Hey Moms,
What determines what class you graduated from in college? Is your class the year you were supposed to graduate if you started right after high school graduation and graduated college after four years or is it the year you actually graduate if you started a few years after high school and took some time off in between?
For example-someone graduating h.s. this year in 2011, but went to community college first for two years then a university- would they automatically be class of 2014 at the university or would they be class of 2016?
Hope it makes sense :-) A friend of mine and I were discussing this and it got me wondering.....
Thanks!
Depends on the specific situation. If you *actually* graduate in 2016, you'd be in the Class of 2016. Until you actually graduate, you're not really class of anything.
The year you literally graduate.
It's whatever year you actually graduate. Truthfully, no one (meaning a future employer or graduate school admissions counselor) really cares when you started, how long it took or whether or not you took time off. They just want to know when you completed your program.
The moment you are qualified and receive your degree that is the class you are in. For instance, if a person has a college education and wants to get several degrees they can have different classes even in one year.
For example. I had enough hours to graduate with my Sociology BA in May of XXXX. I wanted a minor in Social Work so I took the required classes along with my classes of Sociology. I needed one class to graduate that May. BUT I also wanted a seperate degree in Psychology. So, I took my one class that I had to have to graduate in May and filled the rest of my schedule with the classes I needed to finish my BA in Psychology.
I took all those clsses except one which I took that Summer.
So:
I graduated in May of XXXX with a BA in Sociology with a minor in Social Work.
I graduated in July of the same XXXX with a degree in Psychology.
Two different degrees and two different graduating classes. I can go back tomorrow and take one or two more classes and have another degree in a different program and have even another graduating class.
It all depends on when the degree plan is complete, the person applies for their degree, and they get their diploma in hand. That is then their graduating class.
It's the year you receive your diploma. Period.
Take me. I graduated highschool in 97
Then I was in the USMC
I didn't even START school until 2002
It's 2011 and I'm still IN school.
How ridiculous would it be for me to say I was 'Class of 2000"? Um. I wasn't even in the country, much less attending the UW in 2001. In order to be "Class of" you have to
a) be accepted
b) attend
c) complete all the requirements for graduation
d) apply for graduation (I've been sitting on a BA for 4 years, because I'm quad majoring, if I applied for graduation, I wouldn't be able to get my other undergrad degrees)
e) graduate (but walking is optional)
I mean... Class of 2000? Of what school? I wasn't even IN a school, much less had earned the right/degree.
Same is true of highschool. If you're on track to graduate with your class... fine. You graduate with your class. But if you graduate a year early (in my case 96) then you're class of 96. If you have to repeat a grade (in my case 98) then you're class of 98.
"Class of" is an earned distinction, and is a past reference.
It's whatever year you got your degree.
Your graduating class is the one for the year you receive your degree. It doesn't actually have anything to do with when you start. Sometimes the year you start is used as an estimate, though.
If I attended a community college beginning in 2009 and received an AA degree in two years, then for that degree, I would be in the class of 2011. If I then applied to a four-year school, I would be tested to determine my placement there. If I were placed in the junior class, then I would plan to study two more years, and I would be a member of the class of '13. If, however, they put me into the sophomore class, I would be a member of the class of '14. But... if I got busy, met all my requirements early, and graduated before 2014, I would be a member of the year in which I graduated and received my BA/BS/whatever.
Long ago, I was one of many students who squeezed a four-year education into five years (that's a joke). So although, when I began, I was in the class of 1967, I ended up in the class of '68. And I've just told you how ancient I am.
Class of whatever year you got your diploma.
It would be the year you actually graduate. I finished college 7 years after high school (took a hiatus in there), and I count that as my "class." Although it seems there is much less about it in college (we don't really talk about "class of ___" or have reunions or anything).
Now, I'm graduating soon with my 2nd bachelor's ... will that make me "class of" two different years?
It took me 6 years to get through college (due to indecisiveness) and I go by the actual year I graduated.
