you got this! 

Thanks for reading!

Signed,

Ashlyn