Should I Graduate Early to Accept a Job Offer or Stay in School on a Full-Ride Scholarship For a Final Year?

TL;DR

I have the opportunity to graduate college a year early and accept a job offer that has a start date shortly thereafter. The salary offer is alright for what it is, but the job isn't the most intellectually stimulating. I am on a full ride scholarship to my university, so my family thinks I’d be squandering my best and most free years by graduating early. Does it make sense to stay in college for another year for the fun/life experience, or to jump head first into the working world for the job experience?

 

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I am pleased to be the recipient of a full ride scholarship to a reputable state university, where I am majoring in Economics and dabbling in Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics courses. I am unsure of the exact career path that I want to take, but I hope to make use of my skills in Excel and/or scripting languages to solve problems for an organization and/or discover statistical trends in data sets. Thanks to my high school’s extensive offering of Advanced Placement (AP) classes, I will have the requisite credits to graduate from my bachelor's degree program as soon as this spring, a full year ahead of the typical 4-year schedule.

 

This past summer, I worked as an intern at an insurance firm. My work consisted of formatting/cleaning up Excel workbooks and using the demographic data therein to price insurance premiums. The work was tolerable in that at no point did I hate what I was doing, which is honestly all I could ever ask for out of a job. However, work was also sparse—it was rare for me to have more than 2 hours of work to complete in an 8 hour day. The team I worked with was friendly and helpful. I have nothing but good things to say about the management there, either. The office environment was a pleasant contrast to my previous jobs in retail.

 

Upon my completion of the internship, the company extended an offer to me to return full-time after this upcoming school year. The salary is on par for this type of position in the industry and the geographic location of the company—in fact, it’s exactly the median starting salary for an Economics major, according to my university’s career center. It’s not stellar, but it’s not terrible, either. The amount of PTO and other benefits seems slightly better than average for an American company.

 

I am now faced with the dilemma of choosing to graduate a year early in order to accept this job offer, or to risk the job offer by taking full advantage of my full ride scholarship.

 

Two of my greatest fears are: 1) to be un- or under-employed out of college and 2) to hate what I do for a living, so my gut feeling is to accept the job offer. It’s possible that frequenting Reddit has tainted my outlook on the job market. All the doom-and-gloom stories of people not finding jobs out of college and of those that do have jobs hating what they do and working for a fraction of what I’m being offered push me towards accepting what I’ve been offered.

 

My peers and relatives have hounded me for thinking in such a way. They like to bring up the fact that I’ll never have time to travel once I start working, or that I’d miss out on one of my best years. I have yet to do such things as travel abroad or find romance, both experiences that I’ll be less likely to pursue if I choose to graduate early.

 

Another factor to take into consideration is that apartments near this employer are quite expensive, even for sketchy ones. To keep rent at a modest proportion of the salary I’m being offered, I would need to live with a roommate. I have a friend that is definitely going to graduate this spring. (S)He possesses qualities that I would vastly prefer in a roommate and that are rare to find in random strangers (e.g., (s)he is firmly against drug use). If I do not graduate early, I lose this person as an option to live with when I do graduate. Of course, most of my other peers are taking 4 years to complete college and will be looking to get places, but I would vastly prefer to live with a non-drug-user.

 

So, now comes the part where I get to weigh some different options, and where the Reddit community can hopefully weigh in, too.

 

Option 1: Graduate Early & Accept Job Offer

Pros	Cons

• Don’t have to go through the job searching process again | - Doesn’t allow me to utilize the full potential of my scholarships
• I don’t hate what this job entails | - This job doesn’t stimulate me intellectually beyond the few times I am given particularly terribly formatted Excel files and I get to use advanced functions to merge them
• The team/management at this job is exceptional | - Upward mobility is basically doing more of the same work, but for bigger clients; eventually, management of the team is the top of the ladder (low 6 figures)
• The salary and benefits are right at the median for my degree and are commensurate for this position in my geographic region | - Miss out on final year of college with friends
• I have a roommate I know that I can tolerate in mind when it comes to moving near this job | - Don’t have as much time to travel before entering the

 

Option 2: Graduate Early but Pursue Another Job

Pros	Cons

• Have the potential to command a higher starting salary and/or a more intellectually stimulating position out of college | - Doesn’t allow me to utilize the full potential of my scholarships
• I have a roommate I know that I can tolerate in mind when it comes to moving near where I would presumably get a job | - Have to go through the job search process again
• At the same time, I’d have the opportunity to try moving somewhere more geologically interesting, though then high COL becomes an issue | - Miss out on final year of college with friends   | - Don’t have as much time to travel before entering the workforce   | - Might not find a company with such a lax culture and decent employee benefits as the one I have an offer from

 

Option 3: Graduate in 4 Years but Continue Internship

(The interns that they presumed weren’t graduating this year have offers to come back as interns next summer; I could probably work this out with the company)

Pros	Cons

• Don’t have to go through the job searching process again | - Company might not be pleased with converting the full time offer back into an internship
• I don’t hate what this internship entails | - I don’t get a different workplace perspective; my only internships will have been at the same company
• The team/management at this job is exceptional | - I’ll probably have to settle for a more difficult roommate upon graduation
• The pay is very good for how much work the internship entails |  
• I have the time to entertain the possibility of studying abroad |  
• I get to experience a senior year of college with my friends |  
• I have more time to travel during school breaks and the time between school and the internship |  

 

Option 4: Graduate in 4 Years & Pursue Another Internship

Pros	Cons

• I get a second internship under my belt, diversifying my professional experience | - Have to go through the job search process again
• Have the potential to command a higher starting salary and/or more intellectually stimulating job out of college | - I’ll probably have to settle for a more difficult roommate upon graduation
• I have the time to entertain the possibility of studying abroad | - Might not find a company with such a lax culture and decent employee benefits as the one I have an offer from
• I get to experience my senior year of college with my friends | - Might ruin a chance at returning to the offering company upon graduation if I wanted to return
• I have more time to travel during school breaks and the time between school and the internship |  

 

I sincerely thank anyone who can steer me in the right direction.