I graduate in May 2012. I'm on an internship with one company right now that will probably make me an offer in August, but I will only have a couple weeks to take or leave it. I'm not sure whether I'll want to accept it- it will depend on the specifics. So I plan to apply for other jobs to see if I can get another offer, but would it be too early to be applying over the next few weeks when I wouldn't start until next May at least? I hate to turn down an offer having nothing else lined up.

I'm a software engineer at one large software company and I would apply for jobs at other large software companies. I assume a smaller company would work on a much shorter hiring schedule, but maybe large companies wouldn't mind hiring 8-9 months in advance?

I also hate to start applying any earlier than I have to- I know I'll only have more experience and be more employable with time.