Advanced standing comes with financial benefits, social drawbacks

Though many students, like Tsivin, come to Princeton with enough credits to graduate early, very few choose to do so, often because they are afraid of the social repercussions, students said. Those who overcame apprehensions about abbreviating their college experiences, however, said that advanced standing can provide financial benefits and unique experiences that outweigh the potential social costs.

Tsivin said he recognizes that the negative social consequences of a missed year of college might haunt him later in life.

“I think the biggest disadvantage [of advanced standing] is that you only go to college once, and you want that experience to be as great and as long as possible,” he said. “I can sort of see myself looking back and saying, ‘Why didn’t I just stay another year?’ ”

Despite these concerns, Tsivin noted that the opportunity to graduate early seemed financially responsible to him and that he did not want to miss the chance to take advantage of it.

“It’s a lot of money,” he said. “I’m planning on going to graduate school, so I’ll be paying tuition for a while.”

Since the decision is not binding, Tsivin can change his mind any time before his senior year, he added.

For Aku Ammah-Tagoe ’11, the desire to escape the Orange Bubble was the deciding factor in her choice to participate in advanced standing. She is currently taking a semester off to pursue an internship in the web department of Newsweek in New York.

“I think people worry a lot about missing what’s going on [at Princeton], but I’m not worried,” she said. “I wasn’t there for Bicker or even signing in to a club, but I was planning to go independent anyway.”

She added that she is not concerned about losing social connections on campus during her time off. “I know I’m going to keep in touch with my friends, and I’m not that far away,” she said.

Ammah-Tagoe said she always intended to spend some time during college working or studying outside Princeton.

“I knew I didn’t want to go four years without going off campus,” she explained. “Last fall, I had no idea what I was going to do. Then I got offered this internship, and it was great, so I took it.”

She added that she thinks spending the semester working at a news publication will further her planned career in journalism.

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“I think it’ll help me because I’m getting experience in a field that I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.

Tsivin also said that he hoped his advanced standing would be beneficial to him post-graduation.

“I hope if [advanced standing] has an effect on [my application to graduate school], it’s not a negative one,” he said. “Maybe they will view it as more determination. I hope it will show a genuine interest.”

Advanced standing also allowed Tsivin to get a jumpstart on upper-level Slavic languages and literature classes that he would otherwise not have been able to take in his second year, he added.

“[Advanced standing] gives you academic opportunities you couldn’t have had,” he said. “I got to register for classes that were closed or filled for freshmen and sophomores.”

Tsivin also noted that while there are certain courses he will have to forego because of his shortened college career, starting the planning process early should allow him to take courses in a variety of departments.

For some students, however, the prospect of missing academic and social opportunities dissuades them from taking advantage of advanced standing.

Wesley Morgan ’11 chose not to take advanced standing when he spent last semester in Iraq assisting Michael Gordon, chief defense correspondent for The New York Times, in writing a book. Morgan is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.

Though Morgan had the requisite four AP credits necessary to take a semester off and graduate on time, he said he decided that it would be better to take a full-year leave of absence and graduate a year late. He is now back in the United States but is still on leave assisting with the book.

“My thinking was that you only get eight semesters at Princeton,” he explained. “Although Princeton is very different than Iraq, I really love it there, and I don’t want to give up a semester.”

He noted that he had also found it difficult to plan a way to complete his independent work while taking one semester of advanced standing.

“I’m in the Wilson School, and it would have been complicated because of the nature of the junior projects,” Morgan explained.

Advanced standing for a semester or a year can be obtained if a student enters the University with at least four or eight AP credits, respectively. Early graduation also requires that students maintain a minimum GPA of either a B or B-minus, fill the prerequisites for their chosen concentrations and submit a course plan for fulfillment of all graduation requirements in the shortened time. The course plan must be approved by a residential college dean and a department representative.