Graduate College On Time: 3 Fall Quarter Tips for Seniors

College Student Graduating
This list was created primarily for college seniors but some information applies to Juniors as well.

3. If you plan on graduating in Spring, or the following Fall, you really want to speak to your counselor to make sure that you are on track to graduation. Some universities refer to these as graduation checklists or progress reports. In most cases, counselors will assist you at no charge, all you have to do is ask.

This has happened numerous times to our friends where they believe they are done (and partying like they are!) but two weeks after commencement, they receive a letter in the mail stating they are missing one GE to earn their degree!

Talk about a huge damper on starting your new job, your $2000 two-week excursion to Europe, or relaxing and enjoying the free laundry and food of mother and father. So do yourself a favor and take one hour out of your schedule and go see your counselor.

2.
Pick up a double-major or a minor! Wait, what? Wasn’t this article about graduating on time, why would I take more classes now? Well, there are two cases where you may want to seriously consider this, and I’ll tell you why.

A) You already took a few courses in this certain field, and it got you curious.
To earn a minor in a discipline, most universities only require 5-6 courses, that means you really only have 4 left. Why not? One extra fall quarter (or summer) to enjoy college. Most students are stuck into year-round leases that end in late summer anyways.

B) You failed a class and have to wait until next year to take it because your school only offers it once a year!($*()#!$)(*#@!

Now let’s think of the plans and let’s think of the benefits. You’re already going to be spending money on at least one full quarter/semester. Make it worth it, add on other courses so you can earn that minor and it looks pretty on your resume.

A word of caution though: don’t take on too much so you fail it again! If you are already struggling with your current classload, this probably wouldn’t be the best idea for you.

Alternatively, if you’ve thought about picking up a double-major, what is stopping you? You’ve heard it before, and here it goes again. Everyone in college just wants to finish and get into the real world and everyone in the real world just wants to go back to college!

If you are ahead of the pack and scheduled for a fall graduation but not yet ready to leave your friends, why not do a double-major? Some schools have unit-caps, but often times speaking to your counselor or advisor can help you get through this. A double-major will be a little trickier, requiring you to plan ahead and take key-courses that are offered only once a year or in specific quarters – so this may be more for college juniors.

1.
Don’t get so stressed out, enjoy your last year! It only happens once (for most people)

So you ready to graduate already? You’ll want to get your graduation sash for commencement!

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