MetaChat - When should I graduate?

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22 February 2008

When should I graduate? My master's program is done in August. We have the choice of walking in the graduation ceremony in May (so, one semester before finishing our program) or December (so, one semester after finishing our program). Each student in my program gets to choose which ceremony to participate in. →[More:]

May: I feel slightly superstitiously uncomfortable about walking before I've finished my classwork. I have no doubts that I *will* finish my classwork and get all my credits and such, but... it seems weird. But it seems like most of my classmates are choosing to walk in May, and it would be nice to celebrate with them. Even though it's a premature celebration and we'll be back in class two weeks later. Also, I will be in town for this ceremony.

December: I will be out of town for this ceremony, though not far out of town, so I could come back for it. Fewer of my classmates seem to be participating in this one. The weather won't seem very graduation-y. And I'm already a bit sick of the damned program, so I figure by December, five months out of the program, I'm unlikely to drag my ass back to the school to walk across the stage for a piece of paper. But there's the whole superstition thing about counting chickens.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Other considerations? Both choices seem kind of annoying at this point, I'm on the verge of just skipping it all together.

post by: occhiblu at: 13:01 | 15 comments

I graduated with my bachelor's in August, and with my master's in December, and the following June was always the only option for a ceremony, so I skipped it. But then, I went to a gigantic university where they had the graduation in a big arena, and I didn't really have a bunch of friends all on the same schedule as me (no "classmates," if you follow me), so the ceremony seemed impersonal and pointless. If I'd gone to a much smaller school, I might have felt differently.

posted by JanetLand 22 February | 13:12

may want to read any fine print about library dues and whatnot. this may be a moot point.

posted by dno 22 February | 13:14

may want to read any fine print about library dues and whatnot. this may be a moot point.

*sticks tongue out at dno*

No fair dragging in private family history, bro!

Besides, it's not like Harvard needs my stupid library fines.... grumble grumble why the hell won't the endowment committee stop calling me already grumble

posted by occhiblu 22 February | 13:17

oh, yeah, forgot you had issues with that.... huh.... must've slipped my mind. i was just speaking in generalities as i often do. *hehe*

anywho, i say skip the whole thing, but go to all your friends' graduation parties in may AND december. WOOT SHIRAZ!!!!

posted by dno 22 February | 13:26

I graduated in December and it didn't feel graduation-y at all. Go for it in the spring, you'll have better weather + most of your classmates.

posted by viachicago 22 February | 14:01

May, of course! Sun is an essential ingredient. But it's really weird to graduate before finishing work. Surely graduation means getting your degree, and they can't give you the degree until you've done the work.

I can't really cast aspersions about anachronistic graduations, though. I'll get an odd, 'fake' graduation three years after the real one.

posted by matthewr 22 February | 14:26

The other problem with doing it in May is that when you actually finish, it'll seem kind of anticlimactic.

But I still vote for May.

posted by mudpuppie 22 February | 14:56

I vote May. You can be with your classmates, you won't have to worry about getting back to town, and the weather will be nice.

posted by LoriFLA 22 February | 17:05

Totally weird to get a graduation before you've fulfilled all the requirements. But it does sound like May would be better for lots of reasons.

(I too got an extra graduation three years after the real one, but had to graduate in absentia rather than in person).

then again, I totally didn't bother with the graduation for my master's- didn't have the emotional connection with my grad school that I did with my first university. YMMV of course.

posted by altolinguistic 22 February | 17:49

occhiblu - my undergraduate college offered some students the option to graduate a semester before they finished their classwork - usually if they had completed a certain percentage. It WAS a bit weird - they handed us our diplomas right there, but those students who chose to graduate early just got a copy of their current transcript in a nice folder.

But still, I say do it in May.

posted by muddgirl 22 February | 17:55

In your shoes, I would march with my classmates in May, enjoy the weather and comraderie and the ceremony, but treat it as a costume party. That would accommodate my minor, buried sense of superstition.

I think your instincts about electing to march in December are good; if you're already a little fed-up, coming back in December will be a chore, not a joy.

posted by Elsa 22 February | 18:02

May. Then you can go to the prom.

posted by jonmc 22 February | 20:14

DONNA MARTIN GRADUATES!

posted by occhiblu 22 February | 20:20

Another vote for May. I technically didn't get my B.A. until August, but participated in the May graduation at Michigan, with family and friends. No worries... it's standard practice, really. Enjoy!

posted by Pips 22 February | 21:34

OK. Y'all convinced me. Though apparently I was supposed to apply to graduate by Feb. 1st, so we'll see what happens. (I got an email that seems to indicate they extended the deadline till the end of the month.)

posted by occhiblu 23 February | 02:03

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