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One Class Short? How to Make Sure You’ll Graduate On Time

This is your year, your semester. The wait is finally over. You are registered for your final classes and you are pumped for graduation… until you find out that you are one class short from getting your diploma. What happens when the 3 or 4 units left to earn your degree is just out of reach?

Although this may seem like a rare case, it is actually more common than you would expect. I have known at least four friends who have attended three different colleges and have experienced the same problem as they enter their last semester of college – they are one class shy of graduation.

In one situation, a friend of mine found that one of his classes was canceled at the last minute because of low enrollment. In other cases, the necessary classes were already full by the time of registration. And, in another circumstance, there were conflicting schedules with at least two of the necessary classes needed prior to graduation. Whatever the reason may be, if there is just one class left on your to-do list, there is a way to solve the problem.

Having dealt with this experience myself (and having mentioned this topic in a previous blog) I can honestly say that it is normal to panic, but there are definitely ways to fix the problem and still make graduation day. As disparaging as the situation may be, your college is at a point where it will feel obligated to help out its would-be graduates.

Whether it is a core class or a remaining general education class, your counselor will find a way to help you. It is true. The colleges want their students to graduate. And there are several ways to work out the problem.

1. A core class can be substituted. When a conflicting schedule made it impossible to take a core class for my own graduation, my counselor found another class and signed an approval to make the substitution equal to the original class.

2. A core class can be completed one-on-one with the teacher. When a core class cannot be substituted, a teacher can possibly work on the side with just one student. By corresponding through e-mails and conferences in the office or online, a friend of mine completed his necessary class in a slightly unorthodox manner that was still considered official.

3. The last class can be completed during a mini-semester. If there is absolutely no way to substitute a class because it is getting too late during the semester, then the last resort is to go through graduation first, and then complete your final class during the short summer or winter semester. One of my friends went through this, and was given her diploma after the completion of her last class. This way is more of a nuisance because, by that point, no student wants to have to go through another semester of schooling. I would venture to say that this last resort usually occurs when the dean or counselor is not being flexible or helpful enough to the student. Or perhaps the student never took initiative in fixing his or her problem.

If you are one class shy of graduation, you have to be the one to take action. I doubt anyone is going to call you up and let you know that your graduation status has changed by one class. You, as the student, have to be on top of those last few classes to make sure that you actually fulfill those requirements. All you have to do is contact your counselor or the dean, and they will find a way to help you. That first step is yours, but the rest is up to the school…and they will likely help you out.