Should I graduate early or delay?

hello, 

I'm an undergrad at a target and recently I have thought about graduating one semester earlier (May 2022) to save out on tuition $$$. As of now, I have an IB SA offer at a strong MM and, in case I don't get a return offer from the IB SA, I also have an FT consulting offer at a relatively unknown boutique consulting firm that will start in Sept. The MM firm is fine with my plan to graduate early so there shouldn't be any problems there. 

However, I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to graduate early. I never envisioned myself going down the consulting path (especially at a relatively unknown boutique consulting firm), and I only accepted the consulting offer in case I don't get the return offer from the MM (will likely renege on this offer if I get the IB FT offer). 

The benefits of delaying graduation would be that I would have FT recruiting opportunities to try to land a FT IB / FO Finance offer (in case I don't receive the return offer from the MM). However, if I delay graduation, I would have to give up the FT boutique consulting offer (they require that I graduate in May 2022). 

Would love to hear your guys' recommendation. Given my situation, do you think that it is more optimal that I just graduate early (May 2022) or later (Dec 2022)?

Thanks a ton!

 

I don’t really understand what you are asking, you want to delay graduation so that in the offchance that you don’t get a return offer you can recruit for FT roles? Just go into your SA and do a good job and get the return offer.

The only reason to delay your graduation to Dec 2022 would be to apply for SA 2022 roles (which you’re too late for). You can still apply for FT roles if you graduate in May so this shouldn’t even be something you’re considering.

 

Thanks for your response! Yeah, basically I wanted to delay graduation so that, if I don't get the return offer from the MM firm, I could recruit for other FO / IB FT positions. I notice that a lot of places (e.g., BBs, EBs, MMs) require ppl to graduate btwn Dec 2022 - May 2023 to qualify for FT 2023 positions, which is why I'm hesistant to graduate in May. 

 

How are you graduating in May 2022 but have a IB SA for this summer (SA 2022), I am assuming you delayed graduation already to Dec 2022 and are now contemplating graduating early in May?

Not sure if the MM will even let you do this and if you get caught could lead to no return offer so I would double check on that and if that's the case then I would just graduate in Dec 2022 and play it safe. 

 

Yeah, I initially planned to delay my graduation to Dec 2022; however, I followed up with the HR at the MM about graduating early and they had no problems with me graduating early. 

 

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