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I'm a junior at a large university, and I've had some great internship experiences. Last summer, I worked at one of the top five newspapers in the country, and I'm hoping to do the same next summer.

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My question: I'm on track to graduate a semester early (in December 2008 instead of May 2009). I've heard conflicting ideas about whether or not this is a good idea. I love school, so I wouldn't mind staying for the full four years. But would graduating early give me any advantage in terms of getting a job?

Megan

I don't think that early graduation does a lot to improve your prospects, even though it means you could start a permanent job earlier.

Joe Grimm

Common sense tells us that getting out of school early could wipe an internship or opportunity off your resume, so that doesn't seem to be helpful. The chief advantage, of course, is saving money and drawing paychecks four months sooner. If staying in college and adding the skills or experience will help you get started at a bigger job, then the benefits of this will soon outweigh the savings brought by early graduation.

(I graduated a full year early in a bad economy and with little experience. It was of no help. I wound up staying for one more year to earn a master's degree and then landed a good job as a copy editor.)

Best case: Get close enough to graduating that you maintain flexibility so you can decide in December whether to stay in school or get out to take a great job while finishing up a very small number of elective credits long distance.

The internship answer book: "Breaking In: The JobsPage.com Guide to Newspaper Internships."

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Coming Wednesday: She is disheartened because travel editors, in her experience, are notoriously poor at responding to her e-mailed queries. She thinks they have an attitude.

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