early graduation copium

posted oct 2024

At the National University of Singapore:

• the Computer Science curriculum is designed to be completed in 4 years
• students get heavy government subsidies for 4 years / 8 semesters of undergraduate education (in the form of the MOE Tuition Grant), so Singapore Citizens pay a reasonable ~$4000 per semester
• students can take however many courses they want in whatever subjects they want as long as they meet the minimum graduation requirements of their chosen degree

Thus, an NUS CS student has little in the way of “push factors” to want to graduate early.

However, a few months ago, I made the snap decision¹ to apply for graduation. This means I’ll be graduating² in 2.5 years instead of 4, or in 5 semesters instead of 8.

The reactions of people around me (whose opinions I deeply respect and trust) average out to “wtf why?”

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They are probably correct, but on this page I enumerate all my attempts at rationalizing this decision for myself:

1. I think I enjoy the day-to-day of the work environment more than the school environment:

   • Since graduating high school:
     • I’ve spent a total of 3 + 7 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 19 months doing internships at 5 companies
     • I’ve spent 5 * 4 = 20 months as a full-time undergraduate student
   • I definitely enjoyed my time working on internship projects more than my time working on schoolwork
   • I think I’m more productive + motivated + fulfilled in a work environment than in a school environment

2. I think I’ve “had a good run” and tried most of the things I wanted to try in NUS:

   • I wanted to try teaching, and I ended up TA-ing 5 different courses
   • I wanted to try research, and I managed to try and realise that it’s too hard for me
   • I wanted to get involved in extracurricular clubs and sports, and I did!

3. Employment gives me health insurance which helps deal with my new-found chronic condition:

   • Even if the regular injections / medication / devices may not cost too too much relative to a software engineer’s income, it’s nice to just not have to think about it

4. Employment gives me the opportunity to meaningfully progress my relationship with my partner:

   • I can afford things like rent, so we can experience cohabitation

5. I lost the opportunity to load up on extra CS courses, BUT:

   • I think I’ve taken many of the courses that I would’ve wanted to take
   • Of the remaining courses, I think I’d be satisfied with just getting a smaller taste of the content, and I think I can achieve that taste through autodidactism
   • I’m pretty sure I could get into a coursework-based Master’s degree in the future if I wanted to, and I think my company would pay for it (or I’d be able to afford it)
   • If I need to know something for my job, I think they’d give me space and trust me to learn it as-needed

6. I lost the opportunity to take more non-CS courses, BUT:

   • I think I’d be satisfied with more casual learning of those topics, and I think I can achieve that through autodidactism

7. I lost the opportunity to do a Final Year Dissertation, so I didn’t really get to try research as seriously as I would have wanted, BUT:

   • I think I can still do research in the future if I want to, though the path might be longer (e.g., I almost certainly have to do a Master’s degree first? and maybe find research-shaped work in industry?)

8. I lost the opportunity to continue being involved with NUS Hackers, BUT:

   • I think I can still help out as an alumnus (e.g. giving talks, judging hackathons, etc.)
   • I can still attend events as a participant
   • I can still work on similarly-shaped problems at my workplace by helping out with “extra” things like recruitment etc.

9. By not doing a Final Year Dissertation, my degree classification will not be “High Distinction” (First Class Honours) even if my GPA meets the bar, BUT:

   • It’s not relevant for my employment, since I already have a job offer
   • I think I can still do a graduate degree in the future if I want to, though the path might be longer (e.g., I almost certainly have to do a Master’s degree first? and maybe find research-shaped work in industry?)

10. I think I’ve achieved ~90% of the “social value” of being in NUS by now:

    • I stayed on campus for 2 years which gave me tons of friends and memories. I would’ve either not stayed on campus or stayed in a far more boring / isolated type of accommodation for the remaining 2 years
    • I’ve joined all the clubs I wanted to join and probably would not have been seriously involved in any new clubs in the remaining 2 years, so I wouldn’t have meaningfully expanded my social circle in the remaining 2 years
    • My friends also no longer stay on campus / in a central location, so if there were to be meet-ups they’d be the kind that we’d have to plan and travel for anyways, so I don’t lose out by being a full-time worker instead of a student