Upon talking to my friends after seeing an advisor last semester, I noticed that a lot of advisors were suggesting that students take the opportunity to graduate early whenever possible. While the thought of graduating OU a semester early may seem daunting and scary to some, there are definite pros and cons to the decision.

The biggest consideration for most people when deciding to graduate early is financial. For those working their way through school, an extra $5,000 doesn’t sound bad. Another positive of graduating early is that you get a head start in the job market. You could enter the workforce half a year early and start to pay off student loans and live independently. If you see grad school, med school or law school in your future, graduating early could give you extra time to apply to schools and take entrance exams.

Did I mention it saves money?

However, there are some cons to graduating early.  Because the majority of students do graduate in the spring, many companies base their hiring calendars around that. There is also the possibility that some graduate programs only offer fall entrance.

Second, graduating early requires saying goodbye to activities and friends. Many Greek and non-Greek activities often have senior week activities and recognition for their seniors. This might leave you feeling left out or sad.

An article in the Huffington Post mentioned that the last semester of college provides students with many developmental and social experiences that are essential to life after college. The last semester of college also gives many students the opportunity to take classes outside of their majors or to discover new interests.

If you do find yourself staring at your advisor in utter disbelief, there are other options. Having a semester to spare could mean having the opportunity to intern in your field of choice or to study abroad. After some research, it's clear there is no “right” answer the fits everyone. The situation is always different.

For example, Hailey Thompson graduated from OU this past December. “I wanted to start my career and start getting paid,” she said. “I was out of classes to take and I wanted to move.”  To anyone else considering graduating early, Hailey advises you to “consider the fact that December is a really hard time to get a job. Everyone is out for the holidays and not many positions are open and available in January.”

I also talked to Hannah Van Amburgh, who recently decided to graduate next December. “The first reason I decided to graduate early was purely credit-based, since I didn’t have enough classes left to take to drag out graduation until next May. I, eventually, decided it would save money and be more beneficial for me to try finding professional work experience early, rather than paying for more classes I wouldn’t put much effort into.”

When I asked Van Amburgh what advice she has for those deciding to graduate early, she hit the nail on the head. She said, “I talked to a lot of different people before eventually deciding to graduate early and it was helpful for me to hear tons of perspectives and pros and cons. I would definitely encourage anyone unsure about graduating early to discuss all of the possibilities through with family, friends, advisors and professors.”