Finish dual degree, or go on vacation?
Summary: I already have a FT IB job lined up, and am in my 5th year finishing up a double degree. The only reason I did this double degree was so I could get a summer internship in my 4th year, as opposed to going FT recruiting (the market for FT was not good at the time). I have no interest in the 2nd degree.
The 2nd degree I'm getting only takes an extra year but it's a fairly intense schedule to get it complete (I will finish literally just before my job start date). Is there any point of me going through with this, or should I just go on vacation and travel the world before I start the grind?
Pros I can think of:
- Travelling the world would be a fun, life changing experience
- Less work, refreshed before the IB grind
Cons I can think of:
- Sort of awkward explaining to the employer that I decided not to go with the double degree after all
- Future business school applications may be affected as admin wonders why I took a year off
- 2 degrees > 1 degree
Seems like I should stay the course with the double degree..you guys agree?
Can't really speak to whether you should do the dual or travel. However, in response to your point about bschool adcoms thinking badly of a year off- have you considered volunteering instead of just traveling? I am in a similar situation to you (one semester off before starting FT IB) and have decided to volunteer overseas. Not because of bschool admissions, but reading your post made me think that perhaps that's a way you could travel without any negative bschool repercussions.
Good call, I definitely agree. If I were to travel, I would volunteer at an orphanage or something like that at my country of choice. It'll probably be good for one's soul, and an experience like that could only help any future b-school apps.
Seems like you've already made up your mind that you want to travel. Like you said, do something interesting and worthwhile during your travels, and travel to interesting places. It will only make your bschool app and future interviews better.
Also, if you're mainly worried that your employer will scoff at dropping the dual degree, don't. They're not going to fire you or limit your bonus or suppress your progress or anything. They probably don't even care. The only difference is during the background check they might ask why you had declared two majors and only got one. I was enrolled in a FT MAcc program and ditched it when I transferred out of state to a new Big 4 office. They asked me about it and it took all of 3 seconds to explain and they will never think about it again.
Hm, good point Rhen. I'm still deciding on this. I agree that my employer probably wouldn't care too much. Future business school applications may also be less affected if I have a good story about what I did during my travelling, especially if I volunteer.
I am confident that bschools would prefer an application with overseas volunteer experience over a dual degree. I also considered picking up a second major because I was graduating early, but then decided that a) I'd much rather travel and the second major wouldn't do much for me as I'll have gotten a FT offer before I took the extra classes anyway, and b) bschools would actually prefer the varied experience to a couple of extra classes and a second major.
Do what you want to do, and don't let things like bschool completely dictate your decisions. I'm fully confident that if you apply to a bschool and then don't get in, it won't be because you chose volunteering and travel over the dual degree. Note: this may not be true for random, fun travel, but I'm sure it is if you actually volunteer.
Finally- if you have the FT job lined up and have accepted already, why not just call your employer and ask them what the consequences of dropping the dual degree (but graduating) would be, in exchange for volunteer experience overseas?
I am hoping to extend my upcoming SA IB stint because I have around 6 weeks between my internship ending and travel starting, and because I'll need to save up more money before leaving (I have 4 overseas trips planned next year, all of which I have to pay for haha). I asked WSO whether banks ever extend summer internships and outlined my situation, and a couple of people said it should be fine and it's most likely a possibility, especially given that I'll be volunteering overseas. Perhaps if you mention your plans they will also think dropping the dual degree is better. May be easiest to just do it and not even tell them (I don't think it would be a big deal, even in the background check) but if it'l l make you nervous, just ask!
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