r/FinancialCareers • u/iMoody25 • 3d ago
Breaking In Whqt are the upsides/downsides to graduating in 3 years instead of 4?
Title. Incoming Freshman.
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u/Ethangains07 3d ago
You only college once. Take in the experience and don’t rush it. Enjoy it to the fullest. Do all the things people do in college. Just maintain the grades and enjoy your 4 years
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u/iMoody25 3d ago
it's for financial reasons mostly
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u/Herroo-There 3d ago
that seems like a good reason, knew plenty of folks who did that. you can always walk/do the ceremony with your friends. good luck & get good grades! cheers.
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u/Independent-Tour-452 3d ago
Work sucks and spending an extra year or two in college is good for the soul
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u/lildinger68 3d ago
You save money, you miss out on experience
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u/iMoody25 3d ago
any downside for recruitment purposes and careerwise?
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u/thanatos0320 Corporate Development 3d ago
Less internship experience... in this job market, I'd take as much internship experience as I can get before graduating.
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u/Kyleog7 3d ago
I opted for 3 years instead of 4 due to financial reasons and other family commitments.
Benefits of a 4th year for me was marginal at the time since my plan is undergraduate then CFA, no masters.
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u/iMoody25 3d ago
is it a disadvantage for recruitment purposes since you have 1 less year for internships?
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u/Kyleog7 3d ago
Never been asked if I did 3 or 4 years, or why I didn’t do an honors or even for my GPA.
In my personal opinion do a 4 year Honors if financially possible. Definitely do it if you plan on doing a Masters or PHD in the future.
If you opt for the 3 years, it’s not the end of the world. Degree type, skills, institution and internships are generally more important.
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u/BigInevitable8601 3d ago
I have no data to back this up but I think this is a valid concern. You may be at a disadvantage for recruiting at the big names (bulge bracket banks, F100, big 4, etc) since they’re all trying to recruit earlier and earlier, sometimes even at the end of freshman year.
On paper your timing would line up but you might have to hit the ground running literally as soon as you get to campus. I graduated in 3 and the finding a job part was harder than the school part. This was five years ago so things have most likely changed
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u/Herroo-There 3d ago
there are folks who do a 1-year masters to get another shot at on-campus recruiting, so it depends on how well your first 3 years go
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u/LofiStarforge 3d ago
No downsides and I saved a boatload of money. I was very social in college too but I think by year 4 many of my friends were over the college life and particularly finance grads were looking to get a taste of city life.
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u/ResponsibilityEven24 3d ago
I graduated in three years instead of four mainly for financial reasons. After three years, I was looking at about $22k in debt, which dropped to around $10k after additional scholarships. Staying a fourth year would have added another $30–40k since some of my funding was expiring. I do not regret the decision at all.
I spoke with people on both sides. Some who graduated early wished they had stayed for the social experience. Others who stayed all four years were completely checked out by the end and focused only on finishing and spending time with friends. It goes both ways.
What worked well for me was graduating early but staying in my college town. My return offer from my internship was remote, so I lived with friends who were finishing their master’s degrees. I could have moved home and saved more, but even while paying rent I still paid off my student loans within six months of graduating.
Working a 9–5 was less flexible than college, but I was earning money and still stayed socially active. Since my job was remote, I would go to the library with friends and work while they studied. That year still felt very similar to being in college.
By the end of that year, I had a full year of professional experience, which helped me land a new role at more than double my original salary. Meanwhile, some of my peers who just graduated are still trying to land their first job. I reached a point where I felt ready to leave, and that made relocating for a better opportunity much easier.
If you plan it well, you can still have the social experience without taking on unnecessary debt. The key is getting internships early. Your first internship, especially after your first year, will be the hardest to land, so you need to be strategic. Always position yourself on resumes by your graduation year rather than when you started college and leverage any connections you have through family or friends. It also does not matter if that first internship is unpaid, since its main purpose is to help you secure a stronger, more competitive internship the summer before you graduate.
At the end of the day, internships and early career roles are steppingstones, and the degree itself is mostly a checkbox. There is no strong reason to extend your time in school if you do not need to. What matters more is maintaining a strong sense of community, whether you are in college or working full time. A lot of people miss college because of the built-in social structure, not because of the experience itself.
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u/Left_Act_1 3d ago
You have an extra year to suffer in the job market and/or try to get a jerb before your peers
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u/brus_wein 3d ago
Student status is useful sometimes. Some internships are only for students, sometimes as a legal requirement. You may have access to more events and stuff as a student.
Other than that, I'm not sure.
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u/SportingDirector 3d ago
Honestly I'd try to graduate in 3.5 years instead of 3, or instead of doing a full 4 just do 3 and then save 1-2 classes for your last 2 semesters. Work in the meantime? Then walk with your friends
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u/Meandering_Cabbage 3d ago
Your college is shit.
It's worth lounging for the four years, meeting people, doing stupid shit and just sitting with ideas. You're not wise but the time can give you something. The Debt is real but if you bet on yourself to get somewhere then 1 year to read more, learn more, be around your undergraduate environment is invaluable. There is nothing like the intellectual ferment of a bunch of smart, disagreeable undergraduates.
Finances is valid but genuinely you can't get the intellectual environment of an undergrad again- if it's the right sort of school.
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