Cons of graduating quickly

Question

I read this question Does rigor/thoroughness of undergraduate program matter (for graduate/PhD applications)? and became very worried when I saw everyone blasting the OP for contemplating graduating in three years. The general consensus was that there was no reason at all to graduate early and that the lack of additional experience would hurt your chances at graduate school. I am concerned because I am graduating with only 2.5 years because I can only barely afford this by maxing out all loans. I would love to be able to develop greater depth in my field. Instead it has been a constant sprint to finish before I run out of money completely. I was rejected from every top ten university, and the one token safety school I got into jacked up the price as soon as they found I had nowhere to go.

Are the criticisms that finishing too fast valid in the context of extreme debt? I am saving over $100,000 by finishing early, will this reason be accepted by graduate schools? I see that graduate students do not have to pay tuition and get a small stipend, this sounds like a wonderful way to pursue an education and is very attractive to me right now. I feel that my education is rushed and I have not had the time to contemplate open research questions which are very important for graduate admissions. Graduate school is also the path to a job in research labs or academia.

edit: I have done well enough (6th in graduating class unless I mess up). They offer to tack on a year for a masters at your current rate, which is touted as a way extend finiancial aid. This is untenable for me.

Answer 1

Are the criticisms that finishing too fast valid in the context of extreme debt?

Yes, the criticisms are still valid: the world, unfortunately, does not care about any particular person's debt problem.

The answers/comments given at the linked question in the OP are spot on; thus I would encourage you to try to find other sources of aid to fund your full-length undergraduate studies, if you haven't already done so (scholarships, etc.).

Having said that, some schools have a diversity statement that you are to submit along with your application. In this statement, you can provide some background on the adversities that you have faced and how you overcame them. If you have significant financial hardships that you are battling through, for example, then a diversity statement would probably be the place to talk about that and hope that someone would care enough to have it positively impact your admission decision.

Whether the "diversity statement approach" will work or not depends on (among other things) your particular situation (e.g., how inadequate is your preparation for grad school due to graduating early relative to others in similar situations?) and the number of available slots the school has for cases such as yours. I still think this approach is too risky to count on, and I would, again, encourage you to look for other ways to stay in your undergraduate program for the "normal" amount of time so that you may reap the many benefits of doing so.

Answer 2

Here's one way to think about the issues. Imagine comparing yourself to someone comparably talented and hard working but with an extra year and a half of education. That candidate would be better prepared to excel in graduate school (they could hit the ground running, rather than having to catch up), and they would have had more time to build a track record that could impress the admissions committee. All other things being equal, they're going to be admitted rather than you. Basically, it's difficult to compete with a better educated version of yourself.

Of course you could just catch a lucky break, but your chances are best if the admissions committee can't fill the entering class with competitors like this. If you are exceptionally talented, that could well happen at any university. (For example, Terry Tao was admitted to math grad school in Princeton at an unusually young age. If he had spent longer getting to that point, he would have built up an even stronger track record. However, he didn't need that to get admitted, since he didn't have to worry about competing against hordes of equally talented applicants.) It could also happen if you aim for a somewhat lower-ranked grad school than you might have been admitted to otherwise. However, you'll run into trouble if you apply to schools that have their pick of a lot of applicants like you.

How this will play out depends on your personal circumstances. Most grad school applicants can get admitted somewhere, if they really aren't picky about where, and few will be admitted to the very top graduate programs. All the factors applicants worry about are basically pushing them a little bit up or down the hierarchy of prestige or desirability in graduate programs. If you see the slope as being steep, then this matters a lot; if you see it as being shallow, then where you end up matters less.

Answer 3

Karl, if you have figured out a way to get through your undergraduate institution's hoops in 2 1/2 years, that says something about you!

There is a wide variety in level of preparation (along with many other variables) of incoming grad students.

Don't reject your candidacy before giving some grad schools the opportunity to accept you and fund you.

But do prepare a Plan B for the possible case that you do not get accepted.

In Plan B, you would not be paying an arm and a leg for tuition, but you would be working in someone's lab, getting your feet wet with research. Perhaps you would be an intern (paid or unpaid). Perhaps you would sign up for one credit of research (somewhere cheaper than where you are now), and take the initiative to do more than what is normally done for one credit.

Perhaps you'll land a job where you can support yourself and do something interesting based on what you studied -- as a CV builder.

Or you could be a Vista volunteer, and make your CV more well rounded. Community service is a big selling point.

Edited here

I just thought of a Plan C. After your year of not being enrolled anywhere (during which you can be plenty productive with academics and research, you just can't be enrolled), and of being financially independent, perhaps you could apply for financial aid as an undergrad. You could state your intention to get a second Bachelor's degree. After one or two semesters of research projects, you'd then be ready to do your grad school applications.

I wouldn't embark on Plan C, though, without having an in-depth conversation with a financial aid officer. I recommend making an appointment with one that works in a community college. They'll have a helpful world view.

The thing I'm unsure about here is whether financial aid is given for a second Bachelor's.

By the way, another online forum that might be helpful for you is College Confidential. Addition: the culture there is to advise but be gentle with college students.

Another addition:

I have not had the time to contemplate open research questions which are very important for graduate admissions.

Don't worry about that. You will get where you want to be, step by step.

General comment: just to put some of what you're feeling in perspective -- it is quite common for college students to hit a certain point in their studies where their self-confidence gets quite shaky. I have heard it said that the freshman knows nothing, the sophomore thinks he knows a lot, the junior is realizing he doesn't know anything, and the senior does know a lot. Hang in there. If you have a strong foundation in your area, and enjoy doing science, it will work out. I appreciate that you may not feel that way right now. All I can say is that these feelings are not unusual at your stage of academic development, and it should start to get better in the medium term, if not sooner.

Answer 4

When students coming out of the universities with early finishes usually are not up to the level students who have completed the whole degree within 4 years or more. There is a clear difference between them when it comes to analytic and problem solving skills. Many reputed companies always look for the well educated people than people just having qualifications.(early finished student, but still having the qualification)

Same thing happens for when you go for further higher studies, as reputed colleges always wants to produce top class; well educated students, they'll most of the time rejects applicants who have early finishes. They'll consider that those people doesn't have proper foundation.