Should I put that I'm graduating in December or May of the following yr?

I'm currently on track to graduate in December, which means I can still participate in SA recruiting, but am hesitant to put December graduation as it might raise questions..should I just put May the following year or does it not matter for SA that I'm a December grad?

 

The easiest way to do this is write January of the graduating year you are, i.e. if you entered college as class of 2015 after finishing high school in the class of 2011, just write "January 2015" or "1/2015" on your resume rather than "December 2014."

Most schools have a winter graduation ceremony after Christmas and New Year's, so that's when the degree is awarded. This lets you bypass any sort of filtering system the firm may have set up in their recruiting portal where they search by grad year.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 
Best Response

Pasting my response to a similar thread.

APAE:
Also heartily recommend delaying graduation.

You can do this a couple ways. - pick up another major, minor, or study abroad for a semester - go part-time for your eighth and ninth semesters - complete the regular number of semesters (8) but take a gap (no classes in the spring) and work, travel, or intern

You do not even to disclose this when applying. Simply list Class of 2015 on your resume instead of 2014. When asked about your internship, refer to it as your sophomore internship. You can look more impressive on paper for getting a decent internship as an underclassman, and given your experience in the recruiting game you will have a significant advantage on all the intangibles and soft stuff relative to your peers.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 
waterfalls:

I'm graduating this December and think that companies really like that they can hire me and I'll show up in 3 months. No long lag like hiring some one graduating in May.

Large banks and EB's won't care about this for new grads. Programs are structured and you usually won't start early unless you summered there and the staffer oks it.
 

I'd suggest putting 1/2015 to avoid filtering, overall it doesn't matter. Tell them during your interview you're graduating early and you plan to do _______ (something cool or unique) in the spring semester. It will help you stand out. Then if you don't line up anything great for the spring (you DEFINITELY should), may be worth bringing up after you get a full time offer at end of summer that you'd be interested in starting early. From the few people that started early at my firm, 100% of them regretted it. Even though you get a little ahead of your class (everyone will eventually even out) and make a few extra thousand $$, the torture they were put through as a 0-years (all bs requests, awful fri staffings, etc) almost made them quit before they were even officially 1st yrs. Good luck!

 

You go to the interview(s) and try to land the job. At the interview, you tell them you will graduate in May 2013. If you get the position, you take one course in the winter semester and delay your graduation. It may cost you money... but the opportunity cost of a summer internship at an "elite" firm is likely significantly higher.

That said, if this wasn't obvious, you need to do some serious work before the interview on getting your story about "why investment banking?" right. There are people out there that would quite literally give the interviewer a kidney for a shot, especially in this market.

 

You do not understand. The interviewer KNOWS that I am taking a leave of absence. She said that I need to CONFIRM that I will be graduating in May/June 2013. I want to be cautious not to LIE to the HR Representative, which would jeopardize any offer and might lead them to reject me in a background check. The HR Representative told me that if I am graduating in December 2013 then I am ineligible.

So, given that the HR Representative is directly telling me, what do I do?

 

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