Karla Suarez ’11 is taking eight courses this semester in order to complete her undergraduate degree in three years.
“I’m taking eight classes this semester, seven next semester,” Suarez said. “Next year, I will take four and four. Surprisingly enough, I think I’m having an easier time than my friends in five classes because of some hardcore time management.”
Each December 20 to 40 seniors choose to finish their University career early, according to Louise Brown, dean of the Class of 2009. Technically, the University only grants diplomas once a year at commencements, but those who finish in seven semesters receive a certificate of completion of requirements—32 credits and fulfillment of a major—in December at a reception and then officially graduate in May.
Whether finishing one semester early or, in Suarez’s case, two, many do so to save money on tuition or to pursue other opportunities.
Courtney McGuire ’09 decided at the end of her junior year to complete college one semester early to save on tuition and seek out new opportunities.
“I wasn’t really planning on [graduating early], but I was thinking about it over the summer,” she said. “It seems like a financially bad decision to pay twenty five thousand dollars to hang out with my friends, if academically I didn’t need to [be here]. I really just want to take it as an opportunity to explore or take an internship that I probably won’t be able to when I start my career.”
Many of the seniors graduating one semester early unintentionally earned additional credits through high scores on Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams, science labs, music classes, internships or summer courses they took during their three years at Wesleyan.
When Emily Compton ’09 realized she could finish a semester early, she decided it would be foolish not to take advantage of her situation.
“I’ll definitely miss having that last semester with my friends, but I don’t think that’s a good enough justification,” she said. “I love Wesleyan, but I don’t think I’ll regret my decision.”
Compton will begin a six-month internship with Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation in Texas in January. Afterwards, she expects to be job-hunting with the rest of the senior class.
This situation was similar for Laina Logvinenko ’09, who also did not initially plan to finish early. Once she realized she could save her parents the cost of one semester’s tuition, however, the decision to graduate early was easy.
Logvinenko believes that it will definitely be worthwhile and does not regret missing the end-of-year festivities.
“I’m not into senior cocktails,” she said. “My class is kind of disjointed, it doesn’t feel cohesive.”
These seniors praised the University’s administration, especially Brown, who they said was supportive and in frequent contact with them.
“As much as I would like them to stay…it’s their option, they can take it,” Brown said. “We talk about their reasons for wanting to do so, some have no choice because it’s their eighth semester [in December], others choose to leave a semester early.”
Some sophomores and juniors have already begun planning for a mid-year finish in order to pursue other plans.
Sasha Vartanov ’10 is planning to finish one semester early in order to fulfill a once in a lifetime goal: to bike across all 50 states in six months to raise awareness of diabetes and funds for diabetes research.
Vartanov’s trip was partially inspired by his experience working at Camp Joslin—a camp for children with diabetes—this past summer. He plans to attend medical school starting the following fall.
“The only realistic option would be to start [the trip] in the early spring,” Vartanov said. “I won’t regret taking [it]…it will be worth it.”
In order to complete all of the credits necessary for his physics and chemistry double major, Vartanov will take six or seven credits next semester. He praises his professors and his advisor who have been supportive and have allowed him to cross-list courses.
After graduating in three years, Suarez hopes to stay on campus to earn her master’s degree in psychology. She has her courses planned for the rest of her college career and often chooses classes based on their time blocks. She also intentionally took writing-intensive classes so that she would only have one final—she acknowledges that her strength is in writing papers and writing them quickly.
“I’m a little on the broke side, and I wanted to challenge myself, to see if I could [graduate in three years],” Suarez said, “It’s been a growing experience and a hardcore studying experience.”
However, one alumnus who also finished college in three years—President Michael Roth—expressed some regret that he did not stay the full four years at Wesleyan.
“I think I gave up a lot in educational breadth and the social aspect, too, though I didn’t feel that way at the time,” he said. “I don’t recommend it. I didn’t go abroad. I was in such a hurry.”
Roth was the first member of his family to attend college. After many failed attempts at making money in high school—he spent many years volunteering in his community and after trying out a job at a department store, he was fired for reading too much on the job—Roth wanted to show his parents that he could contribute to his education.
He entered the University with eight credits already earned from summer courses he had taken at Cornell University and from AP exams—there was a different policy then that did not limit the number of AP credits one could count towards graduation.
In retrospect, Roth said he has some regrets about only staying at the University for three years.
“I think of all the courses I wish I had taken, that I was interested in but didn’t have time for,” Roth said. “I think I would have been better off with an extra year to learn more and grow up.”
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